Sports

Falcons overcome obstacles to win their second straight state championship

By The Examiner
Published May 25, 2007 4:00am ET
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Despite a coaching change and a serious injury to a key attackman, Severn Park High?s boys lacrosse team claimed the Class 4A/3A state championship with a 15-6 win over Wootton at UMBC Wednesday.

It was the second straight championship for Severna Park (17-2), which was making its sixth consecutive appearance in the final.

“It is not that we knew how to play, we justworked real hard all year long,” Falcons senior attackman Randy Waugh said.

Waugh suffered a serious head injury while skateboarding earlier this year and required brain surgery. He came back to play in the team?s final eight games.

“After Randy?s injury, we wanted him to get back in the flow of things,” senior Eric Lusby said. “He fit right in, and we wanted to win a championship and go out with a bang.”

Lusby and Waugh were the stars of last year?s state championship win over Dulaney. Lusby, like his best friend, tallied three goals against Wootton (18-1). Fellow senior Colby Rhodes added four goals.

Facing Wootton in the final was a surprise. With a win over Dulaney in the state semifinals, the Patriots became Montgomery County?s first lacrosse team ? boys or girls ? to advance in the state tournament. That mattered little to Severna Park.

“We wanted to take it like any game,” Lusby said. “Once we found out it was Wootton, we thought we had more experience than them and we took it to them.”

The Falcons led by 6-3 before putting the game away by outscoring Wootton, 6-1, in the third quarter.

“We knew they could not run with us,” said first-year Falcons coach Larry Kramer, who was a late replacement for Jimmy Beardmore earlier this year. “We had the athletes, and I thought we could run for four quarters against them and that is what happened.”

With 21 seniors on the roster this year, Kramer is now looking ahead to 2008, and he is optimistic.

“We have a strong sophomore class this year,” Kramer said. “We will be in good shape.”