A season of firsts continued for Western Tech’s football team Friday evening.
Juleon Killikelly-Lee threw for two touchdowns and intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter to seal Western Tech’s 13-12 victory over Dundalk Friday evening at CCBC-Catonsville. The victory clinched the Baltimore County 1A/2A title and the winningest season (9-0) in school history.
The Wolverines also clinched the top seed in the Class 1A North Region playoffs. They’ll go for their first perfect regular season next weekend against winless Loch Raven. Western Tech kept its perfect run intact by outlasting Dundalk in a battle of bruising running attacks.
But the Wolverine’s executed the game’s biggest play in the air with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Killikelly-Lee to junior tight end Thomas Moore during their first drive of the third quarter. The Wolverines made two fourth quarter stops to make the razor thin margin hold up.
“We played with great team effort tonight and Dundalk is a great team,” said Western Tech coach Allan Lagon, whose team is 6-0 in 1A/2A play. “We needed this type of effort to get us ready for the future. This was a tough, knock down, drag out victory by one point. Dundalk is a playoff competitor, so for us to get ready for the playoffs this is exactly what we need.”
The Owls (6-3, 4-2 1A/2A), chasing a Class 2A North Region playoff spot, opened the game strong with a 15-play, 83-yard scoring drive that consumed the first 8 minutes, 37 seconds of play. Senior running back Trevon Reid punctuated the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, putting the Owls up 6-0.
Tech answered on their first possession of the second quarter with some bruising running of its own. The Wolverines took advantage of good field position, starting at Dundalk’s 47-yard line, and ran for 42 yards in six plays. On third-and-four from the five yard-line, Killikelly-Lee converted a nifty touchdown shovel pass to senior running back Carlton Harris.
The Owls answered Moore’s touchdown with 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter, thanks to Reid’s second touchdown of the game, a 21-yard touchdown scamper. But the Owls failed on their second two-point conversion attempt.
The defensive units owned the final 12 minutes of regulation as both teams traded punts back and forth until Western Tech stopped the Owls on fourth down with about three minutes left. With 68 seconds left in the game, Dundalk’s last hope was exhausted when Killikelly-Lee picked off Dundalk quarterback Garet Hadel’s pass at the Owls’ 40 yard-line.
“Most of our games have been pretty one-sided and our kids needed to feel what it was like when any screw-up during any possession could cost us the game,” said Lagon. “It was a good learning experience and we were fortunate enough to come out on top.
Hopefully this is an indicator of what we can do in the playoffs because our kids played hard for all four quarters.”
