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What a night
Copenhaver's 5 TD's help Raiders beat Calvert
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
Leonardtown senior Michael Copenhaver scores three touchdowns rushing and throws for two more in Thursday's victory.
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As Leonardtown quarterback Michael Copenhaver spoke with reporters after his team's victory over Calvert, Raiders head coach Anthony Pratley walked by and jokingly told him to give plenty of credit to his coach.
Copenhaver did so. But, out on the field, all the credit went to the senior, as the Raiders' won a wild 38-28 victory over the host Cavaliers on Thursday.
Copenhaver rushed for 239 yards and three touchdowns and passed for two more to help Leonardtown (2-5, 2-4 SMAC) collect its second victory of the season
"He brings athleticism; the kid is just a pure athlete," Pratley said of Copenhaver, who is being recruited for lacrosse. "He's just tough as nails. He's not very big at all, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in heart, because the kid just doesn't lay down. He gets hit three, four, five times but he just keeps running."
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound pivot used his speed and determination and especially his blockers to wiggle his way for extra yardage. Copenhaver, who had 128 yards in the first half and gained seven or more yards on 14 of his 27 carries, credited his offensive line.
"There was not one play where someone missed a block, so I have to thank everyone for blocking," he said with his white uniform almost brown from a hard day at the office. "Every play had good holes, it wasn't just one [particular] play."
"Our hogs don't get enough credit," Pratley said.
Copenhaver's field day came as no surprise to the Cavaliers, who had made him the focus of their game plan.
"All week we preached, ‘Stop No. 3, stop No. 3, stop No. 3," Calvert head coach Marc Watson said. "We knew he was a threat so we worked on that all week. We played man [coverage] and kept guys in the box, but it just didn't go our way."
"He's a good player," said Calvert senior tackle Nick Kern. "He's good at shifting around. Our job tonight was to read him and we did our best."
Leonardtown was hoping to change its fortunes after a 48-0 loss to North Point the previous Friday.
"That's a really good team; they just spanked us," Pratley said. "The kids were down a little bit but we knew this was a winnable game."
Calvert (1-6, 1-5) was coming off its first win of the season, a 12-2 come-from-behind win over Thomas Stone.
"We missed some assignments tonight, which hurt us real bad," Watson said. "The kids played hard and they're never going to quit. We just came up short, but that's football. A team's going to win and team's going to lose. If a couple plays go our way, then we're on the better half of the scoreboard."
It took the Cavaliers 15 seconds to get on the better half of the scoreboard when Zac Beukers took the opening kickoff and raced 74 yards for the touchdown.
"It definitely wasn't a good feeling," Copenhaver said.
The next three series all ended in touchdowns and an early second quarter pass play put the Raiders ahead 18-13.
Two series' later, Leonardtown was faced with a fourth down and 20 at its own 29-yard line and lined up to punt. But, Copenhaver took a direct snap and raced untouched down the left sideline for the touchdown.
"We shifted right and I saw the left side open," Copenhaver said. "Sorry, Coach told me the left side was open, so I looked over there and noticed the only guy back there was the kick returner."
But Calvert got a big boost when Lucas Hornick hauled in a 25-yard scoring toss with two seconds left in the half.
"We were down and we needed to get something by halftime to bring our spirits back up," the senior said.
Beukers burrowed his way into the end zone from three yards out on Calvert's first second half possession to push ahead 28-25, but Leonardtown answered back with a demoralizing drive.
The Raiders went 80 yards in 16 plays and took 10 minutes 7 seconds off the clock.
Copenhaver capped off the clock-eating drive when he sneaked in from two yards out, but the play of the drive was Copenhaver's 10-yard run on third and 10.
"That's a dagger," Pratley said of the lengthy drive. "When you can take a team as good as they are and drive it home and drive it home, it takes the spirit out of them. It defeated them a bit. You could see the wind come out of their sails. And for us to be able to put together a 16-play drive and not make any mistakes, I'm proud of that, too."
Calvert fumbled on its ensuing drive and Leonardtown all but sealed the win when Copenhaver wriggled his way 16 yards for a score. The key play on the seven-play, 31 yard drive was a 20-yard pass play from Copenhaver to Stailey on third and 15.
"We were supposed to fake a run and just dump it over the safety if he crashed right," said Copenhaver, who rolled to his right and fired a BB to Devon Stailey. "The safety did and [Stailey] made a heck of a catch. We played it perfect."
"I was surprised I was so open," Stailey said. "The blocking was key and [so was] the good play calling by coach."
Watson added, "They converted on third down and they kept drives going, especially in the second half."
While Calvert focused on Copenhaver, the Raiders made senior running back Brandon Greening (17 carries for 125 yards) their primary focus.
"Calvert has some athletes on their side; that Greening kid is tremendous," Pratley said. "We weren't going to let him beat us because he's as good as any athlete there is in this conference and I mean that sincerely. That was our plan and I think we did a pretty good job of that."
mreid@somdnews.com
