WINFIELD -- — With his team having given up 16 consecutive points, drawing even with visiting North Harford on Friday night, it was up to quarterback AJ Linn to get South Carroll back in control late in the fourth quarter.
After getting to the Hawks' 32-yard line, the junior — starting in his first varsity game at home — dropped back for a pass with 1:15 to play. As he set to throw, however, the ball slipped from his hands.
Linn scooped it up and fled the necessary five yards for the first down. One play later, he connected with Shane Conners for the 27-yard touchdown. A Cavalier defensive stand in the waning seconds held off North Harford 36-30 at Parker Field.
"The whole time, I didn't want to be the goat of the game," said Linn, who threw two interceptions in his home debut. "A home game like this, when everybody comes out, all the fans show out. It gets you hyped up. Everybody's there, the line's supportive, the receiver's supportive. You make a mistake, everyone's there for you. It's a team. Everybody plays as one."
The Hawks (1-1) opened the second half with a seven-play drive that ended with a Jeff Mergler 33-yard rushing score. The conversion failed, but the visitors had pulled within 10 points.
Joe Malagari took a pitch 4 yards for the South Carroll (2-0) score on his team's next possession, which was set up by a Patrick Kelly interception. That gave the home team a bit of breathing room, though North Harford kept its foot on the gas.
Kyle Keating took a 6-yard pass from Ethan Johnson to score with a little more than six minutes to play in the game. After a successful two-point conversion, the Hawks pulled within eight points.
When the Cavaliers got the ball back, a costly Linn interception put North Harford on the opposing 49. A few plays later, Mergler punched it in from 21 yards away to tie things up. He finished with 159 yards and three scores.
With 1:01 left in the game, the Cavaliers drove deep into Hawks territory, when Conners finished things off with his second score of the game.
"It was a great defensive stand. It was a great offensive march at the end," SC coach Steve Luette said. "It was a whole team effort. The only part we have to work on is our special teams."
In the first quarter, South Carroll's opening drive looked like it could have been a continuation of the previous season, only with a few new faces in the mix.
Linn connected with Malagari for the 39-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage, setting up the Cavaliers in North Harford territory early. Three plays later on 4th and 7, Linn rolled out to his right and found Conners for the 23-yard touchdown.
While the Cavalier offense showed efficiency in its first possession, it was the team's defense that really shined throughout the first half.
On the Hawks first possession of the game, South Carroll forced a three-and-out. On the second, Steven Baca's helped push the visitors out of a possible scoring opportunity.
On the Cavs' second first possession of the second quarter, Baca made his case as one of the offense's top weapons when he capped off a 55-yard drive with a score from 11 yards out. He finished with 152 yards on the day.
Jamar Williams' first touchdown of the night came on South Carroll's longest scoring drive of the first half. After starting from their own 18, a combination of Malagari and Baca on the ground led the Cavaliers into the red zone.
From 15 yards away, Williams took a handoff and bumped it out to the left. The junior ran through traffic nearly untouched and scored.
North Harford got on the board for the first time with 2:46 remaining in the first half on a drive aided by a South Carroll personal foul penalty. That's when Mergler took it seven yards for the score.
Inside the final two minutes, Cavaliers ran an up-tempo offense and, after a holding penalty pinned them on the North Hagerstown 44, Linn dropped back and hit Williams in stride for the long pass.
Though penalties came in bunches for South Carroll, as well as a crucial defensive lapse in the second half and a lack of scoring on special teams, Luette said the test against North Harford would serve his team well.
The Cavaliers have one more out-of-county game before its final seven-game Carroll stretch.
"To play a good team like this, and to pull it out, especially when they come back and tie the score and we've got to go and take the lead back," Luette said. "I think that's a great boost for them to know that they can do that this early, and that's going to give them confidence as the season goes on."
North Harford 0 8 6 16 — 30
South Carroll 6 18 6 6 — 36
SCORING SUMMARY
SC-Shane Conners 23 pass from AJ Linn (kick no good)
SC-Steven Baca 11 run (kick no good)
SC-Jamar Williams 15 run (conversion failed)
NH-Jeff Mergler 7 run (Mergler run)
SC-Williams 44 pass from Linn (conversion failed)
NH-Mergler 33 run (conversion failed)
SC-Malagari 4 run (kick blocked)
NH-Kyle Keating 6 pass from Ethan Johnson (Johnson run)
NH-Mergler 21 run (Keating from Johnson)
SC-Conners 27 pass from Linn (conversion failed)
UNOFFICIAL STATISITICS
Rushing
NH-Jeff Mergler 27-159, J.T. Kidd 2-12, Kyle Keating 1-2, Ethan Johnson 3-(-27), Robert Green 1-0; SC-Steven Baca 22-152, Joe Malagari 7-59, Jamar Williams 2-23, Shane Conners 2-18, AJ Linn 4-16.
Passing
NH-Johnson 13-25 127, Kidd 0-1-1; SC-Linn 8-16-2 95.
Receiving
NH-Keating 6-66, Glenn Doering 4-26, Gary Martin 4-15, Cole Dickerson 1-12, Mergler 1-9; SC-Malagari 1-29, Williams 1-44, Baca 2-11, Garrett Colvin 1-9, Silas Kelly 1-6.
matt.owings@carrollcountytimes.com
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