Midlo bounces back with win at Freeman

Man, did the thumping hurt!

Dropping their opener 32-8 to L.C. Bird was no way part of the Midlothian Trojans’ plan.

In the painful aftermath, though, Coach Phil Gross’s guys had two distinct choices: wallow in self-pity or reset, regroup, and return to action with eye-of-the-tiger intensity.

Their 28-14 victory over Douglas Freeman Thursday on the turf at William E. Long Stadium attests to the immutable fact that they chose the latter.

“We weren’t playing as a team,” said Midlo quarterback Gibson Gross of the Trojans’ performance a week ago. “That (loss) humbled us. Our big talk this week was (that) we need to play as a team. We need to buck up and play together. That’s exactly what we did tonight.”

By executing their offensive schemes, the visitors amassed 501 yards on 56 plays. Gross, a 6-0, 205-pound senior, completed 14-of-20 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns. Of the Trojans’ 230 rushing yards, 87 came in the fourth quarter when they controlled the ball to the tune of 20 plays to the Mavericks’ three.

Positive mindset, as much as X’s and O’s, was the difference.

“As a football player, you have to hate losing more than you like winning. Right?” said Gross, the quarterback. “If we didn’t lose that game like we did, we would have been on the same track not playing as a team and trying to play solo ball. That loss made us lean on each other.

“It was an awful feeling losing to Bird, but I think we needed it to propel us for the rest of the season.”

Defensively, the visiting Trojans allowed Freeman 254 yards (190 rushing, 64 passing) on 39 plays. 

With the outcome weighing in the balance in the third quarter, they (with Carter Morin making initial contact) made two big-time defensive stops, once on a fourth and inches on the Mavericks’ 38 and, a series later, on a fourth-and-two on the home team’s 17.

Then in the fourth, interceptions by Jayshaun Anderson and Jarrod Smalls put to rest any dimming hope the Mavericks held for a comeback.

“We’ve been trying to get effort between our guys all year long,” said Anderson, a 5-8, 160-pound sophomore defensive back. “It finally showed. We played our hearts out. We banded together and showed what we’re about.”

Midlo (1-1) struck first when Gross connected with Kaleb Melvin for a 34-yard touchdown on the final play of the first quarter. Henry Pittman then delivered his first of four points-after.

Freeman (1-1) answered with a quick, four-play, 58-yard drive that ended when quarterback Will Thouron bulled in from three yards out behind his offensive line a play after Julian Gambrel’s 50-yard run from scrimmage. 

Jude Martin nailed the first of two extra points to forge a 7-7 tie at 10:21 of the second period.

The Trojans responded with a 14-play, 78-yard drive, the final play of which was Jamel Howard’s 4-yard TD run 4:49 before halftime.

Freeman came back with a six-play, 72-yard drive culminating two minutes later with an 8-yard Thouron-to-John Moran TD pass set up by a 30-yard Thouron-to-Gambrel connection.

With the score tied and the clock running, Gross, a play after being sacked, found Dyson Coleman in left flat, and the crafty, nimble-footed wide receiver juke-stepped, dodged, reversed field, and outsprinted the pursuit to complete a momentum-grabbing 78-yard touchdown at 1:40 that send the Trojans into halftime up 21-14.

As the Trojans repaired to the east end zone to rehydrate and re-energize, the salience of the moment was not just their one-touchdown lead but their rejuvenation following their defeat.

“Bird is a great team,” said Gross, the coach. “The team that came off the bus last week was not the team that I’d seen all camp and in the scrimmages against Atlee and Louisa. That wasn’t the team that showed up last week.

“We had a terrible taste in our mouth after that game. The coaching staff spent hours in the film room, designing practices, and talking to our kids. (We said), ‘Look, you have to pull this thing together and play together. If we have good player leadership, we’ll be highly successful. If the coaches have to lead, you’re not going to be as successful as you could be.’

“We had to throw punches early, get them on the ropes and finish them.”

Though the Trojans scored just once (a 60-yard TD pass from Gross to Anderson at 6:29 of the third quarter), they owned the line of scrimmage after the break.

“We just knew that we had to do our jobs,” said Parker Brooks, a 6-3, 270-pound senior left offensive tackle. “As soon as we came out in the second half, we brought another level of intensity. 

“It was hot (85 degrees with negligible breeze at game time) today. We had to push through that and keep going. You saw that in the fourth quarter. What was it? Ten yards a play. 

“We have a standard. Being tired is not acceptable. Just block it out and win the next play, every single time.”