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After watching his team stumble out of the gate this season, Gaithersburg football coach Kreg Kephart challenged the Trojans to forget the bad start and focus on putting up a strong finish.

Gaithersburg answered the bell on Friday, as senior tailback Tyler Lardy ran for 120 yards and the Trojans grabbed a 10-8 win over visiting Bethesda-Chevy Chase on Homecoming and Senior Night.

It was Gaithersburg's third straight win, and it allowed the Trojans (5-5 overall, 4-2 Montgomery 4A West Division) to conclude their season with a .500 overall record.

"These kids never quit, even though there were times when they probably could have," Kephart said. "It's about how you finish, and this was a good way to end it. After we started 2-5 this season, I'll take it. Absolutely."

Needing a win itself to reach .500, B-CC certainly made Gaithersburg earn it.

"The whole game, this whole year, these kids just fought and fought and fought," said B-CC coach Rich Noland, whose team had rattled off four straight victories coming into Friday's game. "I just feel so bad about the way it ended. It's a kick to the stomach, because I know how hard this team fought and how bad they wanted it."

The first half was all Gaithersburg. Behind a running game that outgained B-CC 133-36, the Trojans controlled the clock and their defense blanked the Barons through three quarters.

Junior quarterback Zack Fetters put the first points on the board when he scored on a 13-yard run with 4 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Sean Combs capped the Trojans' first drive of the second half — a series of 17 plays that ate up 65 yards and 8:11 off the clock —with a 19-yard field goal to give Gaithersburg a 10-0 lead.

"This game meant a lot; we all wanted to finish strong," said Lardy, who rolled up 97 yards on 18 carries in the first half. "I tried my hardest, we all did, to get this win."

B-CC saved its best for last, and on the first play of the fourth quarter — a third-and-4 at Gaithersburg's 20-yard line — Barons quarterback Casey Fitzgerald ran 20 yards into the end zone and cut the Trojans' lead to 10-6.

After recovering a Gaithersburg fumble with 8:17 to play, Fitzgerald orchestrated a 13-play drive that covered 80 yards. The senior quarterback completed 6 of 13 passes for 64 yards and ran for another 85 yards on 16 carries.

But on the last play of that drive — a second down 4 yards from the end zone — Fitzgerald fumbled the handoff to senior running back Chuck Banks and Gaithersburg's Sylvester Oni scooped it up to give Gaithersburg the ball back with 2:03 to play.

The Trojans got stuck in their own end, and B-CC put the final points on the board, tackling Gaithersburg's punter in the end zone with 7 seconds left. But a booming kick forced B-CC to set up at its own 15, and a pass play used up the remaining time.

In addition to Lardy's efforts, Fetters completed 7 of 14 passes for 74 yards with an interception. Banks led a B-CC running game that found its groove after halftime with 87 rushing yards.

"We fumbled inside the 10 to give them the ball for that drive, so it was kind of poetic justice that we got it back," Kephart said. "It got a little hairy there at the end, but I was pleased with what I saw from these guys. They really stepped up. I'm proud of them."