Week 1 football: Smithsburg, South, North, Boonsboro, Clear Spring win openers

The 2023 high school football season has arrived, and Washington County teams fared well on opening night.

Smithsburg started the season with a decisive victory against Francis Scott Key. South Hagerstown blew past Century in a game that saw four players ejected after a third-quarter melee. North Hagerstown pulled away from Tuscarora in the second half. Clear Spring knocked off James Buchanan in Curtis Keller's debut as the Blazers' head coach. Boonsboro rallied past Catoctin in a seesaw affair.

Smithsburg 30, Francis Scott Key 6

Ashton Redman ran for two touchdowns and returned a late interception 90 yards for another score, and the Leopards intercepted four passes and defeated the Eagles in their first game on their new artificial-turf field.

Redman scored from 12 yards out early in the second quarter to give Smithsburg a 6-0 lead.

Quarterback Zac Smith added a 1-yard sneak in the closing seconds of the first half, with Redman's two-point conversion giving the Leopards a 14-0 halftime advantage.

Ben Stevens scored on a 4-yard quarterback keeper to pull FSK within 14-6 five minutes into the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Redman broke multiple tackles and went straight up the gut for a 56-yard TD. He added another conversion to put Smithsburg ahead, 22-6.

Redman's long pick-six came in the final minute, and Vinny Roncone scored the game's final points on a conversion run.

Joey Ryan, Ayden Weakfall and Laurent Douge had the Leopards' other interceptions. Douge and James Robinson added sacks as Smithsburg's defense thwarted the Eagles for much of the game.

Md. high school football: Week 1 statewide scoreboard

South Hagerstown 48, Century 14

Four-year starting quarterback Lance Ford matched his career high with four touchdown passes, and the host Rebels rolled to a season-opening victory over Century.

South scored on all five of its first-half possessions and led 34-14 at the break.

“Pretty much perfect,” Ford said. “We came out, we had a lot of energy, and we played together. The second half, it started off rough and then we got back to going.”

The Rebels went up 7-0 on Ford’s 44-yard TD pass to Cahauri Alford with 8:33 left in the first quarter.

South quickly got the ball back on an interception by Bryan Wagner, and JoJo Davis capitalized with a 14-yard TD run to make it 14-0.

On the first play of the second quarter, the Knights cut it to 14-7 as JT Ferguson scored from the 1.

The Rebels answered less than a minute later, with Ford connecting with Damon Breland for a 14-yard score to up the lead to 21-7.

Michael Owens’ 6-yard TD run made it 28-7. And after Century cut it to 28-14 on a 1-yard run by Trey Helmick, Ford and Breland hooked up for another score, a 16-yarder, to complete the first-half scoring.

The game was briefly delayed early in the third quarter after things got heated on the field during a play in which South fumbled the ball away, resulting in four ejections, two players from each team.

The Rebels extended their lead to 41-14 with 3:46 left in the third on a sensational 32-yard touchdown catch by Cassius Freeman. Ford’s pass was deflected by a Century defender in front of the goal line, and Freeman never lost focus, securing the deflection and then taking three strides into the end zone.

South completed the scoring with 14.8 seconds left in the third on an 18-yard TD run by Alford.

Rebels kicker Nathan Myers was 6-for-6 in extra-point attempts, while South safety Michael Young had a fumble recovery and an interception.

“Right now, we’re looking good,” Ford said. “I’m excited for this year. Can’t wait to see what’s ahead of us.”

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North Hagerstown 38, Tuscarora 27

Luke Kercheval threw for three touchdowns, two to Ryder Johnston, and ran for another, and the Hubs got a pair of second-half scores from Luke Frazee to put away the Titans on the road.

Kercheval threw scoring strikes of 18 and 50 yards to Johnston and 50 yards to Khalil Peggues in the first half. His 1-yard keeper gave North a 25-20 halftime lead.

Frazee scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter and a 1-yard run early in the fourth to extend the lead to 38-20.

Kercheval was 11 of 14 passing for 190 yards with no interceptions, while Johnston had five catches for 96 yards and Peggues had three receptions for 86 yards. Luke Bragunier led the Hubs with 119 yards rushing on 19 carries, while Frazee ran for 113 yards on 21 carries.

Clear Spring 21, James Buchanan 6

The Blazers got off to a hot start under first-year head coach Curtis Keller, toppling the Rockets (0-2).

For Clear Spring, Will Bennett scored on a pass from Hayden Hodge, and Alex Matthews and Jacob Bryan each had a touchdown run.

Boonsboro 24, Catoctin 20

In a back-and-forth struggle on the road, the Warriors rallied in the fourth quarter to edge the Cougars.

Catoctin led 7-2 after the first quarter, but Boonsboro took a 10-7 lead into halftime. The Cougars were ahead 14-10 after three quarters.

Winters Mill 38, Williamsport 14

The host Falcons controlled the Wildcats throughout, building leads of 21-7 at halftime and 31-14 through three quarters.

It was a bit of a revenge game for Winters Mill, after Williamsport defeated the Falcons 41-21 in the first round of last year's Class 2A-1A playoffs.

Madonna 49, Hancock 8

The Panthers dropped their opener on the road against Madonna (2-0), which has outscored its first two opponents by a combined 81-8.

North Cross 51, Saint James 6

The Saints dropped their season opener at home Saturday.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County high school football Week 1 scores