Unranked Joppatowne gave No. 12 C. Milton Wright all it could handle for three quarters last night, but the Mustangs' overwhelming size up front eventually wore down their Harford County League rivals, 22-8.
"We thought that if we could get a couple of breaks early and get up on them in the first half that we could make their size difference look less obvious," said Joppatowne coach John Kling, whose team gave up nearly 100 pounds per man on the line of scrimmage. "I guess we just didn't get ahead of them far enough."
C. Milton Wright (8-1, 6-1 in the league) scored first with 6:50 left in the third quarter when fullback Richie Juergenson plunged in from 2 yards out to cap a nine-play, 50-yard drive. Chris Russell added the extra point to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
The Mariners (6-3, 4-3) wasted no time in getting back in the game, driving 52 yards on 11 plays before junior tailback Lamar ** Williams scored on a 4-yard option around the right side. Joppatowne ran the same play on the two-point conversion attempt, and Williams made it 8-7 with 25 seconds left in the third.
Behind an offensive line that includes James Green (6 feet 4, 305 pounds), Todd Strasavich (6-4, 315), Zeke Johnson (6-0, 275), John Terrill (6-4, 240) and Wilson Hanks (6-3, 235), the Mustangs put together an 11-play drive ending with a 20-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Todd Behler.
Nick Jacovitte recovered a Joppatowne fumble on its next possession. Ten plays later -- nine rushing -- the Mustangs scored on a 1-yard plunge by Juergenson, who finished with 102 yards on 24 carries.
"We just ran it down their throats in the second half," said Hanks.
Throughout the scoreless first half, penalties hampered the Mustangs. But Joppatowne had its own troubles with the officials.
Late in the first quarter, Lamar Williams' apparent 31-yard fumble return for a Joppatowne touchdown was called back because of an inadvertent whistle.
The Mariners got good field position again late in the second quarter after a 34-yard fumble return by senior Lamar Ashe, but their ensuing drive was reduced to a three-down series as split end Alonzo McDowell collided with an official on a catchable ball in the flats, causing an incompletion.
C.M. Wright defensive end Noah Toly was taken by MediVac helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center to be treated for what was believed to be a concussion.