After a strong start to the season at 1-1, the Patriots looked to continue their success with games against Churchill, BCC, Seneca, and Whitman.

On Sept. 22, the Patriots went on the road to play their cross county rivals, the Churchill Bulldogs. The game started out slow with neither side being able to get the upper hand. Eventually in the second quarter the Bulldogs picked off Patriots’ quarterback Gavin Grange near their endzone and managed to run it in for a touchdown, taking a 7-0 lead.
Despite big plays from Grange and sophomore running back Tyler Siegell, the Patriots offense wasn’t able to get into any rhythm. The defense stayed strong the rest of the game, holding Churchill scoreless in the second half, but without any offensive help the Patriots would ultimately fall to the Bulldogs 7-0, a disappointing loss for the team given it being a rival game. “It sucks to lose to Churchill, especially since we have worked so hard in practice this week. But we have to keep our heads up and look forward to next week vs Seneca,” Grange said after the loss.

The boys looked to bounce back against Bethesda Chevy Chase at home on Sept. 30. The Barons came out hot with their run-heavy offense pounding the ball against the Wootton defense. The Barons took a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Patriots their offense still wasn’t able to get going and the Barons took advantage of this, scoring a second touchdown and making the score 14-0 going into half. In the second half the Patriots were able to string together good plays but weren’t able to capitalize and would lose the game 14-0.

The Patriots then faced the undefeated Seneca Valley Screaming Eagles at home on Oct. 7. The Eagles struck first with a 60-yard punt return to put them on top 6-0. But the Patriots came right back with a touchdown pass from Grange to freshman Josh Reid to put the Patriots up 8-6. The Eagles then answered right back with two quick touchdowns to put the Eagles up 22-8 going into half. Unfortunately for the Patriots, in the second half the eagles offense stayed hot, scoring two touchdowns and extending their lead to 36-8. The Patriots didn’t give up though, putting together a good drive and capping it off with a 20-yard throw from Grange to Siegel to cut the lead to 36-16. It was little too late though as the Patriots couldn’t get it going early enough and lost 36-16, extending their losing streak to four games.

The Patriots then headed to Whitman to face a winless Viking team, a key game for the Patriots who had recently been slipping down the standings. The team felt they had a good week of practice and were prepared for the Whitman team. “We have practiced really hard all week and are confident we should win this game,” freshman Thomas Mehler said before the game.

The Patriots came out on fire to start the game, especially Siegel who ran in two touchdowns to put the Patriots up 15-0. The Vikings answered back with a touchdown of their own to make it 15-6 Patriots going into half. The second half was no different from the first with the Patriots dominating from the first whistle. The Patriots added two more touchdowns, the first one being a 20-yard pass from Grange to freshman Ashton Ingram, who turned on the jets and burnt the Whitman defense, gaining 50 yards and scoring a touchdown. The second came from who else but Siegel, who ran into the endzone, making that a hat trick on the day for him. The Vikings had no answers for the Patriots as they cruised to a 31-12 win to snap the four-game skid. The game was a huge ego boost for the team and head JV coach Patrice Bowman, who thought it was a statement game for the team. “We’ve always had the talent, but we have just failed to execute. Today we showed that we can put points on the board and compete with any team in the county as long as we execute,” Bowman said.

The boys will look to ride the momentum into the final stretch of the season where they will face Catonsville home on Oct. 21 and will end the season away against WJ on Oct. 28