Just a milfe and a half separate Blair and Northwood High schools, but the distance that lies between the two football programs after two weeks of the 2008 season is much, much greater.
A week after snapping an 11-game losing streak, the Blazers used repeat strong performances from senior quarterback-fullback-linebacker Dayne Bolt and senior wingback-linebacker Jonathan Haughton to crush the neighboring Gladiators, 41-12, Friday night in Silver Spring.
Bolt, who had four touchdowns in the team's season-opening 47-14 win against Blake, rushed for 171 yards and scored two more touchdowns on nine carries. On defense, he forced a fumble by Northwood quarterback Jimmy Hessler that led to another six points on a 12-yard return by Leopold Kenghi.
Haughton, a speedster on the school's track team, also scored twice: a 35-yard run to open the game's scoring in the first quarter and 41-yard reception to open the second half for a 35-0 lead.
"Coming from 0-10 this is a big step," Haughton said. "We've been working hard all offseason. Our goal is to get into the playoffs and go as far as we can."
Also scoring for Blair (2-0) was Andrew Gondor, who hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass from Victor Wang (2 for 5, 87 yards, two touchdowns), one of three quarterbacks used by the Blazers, who tackle their toughest opponent of the young season next Friday against Gaithersburg. The Trojans won last year's meeting, 45-0.
"I know Gaithersburg is going to be a hard game but … it's going to be a good game and we're going to come out victorious," said Bolt, who had touchdown runs of 66 and 51 yards Friday. "We're going to practice hard this week and Gaithersburg's going to be surprised."
To achieve that upset, Blair will have to significantly cut down on penalties, as the surging squad was penalized for well over 100 yards for the game, including a handful of 15-yard personal foul calls.
On the other side of the ball, Hessler completed 18 of 41 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown. Lydell Baker produced the team's other score on a two-yard run.
The Gladiators had a chance to stay in the game in the first half, but two drives ended deep in Blair territory, including a fumble by Anatoly Moschkin at the goal line.
"As the score shows, that was pretty big," Hessler said. "I think if we could have scored those, it could have been a whole different game. It was pretty disappointing not to score."