On Friday, October 5th Wheaton High School fought a close battle to Richard Montgomery High School but was unable to hang-on as the Rockets won 14-13. A night that was supposed to be for the Knights…their Homecoming. The Knights came out of the gate quick on the first play from scrimmage. A 61 yard scamper around the right end by Senior Running Back Ayinde Warren and the extra point by Junior Kicker Jean-Michel Agbele put the Knights up 7-0. Minutes later Agbele blocked a Rocket punt putting the Knights deep in RM territory. Warren would get his second touch down of the night with a 9 yard run around the left end, breaking a few tackles to go up 13-0 after the missed PAT. The 1st half would end by the same score. Warren would end the day with 19 carries and 136 yards rushing. This was his 3rd 100 yard performance in the last 4 games.
The Rockets came to life in the 3rd quarter when RM mounted a sustained drive capped by a 27 yard TD pass from Senior Quarterback Steven Burchett to Junior Wide Receiver Phil Osborn. Kicker Kevin Velasquez’s PAT brought the Rockets within a touchdown.
The Knights defense had to contend with Burchett on the ground as in the air. Burchett had a 14 carry 125 yard rushing performance, in addition to his 110 yards in the air. What seemed to brake the Knights was a 51 yard pass from Burchett to Senior Wide Receiver Jose Ortiz in the 3rd Quarter. That helped set up a 12 yard TD run by Burchett. The extra point by Velasquez put the Rockets ahead for good. Despite two fumbles in the game and three sacks on Burchett, one by Knights Senior Defensive End Alexander Attia who had a great performance, Wheaton's offense could not get going in the 2nd half. A fumble towards the end of the game in Rocket territory killed the last chance for the Knights to rally. Wheaton next travels to the Silver Oak Academy in Fredrick County on Friday, October 12th at 6:30pm.
