By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Whether or not Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh’s viral, “Lamar, do you want to go for this?” moment last Sunday night has inspired high school football coaches to expand their definition of fourth down territory remains to be seen, but fourth down situations were seminal in the meeting of unbeatens at Webster Schroeder High School on Friday night.
Brighton clung to a 13-7 halftime lead when Schroeder, facing an achievable fourth and one from the opposing 35, attempted a run play that Brighton linebacker Shane Strazdins snuffed out for a loss of yardage. Brighton needed just four plays to capitalize, as running back Tahj Jackson ran in a touchdown and quarterback Brennan Clasgens kept the ball for a successful two-point conversion.
The next Schroeder drive ended in nearly the same spot, when defensive back Ellis Einbinder, who also recorded an interception, broke up a pass on fourth and two from the Brighton 32. Bruin senior Elijah Lamonaco rushed for a touchdown after Brighton took over, securing a commanding 28-7 lead.
The Bruin defense made things easier for itself on the next drive, forcing a quick three-and-out. After surrendering just 33 points all season entering Friday’s matchup, Brighton soured Schroeder’s Senior Night with a 28-7 victory, improving to 4-0.
“I think the last two weeks have really taught our guys a lot,” Brighton head coach Stephen Lian remarked. “We played a tight game with a great UPrep team, then we played a tight game with a great Webster Thomas team last week. Coming into this game, I feel like we’re pretty battle-tested. We’ve been in adverse situations, and I think you saw- our kids didn’t really get rattled.
“We didn’t have success early. We didn’t play well early; we were making procedural penalties, mental mistakes. But down the stretch when we had to make plays, I don’t think anybody on our team was nervous about it. We just tried to go out and execute the fundamentals.”
Clasgens scored Brighton’s first two touchdowns, breaking the scoreless deadlock with a 15-yard keeper with 1:31 remaining in the first half and following up with a 33-yard burst on the next offensive drive. Torance Washington broke away from the Bruins with a 60-yard reception for the Warriors’ lone touchdown.
Brighton tallied 353 rushing yards, with Clasgens and Jackson providing 291 on 32 combined carries.
“Tahj is a four-year starter for us. He’s the only kid on this team that started since he was a freshman,” Lian explained of Jackson. “He’s played in a lot of football games. He was the one that we leaned on to close out last week against Webster Thomas and he’s the guy that we’re gonna lean on to close out any other game. So we know Tahj is Tahj and he’s gonna do it. He’s just a special, special football player.”
Everything wasn’t cheerful for the Bruins postgame. Lian let his team hear about what he deemed excessive celebration as the contest came to a close. The rebuke represented a learning lesson for Brighton moving forward.
“Our kids are excited. They won a big game,” Lian acknowledged. “But I want them to learn how to win the right way. A little bit too celebratory for my taste, and I just wanted to let them know that this is a big win for us, but we have big goals and we want to continue to win. And character matters.”
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