Lackey is going back to the Maryland 3A title game, and junior lineman J.B. Walton promises not to be impressed when he walks into M&T Bank Stadium on Friday.
The fifth-ranked Chargers were admittedly star-struck when they lost to Linganore in last year's finale. Last night, Lackey did not hoot and holler much following its 24-0 whitewash of No. 13 Douglass before an estimated 4,500 in Indian Head.
Lackey Coach Scott Chadwick rejoices after his team advanced to Friday's Maryland 3A state final against Northwest at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
(Jonathan Newton -- The Washington Post)
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"Now, we're going back for business. We're not going back for sightseeing," said Walton, whose team will face No. 11 Northwest, which defeated Bel Air, 28-14 in the other 3A semifinal. "We might look around and say how pretty it looks, but we're going back to win."
Lackey (13-0) is the first Southern Maryland school to reach consecutive state championship games since McDonough, which won the 3A title in 1990 and lost the final the following season. The Chargers' lone state championship was the 1986 Class B title.
Once again without injured All-Met running back Morgan Green, who dressed but did not leave the sideline, Lackey proved it could rely on a dominant defense, conceding Douglass (10-3) just 184 yards of total offense. Meantime, Lackey showed an effective offense, scoring 17 points off Douglass turnovers.
The Chargers also executed their game plan. The Lackey coaching staff was determined not to let Douglass star defensive tackles Patrick Mimms and Thomas Claggett beat them. Lackey's linemen simply trapped Mimms and Claggett, and challenged the other nine Eagles.
"The plan was to take advantage of those guys' aggressiveness and then run right at the other guys," Lackey Coach Scott Chadwick said.
Mike Johnson was doing a lot of that running. A 5-foot-9, 185-pound freshman, Johnson was promoted to Lackey's varsity in the eighth week of the season. With Green out, Johnson received spot duty the past five weeks, totaling 27 carries.
Last night, Johnson ran on the first two plays of the game -- both for six yards -- en route to 20 carries, 70 yards and a seven-yard touchdown on Lackey's first possession of the second half.
"For a minute, I had butterflies," said Johnson, who doesn't turn 15 until June. "I mean, I'm a 14-year-old and I'm starting in a state semifinal. But after I got those first couple of plays, I was fine."
After Lackey punted on its first possession, Douglass fumbled a handoff on its first play from scrimmage. Lackey recovered at the Douglass 14, and Jesse Hitch's 31-yard field goal four plays later opened the scoring.
With less than four minutes to play in the half, Lackey punted from its 27 but drew a roughing-the-kicker personal foul on Douglass. Quarterback Aaron Smith completed three passes of at least 20 yards on the next six plays, capped by a 22-yard scoring toss to Greg Bowman 31 seconds before halftime to make it 10-0.
Douglass fumbled on the third play of the second half at its 30, and six plays later Johnson scored his touchdown to make it 17-0. Douglass never got inside the Lackey 40 in the second half. Smith closed out the scoring on a two-yard run with less than two minutes to play.
