On a Night of Big Plays, Wootton Has the Biggest

Staring at third down and barely hanging on to a lead in the game's final minutes with a playoff berth in the balance, high-scoring Wootton dug deep into its playbook. Coming out of a timeout, prolific quarterback Mike Mooney took a shotgun snap and started running to his right with a teammate in tow as if they were running the option.

But just as Mooney went to pitch the ball, teammate Matt Grimm came running in the opposite direction. Grimm took the pitch, found a convoy of blockers waiting for him and went 52 yards for the game-clinching score, lifting the Patriots to a thrilling 37-27 victory over host Churchill last night in a meeting of Montgomery County neighborhood rivals in which the winner advanced to the postseason and the loser turned in its jerseys.

"We thought we would be here," Wootton Coach Greg Malling said moments after his team earned its first postseason berth since 1991. "But at the same time, when it happens it's a nice feeling."

It was a second half full of big plays, with five touchdowns of longer than 50 yards.

Wootton trailed 13-7, then took the lead for good when Rashawn Morris returned the second-half kickoff 92 yards up the middle for a touchdown -- the first kickoff return for a touchdown by the Patriots in "forever," according to Malling.

Wootton (7-3, 4-2 Montgomery 4A West) padded its lead with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Mooney to Matt Paris. Then the Patriots went up by 10 on a 35-yard field goal by Scott Ayers.

Churchill (6-4, 4-2) countered with Alex Kantor's 60-yard fourth-down sweep for a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter. Kantor's two-point conversion made it 23-21.

Mooney's 40-yard pass to Matt Scherer set up another score. Less than 30 seconds later, Churchill's Curran Chabra countered with a 69-yard touchdown pass to John Koutras and it was 30-27 with 9 1/2 minutes left.

That was still the margin when Wootton faced the crucial third down late in the game. Wootton went to a play that always succeeds in practice but never is used in games. By the time Grimm got to the end zone, Mooney was there to start celebrating.

"No team is expecting that play," Mooney said. "I pitched the ball and knew he was going to go all the way. I wanted to be there for him."

Wootton 37, Churchill 27

Up Next: Wootton will play at No. 14 Quince Orchard in a Maryland 4A West region semifinal on Friday.

Valiant Effort: Churchill running back Ryan Quinn carried 29 times for 130 yards and one touchdown.