In Dulaney’s first 2-0 start since 2004, the Lions have displayed phenomenal defense and an explosive passing game. But what was missing in the Lions’ 46-8 season-opening victory over Towson was a sturdy running game.
That running game showed up in Friday’s 34-0 triumph at Catonsville, as the Lions finished with 185 rushing yards.
Dulaney set the tone early with strong running by Dylan Mayne (10 carries for 54 yards) and Brendan Taylor (five carries for 24 yards).
“I saw it on film,” Mayne said. “We went over film every day and went through it and just played accordingly. I slowed down, read the holes and just followed my good blocks.”
“We knew we could run the ball,” Dulaney coach Paul Thompson added. “Last week we didn’t execute the run how we wanted. With [quarterback] Josh [Squires] having a big day last week, we got away from the run because we could beat them with the pass. We take what you give us.”
Squires picked up where he left off after throwing five touchdown passes in the season opener.
On his first attempt against Catonsville, he hit Jesse Faulkner (four receptions for 72 yards) in stride on 49-yard scoring strike for a 6-0 lead.
A missed field goal attempt and interception by Catonsville’s Andre Richmand prevented the Lions from extending the lead until an 8-yard touchdown run by Taylor and 2-point conversion run by Mayne upped the lead to 14-0 with just over four minutes left in the half.
Catonsville got its first first down with just over two minutes until halftime on a run by William Fox.
The defense held the Comets to just 70 total yards from scrimmage and Mayne and Jackson Zearfoss recorded sacks. Mayne and linebackers Taylor and Jai Nettles were keys to stopping the Comets.
“I was just in a zone,” said Mayne, who led the Lions in tackles.
“The kid [Mayne] is a dog and he wants it,” Thompson said. “I don’t think he wants to play college football, so he’s leaving it all out here.”
Squires (6-for-13 for 124 yards) connected with JJ Kaiser for 44 yards on the Lions’ first drive of the second half and Kaiser scored on a 50-yard interception return and an impressive 58-yard reverse for the Lions’ final score.
“The best play of the game was the touchdown [reverse] with Kaiser and Jacob Shuss blocked his guy 30 yards down the field driving him into the end zone,” Thompson said. “That was the best play of the game, it wasn’t even a run, it was a block, you just see the effort these guys give. We just play hard and they are unselfish.”
Catonsville held the Lions scoreless in the fourth quarter thanks to outstanding defense from linebacker Lucca Bateman.
Bateman made six tackles in the final quarter and ended a Dulaney threat inside the 20 when he forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Khamari Chase.
“[Bateman] is an exceptional athlete and a great kid and one of the biggest things is that he is very cerebral and one of the other great things about him he never gets too high and he never gets too low,” Catonsville coach John Youngberg said. “Everything is even keel and he does his job and he’s proud of his work and that effort shows. If we could reproduce that effort from everybody, we would have a different set of scores from the first two weeks.”
The Comets were coming off a 47-7 loss to Marriotts Ridge in the opener and ran into another buzzsaw in the Lions.
“Their athletes are far superior to what we have and that’s something that happens, we have ebb and flow with things,” Youngberg said. “I’ve been coaching a long time and this is the youngest team with the least amount of experience that I’ve ever been around.”
On the other side, the Lions couldn’t hide their excitement after scoring 80 points and only allowing eight in the first two games.
“I’m loving it,” Thompson said. “It’s the first time we’ve been 2-0 in like 20 years.”
“I’m very, very excited,” Mayne said. “This team has been very strong, better than ever before, and I’m excited to see what comes next.”
Next up for the Lions is at Parkville on Saturday at noon.
“We have a tough Parkville team,” Thompson said. “They are going to come with some athletes and they are well-coached we have to be on our A-game and try to pull something off like that.”
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