The Bulldogs had their own miracle win at home when they beat WJ 24-22 Oct. 14 in their homecoming game, improving their record to 6-1.
The Bulldogs blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter when WJ took a 22-21 lead with less than two minutes left in the game. With less than 30 seconds left, the team came through in the clutch when junior Jonathan Lee converted a fourth and five for a 44-yard pass to senior wide receiver Dillon Nussbaum. With six seconds remaining, senior Nadim Elhage kicked the game winning 30-yard field goal, his first of the season.
“We could not afford to let this game slip away from us,” Nussbaum said.
The Bulldogs had grinded out another breathtaking win in overtime when they defeated Northwest on the road 41-35 Oct. 6. The win did not come easy, though, as the Bulldogs had a 23-7 lead with 2:39 left in the second quarter, only to blow it when the Jaguars scored three unanswered touchdowns to tie the game at 28 with 3:11 left in the third quarter.
“The other team made some good passes that we were unable to stop,” head coach Joe Allen said. “I give them credit, but we were able to shut them down when it really mattered.”
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs ended their scoring drought when senior quarterback Lansana Keita threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior Dillon Nussbaum to give the team the lead back with 3:26 left in regulation.
“Lansana threw me a great pass and I knew I had to step it up and make the play since the game was on the line,” Nussbaum said.
The Jaguars came back as they followed the Bulldogs’ score with a six-play drive that tied the game up at 35.
“Our guys handled the high pressure of a close game well,” Allen said. “I could see their desire to win the game, and the team was so pumped for the sudden death overtime that I knew we had a good chance of winning.”
The Bulldog defense was finally able to stop the Jaguar’s passing offense when junior Dominique Williams picked off a pass the second play of the overtime. On the next play, Keita threw him the game-winning touchdown pass. Williams caught five passes for 77 yards with two touchdowns in the game.
“We learned from this game that we have to finish what we start,” Nussbaum said. “From now on we need to close out teams so we can not give them a chance to come back.”
Despite the defensive slip up against the Jaguars’ passing game, the Bulldogs had a dominant passing offense throughout the game as Keita completed 16 of 30 passes for 276 yards with four touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Quan Gill played a major role in the offense as he caught four receptions for 129 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown.
“All the receivers ran great routes and everything clicked for our offense for most of the game,” Allen said.
The Bulldogs won in another close game against Gaithersburg, the third ranked team in the county, 15-13 at home Sept. 30. The win proved the Bulldogs can beat a top team in the county as the team bounced back from a 25-point loss to Seneca Valley the week before. Last year CHS lost to Gaithersburg 41-0.
“The win was a big change to our season,” senior captain Jacob Suissa said. “We proved ourselves that we can beat the better teams in the county and it gets us one big step closer to making the playoffs.”
Suissa was the hero for CHS in the game as he had two huge defensive plays. He had an interception in the end zone at the end of the second quarter that stopped the Trojans from a potential score. His other play came in the final two minutes of the game when the Trojans, down two points at the time, had the ball in the Bulldogs’ red zone and he recovered a fumble, securing the Bulldog victory.
“When I saw the ball come loose my football instincts came out and I jumped on the ball,” Suissa said.
