Generals Crash Digital Harbor, 21-6

Towson High School's varsity football team entered its first game Saturday with big expectations and even bigger obstacles.

The Generals' 7-3 season last year has heaped hopes for a postseason berth on the team this year. But Coach Scott Mathena, in his second year, has lost several key players to graduation and injuries and is being forced to play with a much younger roster. 

None of that stopped the team from pulling off a convincing 21-6 win over Baltimore's Digital Harbor High School on Saturday.

Scott Mathena was not kidding when he called Michael Obineme his workhorse.  The senior fullback was on the field for nearly every play–offense, defense and special teams–and accounted for all three Towson touchdowns.

After a 65-yard run in the fourth quarter, with his team up 21-6 and only five minutes left to play, Obineme, obviously exhausted, tried to take a breather on the sideline. Mathena immediately ran over to his star runner and yelled, "That's why we condition. Let's go."

Obineme quickly put his helmet back on and ran back onto the field.

If coach Mathena is not careful, he may wear out his best offensive player before too long.  Obineme is a physically powerful runner who compliments running back Bennett Okoro–the speedster–but his body takes a lot of punishment throughout the game.

With a 21-6 lead, what's wrong with a little rest. 

But that is how Mathena wants to play the game. Run, run and run some more. 

It was either Okoro on the reverse or Obineme up the middle, right behind his two big offensive lineman–Jarosinski and Taylor. Jarosinski's father tells me he was raised on kielbasa and sauerkraut. Well, whatever he is feeding him, I hope he keeps it up–this kid has skills.

And in order to run the ball as much as the coach wants, Towson will need this big offensive line to dominate the line of scrimmage.

The team only attempted to throw four times–one incomplete pass, one sack, one scramble, and one trick play. The trick play came early in the fourth quarter when Okoro, who played quarterback at the JV level, came around on a reverse–just as he had done for the previous three quarters–got the ball and then stopped.  The defense, who had read run the entire time, had left wide receiver Gabe Eicholtz wide open 15 yards downfield.

Okoro's pass hit Eicholtz in stride down the right sideline and no one caught the tall receiver until he had run another 20 yards to the 8-yard line.  The 35-yard catch and run set up Obineme for his third touchdown of the day–giving the Generals a comfortable 21-6 lead late in the game.

Digital Harbor's only touchdown came when Okoro fumbled a punt in the first quarter, negating an impressive 30-yard return. Okoro also fumbled in the third quarter, but Towson recovered.

Digital Harbor returned Okoro's first fumble 50 yards for a touchdown.  The Generals dominated the line of scrimmage and would not allow an offensive first down until late in the fourth quarter, when Digital Harbor's quarterback scrambled for 70 yards before being caught on the 10-yard line.  Two plays later, Okoro intercepted a pass on the 5 yard line, sealing Towson High School's win.

Final Thoughts: Coach Mathena's offense was effective, but almost too predictable.  If Towson expects to win games against tougher opponents, they will need to find some sort of balance on offense.  In order to keep the defense on their heels, the Generals will need to throw the ball more than two times in a game.  If this means running more trick plays, so be it. Towson relies too heavily on its big offensive line and its two star runners.  If Towson continues to run the ball 95 percent of the time, better defenses will eventually figure out how to stop them.

The defense was impressive against Digital Harbor, not allowing the offense to convert a single first down until the fourth quarter. Yet Digital Harbor played right into the Generals' strengths–its defensive line. Digital Harbor continued to try to run against Towson, but the Generals' experienced line continued to dominate the point of attack. Coach Mathena's biggest concern about his team was its inexperienced secondary, but the opposition failed to take advantage of Towson's untested corners and safeties. A team with a solid passing attack will provide a true test.

Offensive player of the game: Michael Obineme, FB. The power back had a number of big runs, including a 65-yard sprint in the fourth quarter. Obineme was also responsible for all three of Towson's touchdowns, with runs of seven yards, 12 yards and one yard.  Mathena's workhorse carried the ball on nearly 65 percent of the plays.  The Towson offense begins and ends with Michael Obineme.

Defensive player of the game: Lorenzo Moore, DL. This junior dominated the line of scrimmage. He continued to stifle Digital Harbor's running attack throughout the entire game. There was not an offensive lineman who could stop him. In the fourth quarter, Moore laid a huge hit on the opposing running back, forcing a fumble that Towson recovered. This game was won in the trenches and Moore was a big reason why.

Towson's next game: Sept. 10 at Pikesville