Not many high school football teams in the state have been more dominating in recent years than Potomac. The Prince George?s County power backed up that reputation by winning the last two Class 2A state championships.
However, Potomac?s prowess did nothing to faze Eastern Tech, which put together an impressive defensive performance Friday in a 20-0 win at Community College of Baltimore County-Essex.
The Mavericks, who face New Town tonight at 7 p.m., finished the contest with nine total sacks and came up with a number of forced fumbles. The win was the perfect way for Eastern Tech to start its season after finishing a disappointing 6-5 a year ago. Still, the Mavericks managed to reach the playoffs for the seventh time in nine years.
“This has got to be one of the biggest wins in our program,” said fourth-year coach Marc Mesaros. “This ranks right up there with beating Hereford for the region title in 2003. But that was just one game. Now, we?ve got to get ready for a tough New Town team that looked great beating Owings Mills last week.”
Mesaros? players share their coach?s humble view. They all appear determined to use the Potomac win as a foundation for the rest of the season. Among those players are linebackers Mike Cellini and Bryan Watson, who combined for 18 tackles and five sacks in last week?s win.
“We had a bad record last season, and we needed to get this win against Potomac,” said Cellini, who also had 56 yards on 17 carries as a fullback. “Last week was the hardest week of practice I can remember getting ready to play that game.”
Nic Terry, who finished with four tackles and a forced fumble last week, said he felt this year?s Eastern Tech squad isn?t as big or fast as last year, but it is improved in other areas.
“This team plays like more of a unit,” he said. “But even though we beat Potomac, we can?t think about that game, anymore. We can?t look past any opponent, which is something we did last year, and it showed in our record.”
EASTERN TECH NOTES
» Mavericks quarterback Nick Rooney finished last week?s game 4 of 5 passing for 61 yards and two touchdowns.
» Eastern Tech has never won a state title but did reach the championship game in 1998 and the semifinals in 2003.
» Potomac had beaten Eastern Tech each of theprevious two seasons. The Mavericks got shut out in both games.
