Linganore's (11-0) quest for perfection continued on Friday night as they defeated Damascus (8-3), 33-20, on Friday at Linganore's Oakdale Stadium in Frederick. The win advances Linganore to the 3A West Regional Championship next week, when they will take on undefeated Quince Orchard (11-0).

Don't let the final score fool you -- the battle between No. 2 seed Linganore and No. 3 Damascus lived up to its hype. This was a very competitive game until Linganore started to wear down Damascus with its huge size advantage.

"We feel very good about the victory tonight, especially since we beat a very good Damascus team while committing four turnovers and giving up a couple of big plays defensively," Conner said. "We are a strong-willed group considering that we have 30 seniors. I was proud of the way we fought."

Trailing 3-0 after Linganore's Alex Eckard nailed a field goal, Damascus took the lead, scoring the game's first touchdown. Quarterback Connor Frazier hit receiver Brandon Phelps for a 76-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to give Damascus a 7-3 advantage with 3:28 left in the quarter.

"Frazier made a great throw and I let Phelps get behind me," said Linganore safety-

quarterback Nick Marth. "They executed the play perfectly."

Linganore struck back. Penn State-bound fullback Zack Zwinak showed why he is the No. 1 fullback prospect in the country, according to rivals.com, as he completely took over the game. The man amongst boys ran over Damascus for a staggering 328 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns.

Zwinak's first touchdown came with 7:04 left in the second quarter when

he ran 52 yards right up the middle to give Linganore a 10-7 lead.

"It all starts up front with [Robby] Havenstein, [Kyle] Tucker, [Gary] Saylor and company," said Zwinak. " They make the holes and I just run threw them. I am fortunate to have a great O-line."

But Damascus wasn't about to give in. On the ensuing possession they responded with a six-play, 64-yard scoring drive. Lucas did his own Zack Zwinak impression, breaking several tackles as he rambled 36 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown to give Damascus a 13-10 lead with 3:43 left in the second quarter (the point after was blocked). Lucas finished the night with 80 yards rushing on 17 carries and had double digit tackles from his linebacker position.

After the Hornets took the lead, Linganore answered right back. Marth directed the Lancer version of the hurry-up offense and covered 80 yards in 6 plays. He needed only 2:17 to put the Lancers ahead 17-13 with a 13-yard bootleg at the 1:26 mark in the second quarter. The drive was set up by a 34 yard run by Zwinak and a 22-yard reception by James Madison recruit Ryan Dixon, who had 4 catches for 70 yards on the night.

"We practiced boots and ball fakes all week," said Marth, who finished the night 5 of 9 for 75 yards passing to go along with 65 rushing yards.

Linganore carried the momentum into the third quarter. On the Lancers first play after halftime, Zwinak took a handoff and was off to the races for a long touchdown run and a 24-13 Linganore lead.

After forcing a Damascus punt Linganore took over on their own 14-yard line

and chewed up the remainder of the third quarter. They drove 80 yards

on 13 plays before having to settle for a 30 yard Eckard field goal.

"We felt that we established control of the line of scrimmage." said 6-foot-8, 350- pound Wisconsin recruit Robby Havenstein.

However, Damascus fought back. They put together a 10 play, 67-yard drive capped by Frazier's 38-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Chris Betts with 11:51 remaining in the game. Betts, who boxed out the defender and positioned

himself for the jump ball catch, made the score 27-20.

Linganore looked like they would go in for yet another score, but this time fullback Zwinak made his only blunder of the game. He fumbled at the Damascus 6-yard line with 10:00 remaining.

Damascus had life, but their drive ended on a failed fourth down. Linganore then put the game away with an 8-yard touchdown run from Kevin Myers at the 1:41 mark. Myers finished the night with 81 yards on 15 carries.

Linganore doubled Damascus statistically on offense 503-250 total yards. Frazier completed 11 of 24 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Phelps pulled in five of those passes for 101 yards. But it wasn't enough.

"Linganore is a great team and tonight just wasn't our night," said an emotional Brian Lucas, who was just realizing he had just played his last high school game. " We played our hearts out."

"Linganore was a little more physical than we were tonight," said Damascus coach Eric Wallich, who embraced Lucas after the game. "I take my hat off to them. They are a great team. We had our chances but just couldn't capitalize."

With Linganore set to play Quince Orchard next week in a battle of 3-A unbeatens, Conner started looking ahead.

" As for next week against QO, they handled Damascus pretty convincingly earlier

in the season so we are going to have to be ready," Conner said. "They are an extremely good football team."