OWINGS MILLS — Archbishop Spalding's high-octane offense looked more like a clunker than the well-oiled machine of much of the season during the first half of Friday night's MIAA A Conference contest with host McDonogh.
But after a 35-minute break following an injury to Eagles quarterback Dejuan Ellis, the Cavaliers offense purred like the engine of a Mustang en route to a 31-16 victory to improve to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in league play heading into next weekend's pivotal contest with St. Frances.
"Early on in the first half, we didn't finish," Spalding coach Kyle Schmitt said. "Our red zone offense has been an issue the last two weeks."
Deadlocked in a defensive struggle that only saw a 26-yard field goal from Spalding's Camden Price in the first quarter and a 24-yard field goal with 5 minutes, 53 seconds left in the second quarter by McDonogh's Harrison Beattie, a kick that just eked over the goal post, the Cavaliers exploded for 28 unanswered points to open up leads of 17-3 at the half and 31-3 early in the second half.
Spalding quarterback Evan Fochtman started that offensive turnaround, putting the Cavaliers up 10-3 with 2:12 left in the first half on an 8-yard run on a bootleg to the McDonogh sideline. He juked a defender near the line of scrimmage and then outraced another into the end zone for a 10-3 lead.
Then with 27 seconds remaining before halftime, Fochtman floated a pass down the middle to Jamari Jones, who took the ball the rest of the way for a 70-yard touchdown and the 14-point lead. The pass initially looked ill-advised with a pair of McDonogh defenders waiting to intercept the ball before Jones leaped in the air, pulled the ball down and ran right past the defensive backfield for the score.
Fochtman credited the injury break for his squad to turn things around as the Cavaliers were able to "make the right adjustments."
Fochtman pushed the lead to 24-3 with 9:31 left in the third quarter on a 24-yard scramble down the McDonogh sideline on the opening possession of the second half. The onslaught continued on Spalding's next drive, a 46-yard drive Julius Chestnut capped with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Jabriel Johnson stopped the bleeding for McDonogh with 38.3 seconds left in the third quarter on a 3-yard dive up the middle to trim the lead to 31-10 and the Eagles added another score with 3:25 remaining to account for the final margin of victory.
Fochtman rushed for 162 yards on 23 carries, and completed 13 of 22 passes for 206 yards.