More News

The first three scores from the Linganore High football team's 45-7 win over visiting Middletown on Friday showed the three biggest problems in trying to stop the Lancers.

First, it was a 33-yard touchdown run from Zach Zwinak. Alex Eckard then booted a 32-yard field goal. James Madison University commit Ryan Dixon then hauled in a 9-yard pass for a score.

Linganore presented a seamless attack of passing and rushing balance, and on the rare occasion that the offense misfired inside of the red zone, the Lancers have a solid special teams unit to fall back on.

"Offense, defense, special teams," Zwinak said. "That's how we do it here."

Zwinak noted that he didn't really have a goal for the game in terms of yardage, but he had no trouble crossing the 100-yard mark in the first half, finishing the evening with 209 yards on 10 carries, including another touchdown run of 60 yards.

"It all starts on the [offensive] line," Zwinak said.

He noted that the coaching staff's ability to call the right play at the right time has been a major boon. But perhaps more importantly for Zwinak, he no longer has to worry about what school he'll be playing for in 2010. After Friday night's game, he made a call to Penn State to verbally commit.

"It's a great school, great people, great football," Zwinak said. "It's a relief. I can just focus on my team and the season."

A focused Zwinak isn't the only danger coming out of the Lancers backfield. Kevin Myers rushed for 86 yards on 10 carries, including an 18-yard touchdown. And Jeremy Muckle also scored on a 10-yard burst.

From the air, Dixon remains the top receiving threat, catching four passes for 117 yards. His biggest catch was a 65-yarder for his third touchdown of the year.

With that level of balance, the Lancers had only three drives sputter out. One ended on downs, one on a blocked field goal, and the third was on the lone punt of the evening for the hosts.

The deflected kick was the only blemish on Eckard's night, who was an automatic 6 of 6 on extra point kicks.

Middletown was held to only 54 yards passing and 106 yards rushing for the game.

Linganore got an early warning to the potential in the Knights lineup, after Middletown opened with a 6-0 win over Century.

"They looked really tough on film," Dixon said. "And they came out hitting. They're a really good team."

The Knights showed flashes that against other teams may have led to game-breaking moments. Koby Cavanaugh rushed for 81 yards on 19 carries against the Lancers. And Clayton Wenner had two catches for 40 yards, including the 16-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Ultimately, it wasn't enough to slow down Linganore. So how would Zwinak shut down his own team if he were on the other side?

"I haven't really thought about it as a defensive coordinator," Zwinak said. "I like the offense more. And we balance it out and we do whatever we have to do to win."

Then again, not even Linganore head coach Rick Conner was entirely sure how to slow his own team down.

"We see them in practice every day, and they can do a little bit of everything," Conner said of his offense. "One of the things we wanted to focus on was the pass this year. We want to throw the ball more."