Work in practice pays off for Patterson

When Patterson High head football coach Corey Johnson and his Clippers walked onto the field Friday afternoon to face the City College Knights, he was hoping the work his team put in practice during the week would pay off.

“We were really trying to pay attention detail this week,” said Johnson.   “We had a terrible practice on Tuesday and a much better practice Wednesday and Thursday.  Plus the bus was late to take us to the game today, so we had an extended walk thru.  We needed to be prepared to play a tough, physical game today.”

The work paid off for the visiting team as the Clippers handed City their second loss of the season in a 29-22 victory in front of a boisterous crowd on hand at Alumni Field.

The Clippers (5-1 overall, 3-1 in Baltimore City Division I) and Knights (4-2, 3-2 Division I) definitely played a physical game and both teams battled in the trenches. The entire game had everything a football fan wanted: touchdowns, turnovers, hard hits and high scoring.

The action started right out of the gate.

Patterson started the game with the ball and opened with a great scoring drive to put the Clippers on the scoreboard first.  Patterson quarterback Aaron Overton found wide receiver Myrek Lee Fowlkes in the end zone for the five yard score and the Clippers punched in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

City responded with back-to-back touchdowns on their first two series.  First, senior fullback Tre James broke through a seam and ran for a 62-yard score.  The Knights missed a two-point try, but on their next series, Knights quarterback Steffin Wilkens threw a beautiful pass to tight end Charles Tapper for a 37-yard touchdown. City went ahead 14-8 with the help of a two-pointer after the touchdown.

City head coach George Petrides was pleased with his offense early on.

“I was happy with the way we moved the ball,” said Petrides.  “We made some adjustments early on because we noticed some of their weaknesses.”

After his team forced a turnover on downs, Patterson’s Deaonta Winston squirted free for a 90-yard touchdown run and Patterson added a two-point conversion to build momentum with a 16-14 lead. heading into halftime.

City responded in the third quarter as Wilkens hooked up with Tapper again for another touchdown, and the two-pointer, pushing the Knights back in front, 22-16.

Down the stretch, City made suffered additional turnovers, ultimately leading to Patterson’s final two touchdowns.

“The turnovers hurt us today,” said Petrides after the game.  “Patterson is a good team.  I knew it wasn’t over when we went ahead.  They have speed and made some big plays, and you can’t turn the ball over against a team like them.”

Patterson’s senior quarterback had a huge fourth quarter, throwing a go-ahead touchdown to junior wideout Pete Carter, and then minutes later Overton ran in for a score on a quarterback sneak after another City turnover, to close the door on the Knights.

“We came out ready to play,” said Overton after the win.  “I made some bad mistakes, but we got back on our feet and came together as a team.  We want to be one of the top teams in the city.”

To view video highlights, prepared by Gerard Shelley, click on the Related Videos link above.