Football: No. 4 Damascus pummels No. 25 Seneca Valley on senior night, 59-21

Driven by an immovable offensive line, Hornet seniors steal the show in resounding win over the Screamin' Eagles

Markus Vinson had another big game on Friday night, collecting 208 total yards and three touchdowns in Damascus' romp over Seneca Valley. Austin McFadden/MSA.

DAMASCUS — After an emphatic 50-yard interception return to slam the door on any sort of Seneca Valley comeback, Cedric Cole darted down the Damascus sideline, ripped off his helmet and gazed at the boisterous Hornet crowd.

With teammates engulfing the scene, Cole — a senior — ferociously pumped his fist into the cool Friday night atmosphere knowing he delivered the town of Damascus another rout to savor.

“The fans, I’m so happy they come to our games,” Cole said after No. 4 Damascus pummeled No. 25 Seneca Valley, 59-21. “So much adrenaline, so much heart.”

The interception return gave Damascus a 21-7 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, and was one of Cole’s two touchdowns on the night. Cole’s first score came on Seneca Valley’s opening offensive drive, when he scooped up an Adrian Feliz-Platt fumble and raced 46 yards to give Damascus a 7-0 lead.

“He’s a playmaker,” said Damascus head coach Eric Wallich. “I’m really happy for him.”

In the first seven minutes, Cole grabbed the game by the scruff with his defensive heroics. For the rest of the way, it was another resounding performance by the Hornets (9-0) fueled by a seemingly immovable offensive line and a stifling defense that forced six turnovers.

The showing was fitting on the senior night stage and coming against their cross-county rivals. The emphatic performance also dished out Wallich’s 100th career victory as a head coach.

“I’ve had some incredible players that I’ve coached, made so many great relationships with people. It’s just been a lot of fun,” Wallich said of win No. 100. “We’ve had some great wins, and some bad losses that have hurt a lot. It’s amazing.”

Friday night’s victory gave Damascus their 25th straight victory. Their last loss came against Franklin in the 2014 Class 3A state championship — a game they led at halftime. All eight Damascus touchdowns came in the first half, as they held a 56-21 lead.

During a pregame team meal, Damascus running backs Elijah Atkins (100 yards rushing, three touchdowns) and Markus Vinson (208 total yards, three touchdowns) huddled around each other and rattled off their collective predictions. Vinson first predicted a 42-10 Hornet victory, which wasn’t far off. But his next prediction was lottery-esque.

“I came up to [Markus] and asked him how many [touchdowns] we’re going to get. Markus said, ‘We’re gonna get three touchdowns, each,'” Atkins said. “We came out here and did it.”

In many ways, Friday night’s 38-point victory was fitting for the town of Damascus. For Vinson, it was the final time and cherry top of an undefeated run against Seneca Valley.

“It feels great beating them on senior night,” Vinson said. “Wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”

For the second year in a row, Damascus improves to 9-0 with a firm grasp of homefield advantage in the 3A West playoff race. If Friday night was any indication on what the future holds, the Hornets are in the driver’s seat to capture a second straight state crown, and the ninth in school history.

“Great moment,” Atkins said. “Definitely a night to remember.”

Seneca Valley (7-2) running back Adrian Feliz-Platt rushed for 160 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries. Zack Robinson passed for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Harold Dotson caught three passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns.

“That might be the last time we play Seneca Valley; it’s our rivals, it’s a huge game,” Cole said. “That’s why I love the game so much, man.”

Box score

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
No. 4 DAM (9-0) 28 28 3 0 59
No. 25 SV (7-2) 7 14 0 0 21

 

Scoring summary

First quarter

DAM — Cedric Cole 46-yard fumble return (PAT good), 9:46

SV — Harold Dotson 14-yard pass from Zack Robinson (PAT good), 8:01

DAM — Elijah Atkins 8-yard run (PAT good), 7:01

DAM — Cedric Cole 50-yard interception return (PAT good), 5:00

DAM — Elijah Atkins 6-yard run (PAT good), 3:00

Second quarter

DAM — Markus Vinson 34-yard run (PAT good), 9:49

SV — Harold Dotson 36-yard pass from Zack Robinson (PAT good), 7:46

DAM — Markus Vinson 1-yard run (PAT good), 5:34

DAM — Markus Vinson 8-yard run (PAT good), 3:00

SV — Adrian Feliz-Platt 28-yard run (PAT good), 1:55

DAM — Elijah Atkins 1-yard run (PAT good), 0:56

Third quarter

DAM — John Furgeson 25-yard field goal, 9:55

Fourth quarter

None

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About Kyle McFadden 270 Articles
Kyle McFadden is a graduate from Linganore High's Class of 2014 and is a sports enthusiast. He got his start as a sports writer in January 2014 for LHS's student newspaper The Lance where he wrote 13 articles. McFadden then launched his own blog in October 2014 called The Beltway Dispatch covering collegiate, local high school, and professional sports. Formally known as The Beltway Dispatch, McFadden and Evan Engelhard merged each other's respective platforms in June 2015 to make what is now Maryland Sports Access. He brings plenty of sports knowledge to the helm of MSA as he has baseball, basketball and golf experience. McFadden covers a wide variety of sports in football, baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and specializes in the collegiate and high school level's. McFadden is volunteers his time at Damascus Road Community Church -- serving as a mentor to the youth, basketball coach at the varsity and junior varsity levels, and leads a small group of high school sophomores every Wednesday night. Although he has only been around journalism since January 2014, his work has appeared in Maryland newspapers such as The Daily Times (Delmarva Now), The Hometown Observer, Germantown Pulse, and regularly in the The Frederick News-Post. He's also won two Frederick News-Post Mike Powell Excellence in Journalism awards and has appeared on The Best of SNO, which showcases top student work of high school and college journalists. McFadden also holds positions at The Frederick News-Post as a freelance sports journalist, DMVelite as a high school basketball writer and analyst, MocoFootball.com as a Maryland high school football analyst, and as a staff writer for Maryland's Yahoo! Rivals. McFadden currently studies at Frederick Community College and plans to transfer to the University of Maryland in the fall of 2017 to work on a bachelor's degree in business and journalism as he has aspirations to be a columnist for ESPN.
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