Pack win home opener
Published 12:16 am Saturday, September 6, 2014
There was certainly no shortage of drama in Washington’s 30-24 win over D.H. Conley Friday night.
Fighting cramps and a 6-foot-4-freshman quarterback, the Pam Pack was able to secure a hard-earned victory in its home opener against an old conference rival — the game capped off by an acrobatic interception from a limping linebacker.
“I was cramping and had to fight threw it … I couldn’t let the team down,” said Jamond Ebron, who came up with the game-winning pick with under a minute left. “The main thing was to stay on the field.”
It was a slow start for senior quarterback Patrick Thompson and the Pam Pack offense, which was held scoreless through the first quarter. After a quick three-and-out, Conley’s elusive pair of running backs — senior Jamari Cooke and Myles Taylor — quickly moved the ball up the field on the Vikings’ first drive. Quarterback Holton Ahlers used his size to fight his way into the end zone for the first score with six minutes left in the first quarter.
On the assuming drive, Washington running back Markel Spencer ended the quarter with a 23-yard run, giving the Pam Pack prime field position to start the second. Using its signature ground-and-pound offense, Washington worked its way into the red zone and on the third pass play of the game, Hasaan Credle found Javon Whitney to tie the contest at seven.
Defensive coordinator Jon Blank’s corps of linebackers kept pressure on Ahlers and forced a turnover on downs. Washington’s offense took over and on the first play, running back Xzavier Clark broke through for a 71-yard run, as the momentum began to shift in the Pam Pack’s favor. Two plays later, Spencer worked his way through the Conley front seven for six points, giving his team the lead heading into halftime.
To open the third quarter, Ahlers found himself in Pam Pack territory, but a costly holding penalty and a sack by Jarquez Keyes forced Conley to punt. However, the Vikings would respond later in the quarter on a 37-yard quarterback-keeper that tied the game at 14.
Just 45 seconds later, it was the Washington running game that had an answer. Spencer broke free for an 18-yard run and Trey Spurill went 35-yards for a touch down.
But the back-and-forth affair would continue, as Ahlers found Tre Cogdell for six on Conley’s final drive of the third quarter.
The score tied heading into the final 12 minutes, a perfectly placed punt left Conley staring at 99-yards of field and on the first play, the Pam Pack defense powered through the front line and sacked Alhers for a safety.
Just 13 seconds later on Washington’s first drive of the quarter, Spencer took advantage of the great field position and went 44-yards to give the Pack its biggest lead of the contest, 30-21.
A long series from Conley drained five minutes off the clock and resulted in a 30-yard field goal to cut the lead to six. Washington was forced to punt on its drive, putting the game in the hands of the defense.
And it would come through. Ebron pulled down an interception with a minute left on the clock to seal Washington’s third-straight win over Conley.
“We told them when we called the timeout, just hold them out of the end zone and they were able to do that,” said head coach Sport Sawyer. “That’s a big time play for us.”
Spencer finished with 137 yards rushing with two TDs, bringing his season total to 408 yards on the ground.
The win moves Washington to 2-1 on the season. The Pam Pack hosts West Craven next week.