Magruder Falls to Richard Montgomery

The Richard Montgomery football team started off slowly Friday night, but had a strong second half to beat Magruder 14-3.

Coming off of a rough loss to undefeated Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery made a few mistakes early in the game. They were shut out in the first half, largely due to two fumbles that Magruder was able to recover. The Colonels scored late in the second quarter with a field goal to take the lead at halftime.

“We didn't have much to say at halftime,” RM coach Neal Owens said. “We just wanted them to go out and play like we knew they could.”

Offensively, quarterback Steven Burchett took control in the second half. The option started to help move the ball downfield, and on the first drive after halftime, Burchett faked a handoff and kept the ball, running in from ten yards out to put RM on top. He continued running the ball well, including a 40 yard run later in the third quarter, and late in the fourth, he ran a perfect option, pitching at the last possible second to score the game sealing touchdown.

“That's what he is, he's very poised,” Owens said. “We need him to keep leading, and he did what we were looking for.”

Owens was also quick to praise his defense, who shut down a team that Owens said is much better than their 1-7 record indicates.

“They've [Magruder] played every team they've played tough, and they've played a lot of very good teams,” Owens said. “It was another great job by our defense to keep us in this game...Other than last week [against Quince Orchard] our defense has played great every game.”

Richard Montgomery, now 4-4, still has their goal of reaching the playoffs in the back of their mind, and knows every game from here is very important.

“We said that this was our first playoff game,” Owens said. “All our remaining games are basically playoff games for us, and next week we have a huge game with Rockville. They've beaten us at least six times in a row, so we'll have a tough one.”

Richard Montgomery plays at Rockville on Friday, while Magruder will play at Watkins Mill.