Devils throw KO punch

Springbrook stays alive, pushes Richard Montgomery to brink in playoff picture with 6-0 win

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo charles E. shoemaker⁄the gazette Springbrook senior Adou Kouadio (20) was held in check for much of Saturday’s meeting with Richard Montgomery in Silver Spring, but caught a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from sophomore Phoenix Butler-Poole for the only score of the Blue Devils’ season-saving, 6-0 win.

In a game with playoff implications for both teams, neither team wanted to make a mistake, and slowly felt each other out for three quarters. Then, without warning, the Blue Devils struck one fierce knockout blow. Sophomore quarterback Phoenix Butler-Poole hit senior running back Adou Kouadio with a 68-yard touchdown bomb with just over eight minutes to play, which was all Springbrook would need in a 6-0 home win over the Rockets.

‘‘When you play a game like that, it’s kind of like watching Ali-Frazier I,” said Richard Montgomery coach Mike Burnell, who was the defensive coordinator at Springbrook in 2003 and ’04. ‘‘It all came down to one left hook, and that’s what beat Ali the first time around. Up until that point, we drove the ball down, they drove the ball down, but no one really capitalized until the early fourth quarter, when they threw that left hook.”

The win kept playoff hopes alive at Springbrook (6-3 overall, 3-2 in the Montgomery 4A East Division), which needs a win over Watkins Mill Friday and some outside help to qualify for the 4A North Region playoffs. Richard Montgomery (5-4, 3-3 in the 4A East) is still mathematically alive for a berth in the 4A West Region playoffs, though it won’t be easy. A win over undefeated Northwest Friday, combined with a loss by Gaithersburg, would put the Rockets and Trojans in a virtual dead heat for the fourth and final seed, which would then be decided by which team’s previous opponents won more games next week.

The Blue Devils are still calculating playoff points thanks to the coolness under fire of Butler-Poole, who has shown remarkable poise in late-game situations before. The sophomore struggled against Richard Montgomery’s staunch defense, which game-planned to take away the Blue Devils’ best receiver, Nick Oates.

But with one throw to Kouadio, Butler-Poole compiled more yardage (68) than he had the rest of the game (46). On the game-winning play, Kouadio lined up in the slot on the right hash mark. Butler-Poole had thrown an interception on an almost identical play earlier in the game when he tried to hit a secondary receiver in the flat.

But he turned his earlier mistake into an advantage. Cleverly baiting the defense, he pump-faked to a checkdown receiver, freezing Rockets safety Mustafa Elzein for one brief moment, which was all Kouadio needed to get a step on him down the seam. Elzein was still in good position, but Butler-Poole’s bomb hit his versatile running back perfectly in stride at the 30, allowing him to sprint away for the game’s lone score.

‘‘He put it right on the money,” said Kouadio, who also rushed for 150 yards to go over 1,000 (1,095) for the season. ‘‘I couldn’t even believe it — it was too good to believe. I was just hoping that the defender didn’t tip it down because sometimes he underthrows those deep ones a little bit. But hey, that was more than I could ask for.”

While both defenses dominated, the offenses on both sides managed to move the ball up and down the field for much of the game. But both teams also made mistakes, turning the ball over inside the red zone, which allowed the game to remain scoreless for nearly 40 minutes.

Springbrook’s main concern was the Rockets’ electric running back, Patrick Pinchinat, who entered the game leading the county in rushing by more than 300 yards. Pinchinat ran well, but couldn’t quite break the big one as he’s accustomed to. He gained 135 yards to bring his season total to 1,519, but was barely kept from big runs by a Blue Devil defense geared to stop him.

‘‘Boy, he’s excellent and he started out strong,” Springbrook coach Rob Wendel said. ‘‘We talked all week about grabbing jersey, getting dragged, and hanging on until the cavalry gets there. You can’t tackle him one-on-one. He’s fast and he doesn’t stop his legs, so guys bounce off. But we gave a tremendous effort on defense. I was very proud.”