One yard … Three feet … 36 inches

Any way you look at it, its not much, but that’s basically what made the difference for the James Buchanan Rockets football team Friday night vs. Clear Spring (Md.) at Rocket Stadium.

The Rockets’ defense came up with a huge stop in the third quarter that propelled them to a 41-14 victory in the Second Annual Whitetail Resort Mason-Dixon Cup game.

JB (2-3) controlled the first half and led 14-0 at the break, but Clear Spring (2-3) recovered an onside kick to open the second half and on its first possession Dustin Fisher ripped off a 50-yard TD run to cut the lead in half.

Three plays after the ensuing kickoff Fisher picked off a pass and the Blazers went to work again at their own 30. The Blazers then used a 13-play drive to get to the JB 1 where they faced a fourth-and-goal from the 1.

Clear Spring QB Cole Easterday tried a sneak for that one yard and tying score, but JB’s Scott Seburn and Logan Spoonhour were there to stuff Easterday for a 3-yard loss.

“They kept running a lot of heavy sets with No. 88 (Fisher), but they tried a QB sneak there,” Seburn said. “Our nose tackle Logan Spoonhour did an amazing job tonight. Him and the other guys up front really clogged a lot of gaps which was something we really talked about doing tonight.”

That kind of defensive stand is what JB coach David Miller has been waiting for.

“I told the players when we get things turned around here that we can point to that play that did it,” Miller said. “This whole week we talked about keeping gap responsibilities and really staying home because of all the plays they run out of the Wing-T. The whole defense did a great job.”

So instead of Clear Spring possibly tying the score and having all the momentum that big stoppage sprung loose a chain reaction for JB that over the next 3 minutes saw its lead go from 14-7 to 34-7

Three plays after the stop, Rocket QB Sebastian Wise made a nice ball fake and hit a streaking Owen Stoner for a 92-yard TD strike to bump the Rockets lead to 21-7.

Less than 2 minutes later, Seburn tipped a pass that Mason Line intercepted and returned it to the Blazers’ 3. One play later, Cormac Houpt, who rushed for 243 yards, scored and bumped the lead to 27-7.

“We all really wanted this game” said Houpt, who finished with 3 TDs. “We wanted to take advantage of what they gave us and we did. This game meant a lot to me because I’m a senior and I missed this game last year with my ACL tear. It feels good to win on Homecoming and get the Cup again.”

Things continued to snowball for Clear Spring as one play after the ensuing kickoff it fumbled and JB’s Caleb Wise recovered the loose ball at the Blazers’ 13. Two plays later Sebastian Wise connected for his second TD of the game, this time 16 yards to Daulton Bray with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. Alex Truett’s PAT ballooned JB’s lead to 34-7.

Houpt put the icing on the cake with 7:35 left in the game when he took a dive handoff from Wise, scooted straight up through the middle almost untouched for a 73-yard TD.

“We didn’t necessarily plan on Cormac getting 33 carries, but the line blocked well and he ran well,” Miller said. “When we saw we could run the ball we gave them a heavy dose of it between the tackles.”

NOTES: The 41 points is the most the Rockets have scored in a game since 2010 when they beat Carson Long 76-0 … Truett made 4 of 4 PATs, recovered his own onside kick and boomed a kickoff through the end zone for a touchback.

James Buchanan 41, Clear Spring 14
Clear Spring 0 0 7 7 – 14
James Buchanan 7 7 20 7 – 41
FIRST QUARTER
JB – Cormac Houpt 14 run (Alec Truett kick), :00
SECOND QUARTER
JB – Brady Bigler 23 pass from Sebastian Wise (Truett kick), 2:53
THIRD QUARTER
CS – Dustin Fisher 50 run (Cole Weaver kick), 11:48
JB – Owen Stoner 92 pass from Wise (Truett kick), 3:06
JB – Houpt 3 run (run failed), 1:27
JB – Daulton Bray 16 pass from Wise (Truett kick), :27
FOURTH QUARTER
JB – Houpt 73 run (Erik Pedersen kick), 7:35
CS – Weaver 85 pass from Cole Easterday (Weaver kick), 7:15
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – CS 11; JB 17
Rushes-yds – CS 40-154; JB 43-216
Passing – CS 4-11-1; JB 6-12-2
Passing yds – CS 120; JB 148
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – CS – Fisher 19-117, Xavier Blair 8-63, Jeffrey Miller 4-(-2), Noah Hines 3-(-5), Easterday 6-(-19); JB – Houpt 33-243, Dawson Lushbaugh 5-15, Wise 5-(-42).
Passing – CS – Easterday 3-10-1-109, Miller 1-1-0-11; JB – Wise 6-11-2-148, Houpt 0-1-0-0.
Receiving – CS – Weaver 1-85, Blair 1-14, Hines 1-10, Easterday -11; JB – O.Stoner 2-97, Bigler 2-29, Bray 1-16, Mason Line 1-6..
Interceptions – CS – Fisher, Dylan McGill; JB – Line.