One game does not make a season.
But everything came together Friday afternoon for Mount St. Joseph against Loyola Blakefield in what might be best performance by a Gaels' football team in the last two seasons.
Mount St. Joseph dominated the first half and coasted to a 55-14 victory over the host Dons in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game at Hargaden Field in Towson.
The Gaels (6-1 overall, 2-0 league) rolled up a whopping 617 yards of total offense behind senior quarterback Christian Carter, who tied a school record of seven touchdowns in a
He completed 15 of 23 passes for 393 yards and six touchdowns and ran for a score running the spread offense.
The 6-foot, 195-pound Carter has thrown for 24 touchdowns and 2,063 yards on the season.
"He is the total package," Mount St. Joseph coach Rich Holzer said. "He is a very smart football player. He is able to run the offense without me calling plays. That's unusual for a high school kid. Some Division I college is going to get a very good football player."
Gary Agurs caught four passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns AND Sam James rushed for 123 yards and a score on 17 carries to help the Gaels dominate.
The defense also shined, totaling 13 sacks with linebackers Ben Morgan (5 sacks) and Justin Looney (3 sacks) leading the way.
"We are a carbon copy of the Steelers," Holzer said. "We are just very fast, and I think we do a very good job of taking advantage of our speed. We just come after people the whole game."
Carter got his team rolling on its second drive. He teamed up with Agurs for a 42-yard touchdown with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.
After Loyola's Azende Smith scored on a 1-yard run and Tommy McLaughlin booted the extra point, the Gaels scored 35 unanswered points.
They led 42-7 at halftime.
"He (Carter) has a lot of good athletes to throw the ball around to," said Loyola coach Brant Hall, whose team dropped to 4-3. "They get the most out of their kids."