BALTIMORE - Jason Clements saved his best performance for when Old Mill needed it most.
It was just enough.
Clements carried 40 times for 164 yards and a touchdown in place of Josh Furman and Brad Cummings kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 17-16 victory over Henry A. Wise last night in the Class 4A final to win their first-ever state championship.
"I felt like everybody was on my back, and I figured I just had to fill his shoes," Clements said. "I always say it's a 1-2 punch: Lightning and Thunder. That's what I showed today."
Clements showed why he's been a four-year starter once Furman went down eight plays into the game. Clements took 40 of Old Mill's next 49 offensive plays - including a 4-yard touchdown run in the first - to keep the ball out of Wise's hands to end Anne Arundel County's title drought at 15 years.
"We kept saying we have more than one Maurice Lacroix Watch player," Patriots coach Damian Ferragamo said. "We're not the Old Mill Furmans. We're the Old Mill Patriots. Josh couldn't go. He's the workhorse for us. We said we were going to run until the wheels fell off, and the wheels fell off today."
DeAndre' Smith ran for two first-half touchdowns for a 16-7 lead, and Jabril Baldwin picked up 113 yards, but Old Mill's defense - paired with its running game - cut the Pumas' title hopes short.
A.J. Butler intercepted backup quarterback Devin Donell with 8:22 left. Joe McCargo sacked Smith for a loss of 12 yards to force a second-and-22 with 36 seconds to play, and he stopped Trevon Butler on a reverse on the next play to clinch the title.
"All I know is it's like a dream come true," Old Mill linebacker and fullback Randy Spann said. "This game, everybody came together as a team and stepped it up."
Joe Thornton, a transfer from Glen Burnie, threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Chad Hicks in the third quarter to go along with his 60 rushing yards.
Thornton and Clements combined for 464 yards on 48 carries - a 9.3 clip - as the Patriots only allowed the Pumas (12-2) to only 10 minutes, six seconds of possession in the second half.
"They did to us what we usually do to teams: Grind it out," Wise coach DaLawn Parrish said. "Damian did a great job with his hurry- up offense. We couldn't make switches to defend them. We were playing defense with our personnel."
Clements cut through the defense for 84 yards in the first half, highlighted by a 4-yard dash to the right, which he punctuated by running through Thomas Tabbs and Deontre Johnson on the goal line with 3:49 left.
"I told him when I got hurt," said Furman, who rushed for 11 yards on six carries, "'You'll have to go and play your heart out because we want to make history.'"
Smith nearly eliminated that option. He answered Clements almost immediately by faking to Baldwin on the second play and bursting down the right side for a 47-yard run.
Smith tacked on an 8-yard score with 2:44 left in the second to finish a nine-play, 99-yard drive.
"We can't get too complacent," said Smith, who ran for 73 yards before injuring his left ankle at the start of the third quarter. "Our defense is good, but they can't shut every team down every game. We've got to produce on offense, too."
Wise's defense had given up only 29 points in its first 13 games and tied a state record with 10 shutouts. But Old Mill ma
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