On Saturday, Spalding graduate and now Maryland true freshman quarterback Malik Washington will lead the 3-0 Terps against Wisconsin. But on Friday night, it was Malik’s successor at Spalding, true freshman Brian Snowden, who reminded all of Maryland that the Spalding standard remains the same, regardless of who’s under center.
The Cavaliers scored on their first five possessions and never punted, ultimately rolling to a dominant 56-14 thrashing of Calvert Hall. Snowden completed 16 of 27 passes for 285 yards and five touchdowns — including four in the first half — while also delivering a key block on a rushing touchdown.
“He’s a freshman playing like a senior and I love it,” senior receiver Kam Miller said.
Washington helped lead Spalding to three straight MIAA A Conference championships before earning the Terps’ starting job. Snowden is now tasked with filling his big shoes.
So far, so good.
“[Brian has] known Malik for a long time so it’s natural to compare them,” Cavaliers coach Kyle Schmitt said. “He’s a really natural thrower. He’s incredibly calm, he’s got phenomenal weapons, and I think as good an offensive line as there is in high school football at the moment, so that helps.
“But he puts the ball in the right spot. He’s got great accuracy, he takes coaching, he’s easy to be around. He made an effort to be a guy that leads the team, and that’s not easy as a ninth grader. I’m really proud of him and it’s a joy coaching him.”
Snowden had nothing short of an elite supporting cast Friday evening in front of a packed home crowd. Running back Antonio Ledbetter churned out 136 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while Cameron Pinson converted 12 touches into 63 all-purpose yards. On the outside, it was Miller (seven catches for 136 yards, four total touchdowns) and Aaron Igwebe (6 catches for 120 yards) who delivered most of the damage on the receiving end of Snowden and Spalding’s aerial attack.
“We just wanted to show them we’re still Spalding football,” Snowden said. “The line didn’t let up any sacks and the wide receivers made me look good.”
Added Schmitt: “It’s hard to defend; we’re very balanced. We’re looking for a mix of runs and then shot plays off of them. The two backs are incredibly unselfish, and we’ve got four seniors [Kyle Lucas, Quinn Purnell, Gavin Laupp, Grant Little] grinding up front, and they’re a tough, gritty group.
“I just believe in line of scrimmage play — that’s how you build a football program and they’re the heart of this team right now.”
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Bryce Smalls and Owen Rickard were also part of an dominant offensive line that rotated in depth throughout the game. Senior tight end John Juppe also frequently lined up off tackle as an extra blocker, adding power to the run game and protection for Snowden to take his deep shots.
On the Calvert Hall side, quarterback Oliver Knoll completed eight of 17 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Junior receiver Micha Morozov caught four of those passes for 73 yards. Harrison O’Connell ran 16 times for 68 yards, and his backfield complement Azuria Holmes notched 62 all-purpose yards.
For Spalding, the young defense showed much-needed improvement. Schmitt noted a step forward on third down, as the starting unit held Calvert Hall to just three conversions on its first nine attempts.
The Cavs entered giving up more than 26 points per game, but that average drops with Friday’s performance as they gave up 14 or fewer for the second straight week. Schmitt praised the performance of seniors Sean Johnson and Justin Snell in leading a young group.
“They got off the field, they held up in some key spots — and that’s where we are at right now. We are not going to shut everyone out like we did last year,” Schmitt said. “They’re making people work for points … It’s a young group, and we’re still figuring out some things but we’re coming along.”
Spalding needed just four plays to go 56 yards on its first drive, as three hard runs by Ledbetter set the tone before Snowden faked a potential fourth handoff and found a wide-open Miiller down the seam for a 43-yard touchdown. After Calvert Hall responded with a nine-play, 75-yard drive, sparked by a 22-yard keeper by Knoll and a 29-yard pop pass to Holmes, Spalding needed just four more plays to take the lead for good, this time going 80 yards.
Igwebe did most of the damage, delivering a vicious stiff arm after catching a short pass, shaking a would-be tackler and flying down the left sideline for a 63-yard gain. One play later, Snowden lasered a pass over the middle in a perfect spot for Miller to nab his second touchdown, a 14-yard strike.
“We wanted to get them in the box, and when they go cover zero, they can’t stop our receivers man to man,” Miller said. “We [Igwebe and Miller] feel like we’re the best receiver duo in Maryland.”
Drive number three took a bit longer, lasting all of five plays. This time, Ledbetter’s 38-yard rumble accounted for more than half of the yardage, with Pinson rushing twice and catching one pass for 22 total yards. Snowden found Miller in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown, their third scoring connection less than three minutes into the second quarter.
Two more touchdown drives totaled 14 plays and 133 yards as Spalding blitzed its way to a 35-7 lead on its first five possessions.
The fourth score came via the air once more, with Igwebe finding the end zone from 13 yards out. Snowden then found himself playing a different role. On fourth-and-3 from the 13, he handed the ball off to Ledbetter, who flipped to Miller on the reverse. Although the players noted that the play call was for Miller to find Snowden sneaking out on a route into the end zone, Miller tucked the ball and Snowden turned into the lead blocker, delivering the key blow and escorting his wide receiver to his fourth touchdown.
Igwebe and Ledbetter each notched second-half scores before the backup quarterback, freshman Chase Magnelli, entered and threw a touchdown pass to Drew Hall.
The Spalding offense nearly had to punt after Snowden overshot Miller on a deep ball on third-and-7, which led to a quick exchange with Schmitt on the sideline. Spalding elected to go for it, and Snowden hit Igwebe for a 13-yard gain and a first down.
“We want to keep the standard the same, regardless of the score,” Schmitt said. “For [Snowden], there’s so much situational learning that can be done … in that situation, he had just missed a screen, and we had a third-and-7 where the comeback [route] was wide-open, and he tried a deep ball to Kam. He just has to understand situational awareness, and it needs to be experienced to be learned. Those are amazing coaching points that can be made.
“It’s just nonstop development with him. I want that kid to be able to play as a freshman [in college] some day like Malik Washington does and we don’t allow those moments to slip by. We can learn from them.”
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