Comets, Lane Overwhelm Hereford, Improve to 5-0

For all the plays DeAndre’ Lane made with the ball in his hands—on offense and on special teams—arguably his biggest play of the game came on the defensive end.

With Hereford driving and nearing the red zone down 17-7 with less than a minute to play in the first half, the Comets cornerback dropped into coverage and leapt above Bulls wide receiver Morgan Pritchett—who at 6’2 had over five inches on Lane—to undercut the route, pick off the pass and preserve a 10-point lead.

However, on top of that interception and two 64-yard touchdown runs, Lane was hardly finished for the night.

The junior added a 58-yard rushing score on Catonsville’s opening drive of the third quarter, as well as a 75-yard punt return touchdown to help his squad route Hereford with a final score of 50-14.

The Comets 5-0 start is the first in the program’s history.

Reflecting after the game, Lane applauded his linemen and receivers for helping him run for 201 yards on just 10 carries, but looked back at the interception as a play he just “knew was coming”, despite the fact that Hereford had thrown the ball just once in the entire half and ran on its five previous offensive plays that drive.

“I had a feeling,” Lane said. “It was the end of the quarter; they could get desperate and try to throw the ball. I was on my man—height doesn’t matter to me. When I see the ball I’m going up for it.”

Although Lane accounted for over half of Catonsville’s 387 yards of total offense, he wasn’t the only Comet to make a big play.

In fact, six of the Comets seven touchdowns came on plays of at least 50 yards.

Ahead 24-7 after regaining possession following a Hereford (2-3) fumble, the Comets needed just one play to widen the margin further—this time through the air—when Aaron Jones hit wide receiver Deniko Carter in stride on a deep post from 53 yards out.

Following a Jones seven-yard touchdown run on a bootleg and Lane's punt return, running back Josh Hylton capped off the scoring with a 50-yard gallop over the left side—just one play after Hereford needed 10 plays and over six minutes to make the score 43-14.

On top of reaching the half century mark in points, what made Hylton’s score all the more special was the fact that it came with the Comets second string offense on the field.

While head coach Rich Hambor was certainly proud of Lane and his other starters, he gave his entire team a nod following the game.

“I’m proud of him,” Hambor said of Lane, “[but], I’m proud of everybody just as well. Whether they played one play or 10 carries or one punt, everyone’s got a role and they’ve embraced it. That’s why we’re winning.”

Five weeks into the season and Catonsville continues to own the second half. The Comets have now outscored their opponents 104-24 in the final two quarters.

Even Hambor admitted being a bit taken aback at the sheer dominance in which the Comets put away a squad renowned for having its way in county play.  

“I’m a little surprised,” he said. “Hereford’s been the best team in Baltimore County for 15 years. You don’t put 50 points on them very often and when you do you appreciate it. It’s a great accomplishment for our whole program.”

And, while the Comets continue to get showered with off-the-field accolades and spots in media rankings they remain humble as a unit, letting their actions on the field speak for their ability.

“We just come out to play,” Lane said. “We knew Hereford was going to come ready to play so we had to come out in the first quarter and show them that we weren’t messing around and we were here to play.”