Ross, Bennett lead Lions football to win over Cougars
Oct. 20—THURMONT — Walkersville running back Jordan Bennett was asked to describe backfield mate Da'Marques Ross' running style.
"He's quick. He jukes and all that," Bennett said. "And then for me, I just run through them."
As they proved once again on Friday, both methods get the job done.
Bennett and Ross each rushed for over 100 yards and three touchdowns, leading the visiting Lions to a 48-0 win over a Catoctin team forced to play without its top two quarterbacks, who were hurt.
Ross rushed for 142 yards on 13 carries, including TD runs of 1, 6 and 51 yards — the latter featuring some of the juking Bennett mentioned. Bennett rushed for 112 yards on 11 carries, including scoring runs of 9, 5 and 8 yards. Neither player got carries in the second half.
Heading into this game, Ross had 733 rushing yards, and Bennett had 635, putting both in the top six on the Frederick County rushing leaders list. No other team has more than one player in the top six.
"We kind of settled in to running the ball a little bit more. Two backs instead of one," Lions coach Joe Polce said. "We just kind of switched over to that about halfway through the Frederick game. It kind of sparked the team, so we kind of stayed with it."
The backs often line up in the backfield together, posing a dilemma for defenders, who don't know which running style they'll be confronted with.
"We try to mix it up, split carries," said Polce, who said that approach helps keep their legs fresh. Granted, they're not twiddling their thumbs when the other one gets the ball. "They've got to block for each other, too."
"I block for him, he blocks for me," Bennett said. "We go, we run, we do our thing."
Bennett's thing is using his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame and hard running to break tackles.
Conversely, the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Ross often broke out moves to evade would-be tacklers. On his 51-yard touchdown, he headed toward the left side, stopped on a dime, then raced toward the right side of the end zone.
Both are juniors, but this is the first year they've played together. While Ross was on Walkersville's varsity team last season, Bennett was on the JV team.
"Right now, Jordan Bennett and Da'Marques are doing a great job," Polce said. "Our O-line's blocking like crazy, so we're super excited to see how it works out for us down the road."
Heading into its regular-season finale against rival Middletown, Walkersville (4-4) is a .500 team, albeit one with ambition.
"We want to do great things," Ross said. "As soon as we get to the playoffs, they're not going to expect us to go as far as we think we are. I promise."
Sophomore Colton Amoriell, who took the bulk of Walkersville's carries in the second half, scored on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Walkersville's defense posted its second shutout of the season, with the last one coming against Poolesville on Sept. 9. The Lions' first-stringers held the Cougars to 10 total yards in the first half.
Granted, Catoctin's offense, which has leaned heavily on its air attack this season, was severely hampered by having starting quarterback Haydn Mathews and backup Shaymus Stull on the sidelines with injuries.
Stull, who finished last week's win over Smithsburg after Mathews got injured in the game, hurt his ankle in practice earlier this week.
With all of their varsity quarterbacks out, the Cougars had running backs, usually Vince Reaver, taking direct snaps against the Lions. Catoctin (3-5) only attempted five passes, completing one.
