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Defending Class 4A state football champion Quince Orchard was upset enough over its performance in a 26-21, season-opening win over Wootton. Then the Cougars had to spend the rest of the 10-week regular season listening to people speculate.
Second-seeded Quince Orchard set things straight Friday, with a 36-0, Class 4A West Region semifinal trouncing of those same Patriots in Gaithersburg.
"After that first game, Wootton's excuse was, if they had two more minutes they would've beat us," said Quince Orchard senior running back Dawuan Genies, who rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. "We kept that in our minds and said it wasn't going to be like that this time; there weren't going to be any excuses."
The Cougars (10-1) advance to face top-seeded Sherwood in the 4A West Region final Friday. They are still without junior quarterback Kevin Adams, sidelined with a broken collarbone sustained in a 14-6 loss to Sherwood Oct. 17.
Multifaceted senior Travis Hawkins, who last month verbally committed to play football at the University of Maryland, made his second start at quarterback this fall. He completed 2 of 7 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown, launching a 62-yard pass to junior Nick Goss in the end zone.
Running backs Genies and junior Ben Sasu helmed the Cougars' prosperous ground game; 187 of Quince Orchard's 288 total offensive yards came on the ground. Sasu finished with 47 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps more impressive than the Cougars' attack was their defense. Led by senior defensive back Cody Schecter, who nabbed a first-half interception in the end zone, Quince Orchard stifled the Patriots' normally efficient offense.
Wootton (7-4), making its first postseason appearance since 1991, is powered by a tricky, fast, no-huddle offense ripe with strategic passing plays that flustered most opposing defenses this year. The same offense gave Quince Orchard trouble in the season opener.
Not Friday, though.
Quince Orchard held Wootton senior quarterback Mike Mooney, the county's leading passer on the season with 3,062 yards and 27 touchdowns, to just 113 yards Friday.
"I've got to give this game to the defense," Genies said. "They were prepared for Wootton's offense. They were on every take."
Quince Orchard took a 27-0 halftime lead Friday with touchdowns from Sasu (24-yard run), Schecter (1-yard run), Genies (8-yard run) and Goss (62-yard reception).
Goss blocked a punt in the end zone for a safety late in the third quarter to put Quince Orchard ahead 29-0 and Genies returned the free kick 65 yards for a touchdown to make it 36-0.
"You lose the No. 1 seed and all of a sudden people think you can't make a run," Quince Orchard coach Dave Mencarini said. "We proved [Friday] we're still very much in this thing."