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Middletown High's football team used a 21-point second quarter and a stout defense on Friday night to capture the Class 2A West Region title with a 21-7 victory over host South Carroll.

The Knights' defense created five turnovers, had four sacks and batted down several balls at the line of scrimmage and in pass coverage when Middletown needed to make a stop.

"The turnovers were everything," said Middletown head coach Kevin Lynott. "The defense played well as a team and stayed together."

Lynott added: "When our offense kind of stalled, that is where in the championship [game], you need a great defense. The defense stepped up [and] created turnovers. That was all the difference in the game."

Late in the second quarter of a scoreless game, a snap went over Cavaliers' senior quarterback Alex Terpening's head and the Knights defense fell on it to create the game's first turnover.

Nine plays later, senior fullback Thomas Pitsenbarger ran up the middle for a four yard score to give Middletown a 7-0 lead with 3:50 left in the half.

On the subsequent kickoff, Knights placekicker Nathaniel Iott squibbed the ball to one of South Carroll's up-men who lost control and gave the Knights another possession.

Middletown again made the Cavaliers pay for their mistake. Just 17 seconds after scoring the first touchdown, senior quarterback Sam Glushakow tossed the ball to junior running back Sam Michels behind the line of scrimmage. Michels then faked the run and threw an 18-yard pass to Justin Boyer in the back of the end zone to put the Knights up 14-0.

"Our defense has been a strong point all year," said senior captain Will Lyons, who had a sack and an interception. "We had a really great defensive game plan that we've been working on all week. The defense is key for us."

The Middletown defense held the Cavaliers to a four-and-out on their next possession, which led to another big play by Michels. This time, he took the pitch from Glushakow, faked the reverse to a teammate and raced 72-yards down the left sideline for another score.

"On the reverse, I got the pitch, faked it to Justin [Boyer], it was a great fake because everybody went with him," said Michels, who ran for 127 yards in the game. "I looked out and there was nothing but green so I just ran as fast as I could."

South Carroll could never get their offense going. Early in the first quarter, the Cavaliers were stopped on a third-and-goal when Matt Burns broke up a pass from Terpening intended for sophomore wide receiver Dan Mullen. On the next play, South Carroll missed a 20-yard field goal attempt.

"Middletown is a good team," said South Carroll head coach Steve Luette. "We knew that they were going to play smash-mouth against us and force us to throw the ball a little bit. But it was just one of those nights when we couldn't put it together and put the points on the board like we needed to."

In the third quarter, Terpening found senior wide receiver David Mellstrom for a 49-yard touchdown pass for the Cavaliers' only score.

The Knights entered the playoffs as the bottom seed with a 6-4 overall record. But three out of the four teams that beat them, Thomas Johnson, Linganore and Catoctin; all won region titles on Friday. So Middletown was battle-tested and ready to play in the big game.

"Frederick County just has a bunch of great teams," said Michels. "Playing those teams really helped us get ready for this week and throughout playoffs; that is why we keep winning."

"We had a great run," said Luette. "The kids really played well all season. No one expected us to be this good but unfortunately it had to end here."