Football: Lane paves the way as No. 15 Catonsville beats No. 14 Franklin 35-7

A year ago, Franklin's Ian Thomas had a career night in a victory over Catonsville, and D'Andre Lane was on the Comets' junior varsity squad.

Friday night Lane, a junior, was Catonsville's featured back, and Thomas — who caught four touchdown passes and had 213 yards receiving in last season's meeting — was the focal point of the Comet defense.

On a rain-soaked field, Comet defenders strapped on their chin straps, traded their snorkel gear for mouth pieces, and hunkered down to hold Thomas without a touchdown as the Comets rolled to a 35-7 victory.

"We weren't going to let him beat us again," Catonsville coach Rich Hambor said.

The Comets registered six sacks and forced four turnovers, including two they returned for touchdowns.

Lane ran for 135 of the 260 total rushing yards in Catonsville's first win over the Indians since 2007. (Franklin won last year's meeting 42-34.)

Catonsville's Sean Lipscomb, who suffered a hip pointer in last week's 35-15 victory over Woodlawn, forced a fumble on Franklin's first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, quarterback Aaron Jones connected with Deniko Carter for a 24-yard touchdown strike and a 7-0 lead after Eric Medinger's extra point.

Catonsville stretched its lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by Jones that capped a 12-play 93-yard drive that also featured a 44-yard run by Lane and 21-yard jaunt by Josh Hylton.

Franklin cut the lead in half with 5:21 left in the second quarter, when quarterback Jackson Thornton connected with Thomas on a 41-yard post pattern that set up Shaquille Melvin's 1-yard touchdown run.

But Catonsville put the game away in the third quarter.

On the Comets' first drive, Lane gained 53 of the 65 yards on a 12-play drive that culminated in a touchdown sneak by Jones.

"We said we are going to get this third quarter kickoff and run right down the field in 10 or 12 plays, and we did," Hambor said.

They ran behind a line that included Antoine Wright, Jon Reymann, Nathan Reeves, Brandon Dixon, Travis Davis and Julian Jones.

Five plays later, Lipscomb forced a fumble on a sack of Thornton, and Julian Jones raced 40 yards for a score.

Jones' two-point conversion run made it 28-7, and Joseth Hylton's 52-yard interception return for a score completed the scoring.