Wootton spreads the field, sacks Rockville, 50-17

Shotgun sets. Four and five wideouts. Checkdowns at the line of scrimmage. A no-huddle offense. The Patriots (3-3 record) deployed a wide-open attack usually reserved for the next level, and certainly not something that was seen in this county as the century commenced.

‘‘It’s kind of along the lines of Texas Tech, what Kentucky has run in the past,” said third-year Wootton head coach Greg Malling. ‘‘We just did a lot of research, but the kids put a lot of time into learning it. That’s the advantage of having smart kids.”

The complex, spread offense is difficult to understand on any level, but the Patriots’ offense had no trouble applying it against the Rams (3-2). After Wootton’s defense was on the field for the first 9 1⁄2 minutes — ending in a Rockville field goal by junior Westin Hayden from 21 yards out — Wootton quarterback Mike Mooney quickly went to work. It took him just 30 seconds to give his team a lead it would never relinquish, as on the second play, he found rangy junior wideout Stephane Ngoumou perfectly in stride down the right sidelines for a 70-yard score.

The fireworks were just beginning.

Minutes later, versatile senior Brendan Ray ran in from a yard out, and on the ensuing possession, Mooney hit junior wideout Matt Paris on a bubble screen that went for a 20-yard score. The senior signal-caller and second-leading passer in the county would throw for two more scores, one more to Paris and one to wideout Harrison Halem, finishing with 210 yards and four touchdown strikes on the night.

‘‘It’s pretty darn good to go out there and score 50 points,” said Mooney. ‘‘But I’m not going to say we can’t do better. I just think if we start executing like the way we played tonight, the sky’s the limit.”

With respect to Mooney and Ngomou (2 catches, 99 yards), the best player on the field was Ray, who did a little bit of everything on Friday. Aside from his rushing touchdown, he made a spectacular, 38-yard fingertip grab to set up Wootton’s second score, hauled in a two-point conversion pass, recorded a sack, four tackles for losses and recovered a fumble in the end zone for the Patriots’ fourth touchdown of the night.

Perhaps most importantly, he was most instrumental in stopping explosive Rockville running back Tarik Paul. The fleet-footed Paul gashed Wheaton for 302 yards the week prior, but Ray and Co. limited him to just 60 yards on 22 carries.

‘‘It’s kind of hard switching back from position to position,” Ray said. ‘‘But I definitely pride myself on being an all-around football player.”

The Rams were down 37-3 by the time their head coach, Mark Maradei, was ejected midway through the third quarter. He will sit out this Friday’s game at Clarksburg, but said he will see his kids onto the bus when they leave and be there when they return.

‘‘You know, adversity builds character,” said Maradei. ‘‘It’s hard enough as it is sitting out the biggest game of our season. But you know what? We had a great practice yesterday, and the kids understand that if we finish out the season the way we should, we’ll get in the playoffs without any issues. We haven’t sidetracked any of our goals, and [one of them is] to win a state championship.”

And the Rams didn’t fade quietly into the night. Junior quarterback Malcolm Robinson never quit, finding wideout Jeremy Shumway on a beautiful 24-yard fade pass for Rockville’s first touchdown, then running away from everyone on an 82-yard scamper a couple possessions later. He finished with 144 rushing yards on the day. Though the rest of the team, and Wootton’s for that matter, maybe should have shown more quit — they combined for a staggering 42 penalties, most coming late in the game, which took three hours to complete.

It was a small price to pay for the Patriots, however, who executed their no-huddle, spread offense about as well as possible.

Somewhere, Peyton Manning is smiling.

‘‘I think it’s probably the most complete game we’ve played in the three years since we’ve been here,” said Malling. ‘‘This is a very good football team and we expect big things. We’re not here trying to get to three wins.”