Warsaw, Merrills Lead Maryland Past Virginia
By Sheldon Shealer
COLLEGE PARK -- A pair of future Terps looked right at home in Byrd Stadium on Saturday, leading the Maryland All-Stars past the Virginia All-Stars, 20-3, in the Super 44 Classic.
Shai Warsaw, an invited walk-on to Maryland, completed 12-of-22 passes for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Mario Merrills, a scholarshiped player at the ACC school, returned a kickoff 99 yards for another score.
Warsaw earned the game's MVP honor for Maryland. Virginia kicker Greg Kuehn, who had a record-setting 47-yard field goal for the team's lone points, won the honor for the Virginia team.
Warsaw put Maryland on the scoreboard early in the first quarter with a 16-yard scoring pass to Jamie Byroads. The scoring drive was aided by a 40-yard pass from Warsaw to Dominique Stewart, moving the ball to the Virginia 17. Maryland scored two plays later when Warsaw stepped up in the pocket to avoid a rush, then found Byroads wide open in the middle of the end zone.
Midway through the second quarter, Virginia answered with Kuehn's 47-yard field goal -- the longest in Super 44 history. The kick capped a nine-play, 54-yard drive -- one of only two sustained drives by the Virginia team all game.
However, any momentum from Virginia's score was shortlived as Merrills, who fumbled the ensuing kickoff, scooped up the loose ball and scrambled 99 yards for the longest kickoff return in Super 44 history. Josh Brown's second PAT gave Maryland a 14-3 lead with 7:59 left in the first half.
Neither team scored again until Byroads made an over-the-shoulder grab of a soft Warsaw pass for a 5-yard score with 8:58 left in the contest.
The win was the second straight for Maryland, which holds a 5-4 series lead.
NOTES -- Maryand's defense held Virginia to 55 rushing yards on 34 attempts. ... Kuehn's field goal broke the previous mark of 39 yards set by DeMatha's Patrick King in 2000. ... Merrills' TD return clipped the mark of North County's Topper Ellis, who had an 88-yard kickoff retun in 1995. ... Maryland's Super 44 roster included 32 players who have signed with NCAA Division I-A or I-AA programs. Virginia's entire roster included only 30 players who are planning to play college football this fall -- only 15 at I-A or I-AA schools. ... Halftime event winners for rising high school seniors were: Decatur's Kurt Purnell in the Quarterback Challenge, Overlea's Dennis Wise in the Strongest Man Competition and Urbana's Billy Gaines in the Fastest Man Competition.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
|
| Virginia |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Maryland |
7 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
20 |
| Scoring Summary |
| M -- Jamie Byroads 16 pass from Shai Warsaw (Josh Brown kick) |
| V -- Greg Kuehn 47 field goal |
| M -- Mario Merrills 99 kickoff return (Brown kick) |
| M -- Byroads 5 pass from Warsaw (kick blocked) |
| TEAM STATISTICS |
Virginia |
Maryland |
| First Downs |
6 |
12 |
| Rushes-Yards |
34-55 |
31-107 |
| Passing (Cmp-Att-Int.) |
8-23-0 |
16-32-0 |
| Passing Yards |
76 |
171 |
| Total Offense |
78-131 |
63-278 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
2-1 |
1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards |
9-69 |
6-35 |
| Punts-Avg. |
10-36.7 |
7-41.0 |
| Time of Possession |
29:18 |
30:42 |
Passing (Comp-Att-TD-Int-Yards): Virginia -- Schires (Robinson) 4-16-0-0-71,
Overton (Hylton) 3-7-0-0-5; Maryland -- Warsaw (Sherwood) 12-22-2-0-155, Brown (Urbana)
4-10-0-0-16.
Rushing (Carries-Yards-TD): Virginia -- Acheampong (Hayfield) 6-14-0, Schires
(Robinson) 7-14-0, Walker (Hayfield) 9-12-0, Bryant (Edison) 4-8-0, Deflin (Lake
Braddock) 1-5-0, Squirewell (Chantilly) 4-5-0, Overton (Hylton) 3-(-3)-0; Maryland
-- Bah (Paint Branch) 4-36-0, Lucas (Sherwood) 10-27-0, Richardson (Gaithersburg)
3-15-0, Collins (Old Mill) 5-12-0, Riley (DeMatha) 3-10-0, Merrills (Wilde Lake)
4-8-0, Warsaw (Paint Branch) 2-1-0.
Receiving (Rec.-Yards-TD): Virginia -- Williams (Potomac) 3-24-0, Lee (Hayfield)
3-15-0, Deflin (Lake Braddock) 1-40-0, Walker (Hayfield) 1-(-5)-0; Maryland -- Stewart
(DeMatha) 8-104-0, Phillips (Northwest) 3-26-0, Byroads (Chopticon) 2-21-2, Beccles
(Sherwood) 1-22-0, Riley (DeMatha) 1-1-0.
Punting (Punts-Yards-Avg.): Virginia -- Finnern (Lake Braddock) 10-367-36.7;
Maryland -- Brown (Urbana) 7-287-41.0.
Quarterback Sacks: Virginia -- Hunter (Lake Braddock); Maryland -- Chisley
(Westlake), Rice (Eleanor Roosevelt), Walston (Eleanor Roosevelt).
Interceptions: None.