Eastern Tech football coach Marc Mesaros said his young team has spent this season learning how to be consistent and how to avoid big mistakes after losing several key players to graduation.
In Friday's Ravens RISE High School Showdown, the Mavericks showed they’ve also learned how to win.
Gavin Locklear's 29-yard field goal early in the fourth staked Eastern Tech to the lead, and Zachary Bookman's 25-yard touchdown run with 3:41 left sealed the win as the Mavericks topped Baltimore County-foe Western Tech, 16-14, at CCBC-Essex.
"We're learning to put it together really well," said quarterback Zachary Dell, one of numerous underclassmen playing prominent roles for the perennial power. "Slowly, every game, we're making good steps towards how we should be playing as a team, and we haven’t even played our best game yet."
The Wolverines rallied in the final minute, but it wasn't enough. Quarterback Zach Jeffers scored on a 30-yard keeper with 44 seconds left, then ran in the 2-point conversion for the final margin.
Western Tech appeared to recover the onside kick, but referees ruled the ball hadn't traveled the required 10 yards, giving the ball to the Mavericks.
Eastern Tech (4-5), which still has never lost to Western Tech, and has won four of its past six games after beginning the season 0-3.
"It's a growing thing," Mesaros said. "Everything is a process when you're coaching a young team. We are still sloppy, still make a ton of mistakes. We've got to clean that up. I'm not going to tell you it's a perfect win, but I'll take it."
The loss knocked Western Tech (4-4) out of playoff contention. The Wolverines entered the day seventh in the Class 2A North standings, with the top four teams at the end of the regular season advancing.
Western Tech had a chance to take the lead on the game's opening drive, thanks to a 65-yard kickoff return by Jaylen Frazier.
But after driving to the 2, the Wolverines lost the ball when quarterback Jayden Carr couldn't handle a high snap, and linebacker Barker Barker recovered at the 22.
Though the Mavericks couldn't take advantage immediately, they cashed in later in the quarter, when Dell's 42-yard pass to Matthew Sodeman set up Connor Bowings' 1-yard run to make it 6-0.
"We definitely tried to attack their defense toward the pitch," Dell said. "We struggled with it a bit…but it seemed like it all came together at the right moments. We capitalized when we needed to."
The Wolverines pulled even late in the half, when Frazier's 40-yard run moved the ball deep into Mavericks territory. Four plays later, Frazier took a pitch to the right, stopped and threw a 7-yard pass to Jonathon Jacobs, standing alone in the back of the end zone with 9 seconds to play.
After gaining minus-3 yards on its first five drives, the Wolverines had 78 on their final drive of the half.
The game remained tied well into the fourth quarter, when Bookman, who had just entered the game to replace injured back Isaiah Willis, had a 41-yard run to move into Western Tech territory. Dell's 32-yard pass down the sideline to Jaylin Scott then set up Locklear's 29-yard field goal with 10:32 to play.