The Brunswick (Md.) Railroaders had a simple game plan for their tilt with James Buchanan.
Run the football, run the football, sprinkle in a pass and then run the football some more.
That recipe worked pretty well as the Railroaders ran past James Buchanan 41-17 in a non-league game at Rocket Stadium Friday night.
Brunswick (7-2) rushed 47 times for 368 yards, led by speedy tailback Layne Harich, who rushed for 212 yards and had all 4 Railroaders rushing TDs.
“That was a pretty good football team,” JB coach David Miller said. “They executed very well with their running game. They were us 2 years ago, but they’ve really turned things around. We want to be where they are now.”
What started out looking like could be a tight game quickly turned sour for JB (4-5) in the second quarter.
The Railroaders opened the game with a 12-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped off by a 6-yard Harich TD run.
JB quickly responded as Cormac Houpt, who finished with 193 yards, ripped off a 52-yard run, but the drive stalled and the Rockets had to settle for an Alec Truett 33-yard field goal.
This is when the game turned for both teams – good for Brunswick, bad for JB.
The Rocket’s next 4 first half possessions all resulted in 3-and-outs for a grand total of -16 yards.
The Railroaders meanwhile made the most of their final 2 first half drives to go into the locker room leading 18-3. Brunswick went 80 yards in 7 plays with Harich covering the last 5 for a TD and 66 yards, in 6 plays, which again resulted in a Harich TD, this time from 2 yards out.
“They made some adjustments on defense after that first drive to slow down our run game and we didn’t adjust to that,” Miller said.
The Rockets tried to get back in the game early in the second half as they opened the third quarter with a drive at their own 45 and got to the Brunswick 17, but Truett’s 34-yard field goal was blocked.
On the ensuing Railroader possession Harich capped off 6-play, 83-yard drive with a 45-yard TD to push Brunswick’s lead to 26-3.
The Railroaders added another quick TD when the Rockets were unable to recover a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff. Three players later Brunswick QB Brady Snoots and fullback Scott Remsburg hooked up for a perfectly timed screen pass that went 29 yards for TD.
“Our boys don’t have anything to hang their heads about,” Miller said. “We still have a lot to play for next week (at Northern Bedford). We can do something that hasn’t been done since 1995.”
If the Rockets can get a victory next Friday it would be their most wins and first non-losing season since 1995.
NOTES: The Rockets were able to reach the end zone twice in the fourth quarter – Sebastian Wise 7-yard TD pass to Sawyer Egolf and Houpt had a 10-yard TD run … Brady Bigler had an interception for JB.
Brunswick 41, James Buchanan 17
Brunswick 6 12 16 7 – 41
James Buchanan 3 0 0 14 – 17
FIRST QUARTER
B – Layne Harich 6 run (kick failed), 5:58
JB – Alec Truett 33 FG, 4:29
SECOND QUARTER
B – Harich 5 run (pass failed), 10:50
B – Harich 2 run (kick failed), 6:22
THIRD QUARTER
B – Harich 45 run (Brady Snoots pass to Devin Phillips), 4:40
B – Scott Remsburg 29 pass from Snoots (Snoots pass to Remsburg), 3:40
FOURTH QUARTER
JB – Sawyer Egolf 7 pass from Sebastian Wise (pass failed), 11:55
B – Brandon Wells 17 pass from Snoots (Jared Struss kick), 7:31
JB – Cormac Houpt 10 run (S.Wise run), 52.9
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – Brun 21; JB 10
Rushes-yds – Brun 47-368; JB 27-163
Passing-yds – Brun 7-11-1-128; JB 5-13-1-40
Total yds – Brun 496 ; JB 203
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Brun – Harich 26-212, Wells 8-76, Remsburg 7-38, Michael Riley-Souders 3-24, Philllips 2-15, Snoots 1-3; JB – Houpt 22-193, Owen Stoner 1-(-3), S.Wise (4-(-29).
Passing – Brun – Snoots 7-11-1-128; JB – S.Wise 5-13-1-40.
Receiving – Brun – Jaedan Spriggs 3-52, Riley-Souders 2-30, Remsburg 1-29, Wells 1-17; JB – Brady Bigler 2-30, Grant Ellis 1-9, Egolf 1-4, O.Stoner 1-(-6).
Interceptions – Brun – Kevin Tabb; JB – Bigler.