The Linganore Lancers left nothing to chance on Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium. The No. 1-ranked team in the state surged to a 24-0 lead and handily defeated the Huntingtown Hurricanes, 31-14, to win the 3A State Championship. With the win, Linganore completed an undefeated season (14-0) and won their fifth state title in school history.

Legendary Linganore coach Rick Connor has made eight trips to the state championship game in the last 12 years. Before arriving at Linganore, Conner won four titles as the defensive coordinator at Urbana from 1998-2001. Now, he's taken Linganore to four championship games, winning twice (2002 and 2009). Ironically, Conner's two titles at Linganore have both come after losing in the state finals the year before. Last year the Lancers lost to Sherwood in the 4A championship game.

They earned redemption on Saturday night.

"This is a sweet victory," said the humble Conner, who wore his trademark Rocky Balboa gray sweatshirt and skull hat. "To go undefeated last year and lose that game to Sherwood on this same field … and then to refocus and run the table again and close the deal this year is a testament to those young men's will, hard work and determination. "

The game went as usual for Linganore. They jumped on Huntingtown (13-1)

early and never let them in the game. The Lancers led 17-0 at the half and then 24-0 with 10:48 remaining in the fourth quarter before giving up two late touchdowns.

After forcing a third down punt on Huntingtown's first possession of the game, Linganore started there first possession in Huntingtown territory. But they had to settle for a 30-yard Alex Eckard field goal. The Lancers rarely failed to capitalize the rest of ht way.

On Huntingtown's second possession, junior quarterback Justin Bitter (15-for-24 for 200 yards) threw an interception. Linganore defensive back Austin Mathews picked off the pass, setting his team up at the Hurricanes' 26-yard line. A few play later running back Kevin Myers ran the ball right up the gut for a 7-yard touchdown run, which gave the Lancers a 10-0 lead with 2:41 remaining in the first quarter.

"We got off to a shaky start in the first quarter when we elected to punt on third down and had the early turnover," said Huntingtown coach Jerry Franks. "But a good team like Linganore will force you into mistakes. It may have been big-game jitters."

Linganore continued to play shut-down defense for the entire first half, holding Huntingtown to 78 yards of total offense. More impressively, they kept the state's leading rusher, Greg Goodwin, to just 23 yards. Goodwin, a 2,500-yard rusher, finished with 43 yards, his lowest total of the season.

Linganore defensive end Colby Weierbach and defensive linemates Anders Johnson,

Austin Scates, and Tommy Kolick wreaked havoc, penetrating the Hurricane backfield time and time again.

"We were extremely fired up," said Weierbach. "We have been on a mission since we lost here last year."

Linganore put together another scoring drive in the second quarter. Running back Kevin Myers (126 yards), had a big 37-yard run, setting up Nick Marth's (8-for-10 for 84 yards) touchdown pass to Ryan Dixon in the corner of the end zone. The 11-play, 90-yard drive put Linganore up 17-0 with 3:49 remaining in the half.

" Marth threw a perfectly thrown ball and I just went up and got it," said Dixon, who

finished the night with six catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.

In the second half, Linganore put the game away when Zach Zwinak scored on an 8-yard run at the 10:48 mark in the fourth quarter. He scored again on a 1-yard run with 3:13 left, which made the score 31-8. Until the fourth quarter, Huntingtown actually did a good job containing Zwinak. The Penn-State-bound All-American finished with 104 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.

"Huntingtown played us tough," Zwinak said. "They are a real physical team, and their linebackers filled well. But I am extremely happy to finish my high school career with a state championship. And I am going to miss playing with this group of guys. This is a dream come true."

Huntingtown's Greg Goodwin scored two 1-yard touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to make the score respectable.

" Linganore was a very good football team," said Goodwin "They flew to the ball and didn't give me any running lanes. We had a very good season, but I am very disappointed in the loss."

Linganore was arguably one of the most dominant teams in state history this year. Playing one of the tougher schedules in Maryland, the Lancers defeated teams by an average of 31 points per game. Their offense scored 41 points a night and the defenses surrendered just 10. And more often then not the Lancers sat their starters in the second half.

Linganore boasted a mammoth interior offensive line led by 6-foot-8 340-pound Wisconsin recruit Robby Havenstein, Kyle Tucker, and Anders Johnson. They have a thunder-and-lightning running back tandem with Zwinak (1,858 yards, 12.3 yards per carry) and Myers (1,379 yards), both of whom have helped Linganore rush for an astounding 4,000 yards this season. On top of that they boast one of the best receivers in Frederick County, Dixon, and a quarterback in Marth who possesses underrated arm strength and accuracy.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime team that will be hard pressed to replace the 30 seniors who graduate this year. But on Saturday night, Conner wasn't thinking about next season. It was time to celebrate.

"We are so happy words can't describe it," Conner said. "This was our goal all season long … the Linganore Lancers are undefeated state champs!"