FROSTBURG — Mountain Ridge has executed when it’s needed to late in games all season — the Miners did it again on Friday to hold off a furious Catoctin rally.
The Cougars scored 14 points in 15 seconds to claw within 23-17 entering the fourth quarter, but Mountain Ridge buckled down, forcing a pair of turnovers and scoring a pair of long touchdowns by way of Will Patterson and Austin Frost in the decider to pull away.
Patterson and Frost both went over 100 yards, Eli Sibley picked off two passes and No. 2 Mountain Ridge pulled away from No. 7 Catoctin to win 37-17 in the Class 1A state quarterfinals on Friday night at Miners Stadium.
“Hats off to Catoctin, they got better since Week 2, and a lot of the game they were more physical than we were, which I think surprised our kids a little bit,” Mountain Ridge head coach Ryan Patterson said.
“It was back to that old complacency thing. I think our kids never truly bought into the fact that we could lose this game, but I’m very happy our kids pulled through. … Moving onto the semifinals with lots of things to clean up.”
The Miners (10-1) — who have now won 24 straight at home — will host No. 3 Perryville (9-2) in the semifinals next week as they look to advance to their third consecutive state championship game.
Catoctin (5-7) overcame a 19-7 fourth-quarter deficit to upset Patterson Mill a week ago, but the Miners — who also downed the Cougars, 43-12, in Week 2 of the regular season — were too good down the stretch.
The Cougars looked to take the lead with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Shaymus Stull to Urban Moore with around six minutes to play in the fourth; however, a holding penalty brought the ball back.
Sibley picked off a pass a two plays later, and Will Patterson found the end zone from 45 yards out on the Miners’ first play of their next series to up the Miners’ edge to 31-17 with 4:30 left.
Mountain Ridge turned Catoctin over on downs on its next drive, and Frost scampered into the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown run with three minutes to play to slam the door.
“I know we’re resilient, and we’ve had a lot of tight games this year,” Ryan Patterson said.
Will Patterson finished with 145 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries — also scoring on runs of 56 yards and one yard — and he completed 11 of 15 passes for 152 yards and another score.
Frost ran the ball 17 times for 97 yards and a touchdown and also caught a screen pass for 31 yards. Andrew Ketterman caught six passes for 92 yards.
Mountain Ridge appeared to be rolling to another rout after Patterson’s 56-yard rushing touchdown made it 23-3 with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
However, Catoctin came back thanks to some magic from its quarterback Stull, who threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Reaver and ran for a 29-yard score to get within 23-17 with 3:19 to play in the third period.
Both scores, which came in a 15-second span, sandwiched a fumble by Mountain Ridge on a squib kick that was recovered by the Cougars to set up a short field.
Mountain Ridge then threw an interception in the end zone to Levi Misner on its next series on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Catoctin got a boost from its passing game in the second half after not completing a pass before halftime, which was helped by the rain stopping during intermission.
Stull completed 6 of 9 passes in the third quarter to give his running back Jacob Bell (22 rushes, 100 yards) a breather after 16 first-half carries.
“Our guys are Catoctin through and through, and they’re never going to give up when the odds are stacked against them,” Catoctin head coach Michael Rich said. “I thought we outplayed them in the second half at times.
“We talk about each play is its own individual thing. We play one play at a time: Good, bad, indifferent. Our quarterback Shaymus was a warrior. He was unbelievable tonight.”
Yet, the Miners’ defense responded and came up with four straight stops to power the school from Frostburg over the finish line.
Patterson thew one touchdown pass and ran for another during the first half to give Mountain Ridge a 17-3 lead at the break.
After each team traded field goals — the Miners’ Tyler Cook made a 25-yarder and the Cougars’ Jorge Diaz-Nichols was good from 43 — Mountain Ridge notched back-to-back touchdown drives to garner separation.
The first scoring series traversed 70 yards on eight plays and was capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Sibley on a play action to give the Miners a 10-3 edge with 45 seconds left in the first period.
Then, after a defensive stop and a shanked punt by Catoctin, Mountain Ridge started on the Cougars’ 48 and scored nine plays later on a one-yard Patterson run with 5:33 left in the half.
Patterson was 8 of 11 through the air during the first half for 121 yards, and his top target was Ketterman, who caught four balls for 67 yards. Ketterman also returned the opening kickoff 47 yards to set up the Miners’ field goal.
Bell was a force before intermission carrying the ball 16 times for 85 yards during the first half, but the Cougars — who had at least one first down on each series before halftime — weren’t able to finish drives.
Ryan Patterson was displeased with his team’s discipline. The Miners were penalized just once for five yards during the first half, but they were called for four penalties for 40 yards after.
“We are usually one of the most disciplined teams you’ll ever find,” he said. “This penalty thing is going to cost us if it keeps up. We’re really going to be looking for ways to improve our discipline this week.”
Mountain Ridge ended with a 17-13 edge in first downs, 391-249 margin in total offense and won the turnover battle 2-1.
The Miners ran it 35 times for 239 yards to Catoctin’s 37 for 164 yards. The Cougars were called for 10 penalties for 73 yards.
Catoctin held the edge in time of possession, 24:38-23:22.
Mountain Ridge now turns to the state semifinals, which it’ll host for the third consecutive season. It’ll draw Perryville, which defeated No. 6 Lake Clifton, 38-0, on Friday night.
“I don’t think we’ve played a complete game,” Patterson said. “This team, this is kind of what they do. Hoping we can break that trend. I’d love to see their best game next week and then we go and top that on Dec. 2.”