Broadneck punches back, KOs Old Mill’s repeat bid

Broadneck High’s football team made payback on its collective mind Friday night against No. 3 Old Mill. Last week, the Patriots humiliated the Bruins in a 31-7 thrashing.

The No. 11 Bruins’ defense returned to form and their offense made enough timely plays as the Cape St. Claire school pulled out a 16-14 victory in a Class 4A East Region semifinal. Broadneck will play Arundel for the region championship next weekend.

Bruins senior quarterback James Mullis threw two touchdown passes to junior wideout Darnell Solomon, the latter with 3 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in regulation, ending the Patriots’ bid for a second straight state championship.

“Last week we [Broadneck] were hit in the mouth,” said Broadneck coach Jeff Herrick, whose team improved to 9-2. “They [Old Mill] really took it to us, they’re an excellent football team and they are coached extremely well and they took to us last week and I think that woke our guys up.”

“We were straight up embarrassed,” said Mullis. “We came out and got blown out last week and we had a lot to prove and we did that tonight.”

Mullis rolled to his right and flung the ball up to Solomon who plucked the ball out the sky and glided into end zone from 38-yards out to give the Bruins’ their final lead.

“I just threw the ball up to my man Darnell [Solomon] and he came down with the ball,” said Mullis. “I got some great blocks from the offensive line, I threw the ball up, I trusted him and he caught the ball.”

“I just went up at the highest point to get the ball,” said Solomon. “This win means a lot because for some our seniors; this their first time in the playoffs.”

After being torched for more than 200 yards by the tandem of Demond Brown and Rob Chesson last week, Broadenck’s defense kept the duo under control in the rematch. Brown had 15 carries for 78 yards while Chesson went for 87 yards on 18 carries.

The Patriots (9-2) appeared to have control as Chesson returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead in the third quarter. Broadneck didn’t flinch.

Mullis found Solomon who had one-on-one coverage and lofted the ball to his receiver. Old Mill’s Torie Wagner tipped the ball into the hands of Solomon who bobbled the ball and pulled it in as he bolted 67 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Patriot lead down to 14-10 in the third quarter.

“Those plays we tried to hit on all year long, he [Solomon] is a big go-to player,” said Herrick.   .

“We knew from the start that we were going to this game,” said Mullis. “It didn’t matter what the score was at half, third and fourth quarter we knew we were going to win.”

On defense, Enrique Lipscomb recovered a Brown fumble. The Bruins made the Patriots turn the ball over on downs on three different occasions.

“The difference was they just played better from last week to this week,” said Old Mill coach Damian Ferragamo. “We knew that this was going to be a difficult game and we had some breaks that didn’t go our way, but that’s football.”

The Bruins are now presented with another opportunity to avenge their other loss next week at Arundel. The Wildcats used a reverse to score on the game’s opening kickoff to post a 10-6 decision. The 10 points is the fewest the high-powered Arundel offense has scored in a game this season. 

“We got a good defense and we will do the best we can for whatever we see,” said Herrick. “We are going one type of offense that likes to run the ball to other offense that likes to throw it, but they have to be a little bit concerned with us to.”

“We should have beaten them the first time we played them,” said Mullis. “We were just a little too young.”

The Bruins definitely grew in a week’s time.

“It took everything we had,” said Mullis. “We were a team the entire game. It’s a great win, we needed it, we knew we could do it and when you believe and have everyone on the same page, you can win any game.”

“Broadneck kids bounce back,” said Herrick. “Ever since I started coaching Broadneck kids they have a tendency to bounce back, and it holds true again today.”

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