The Maryland State Boys Championship Game was held on Wednesday.  The key to the game for West Carroll was controlling Exiles future pros Jean Thomas and Thierno Zaniffe, both of whom leave for France on contracts with the Orleans Academy after the school year concludes.  The two Sophomores at the French International School have been lighting up scoreboards for the Exiles all season long.

The Exiles got off to a fast start against West Carroll in the PRU HS Championships touching down three times in the games first ten minutes.  And while West Carroll had great success in reigning in Thierno Zaniffe at wing, they struggled the whole game with containing Jean Thomas who seemed to pop up everywhere on the field with the ball in hand.

Through intense pressure defense, the Exiles were able to dot the first try of the evening when Thomas picked up the ball from the base of a scrum deep in West Carroll territory.  He was able to offload to Scrumhalf Brandon Drummond, who in turn dished the ball off to Sophomore Flyhalf Luis Von Horoch.  The Exiles followed this with five more tries en route to a 42-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, the momentum clearly changed as West Carroll began to get their driving power game moving forward.  West Carroll was rewarded with three tries, as the Exiles struggled with numerous penalties and missed tackles.  Exiles Fullback and AFS Foreign Exchange student Ryunosuke Matsuura made some crucial tackles to save the day for the Exiles and launched three counter attacks that led to tries. Final Score: Maryland Exiles 63 West Carroll 19.

Next up for the Maryland Exiles is a match against EPRU runners up West Shore United Saturday in Harrisburg, PA.  The Exiles have a tradition of exciting close contests with West Shore, and this game should be no different.  Gonzaga will play Archbishop Spaulding for the PRU HS single schools championship at the same venue in Frederick, MD.

Maryland 63
Tries: Jean Thomas (3), Luis von Horoch (2), Nicholas Rogy, Theirno Zaniffe, Nick Nader, Matt Wagner
Convs: Castro 6, von Horoch 3

West Carroll 19
Tries: 3
Convs: 2

Maryland Exiles Lineup

1. Sean Custead, Jr. (Substitution -- Isaac Matthews, So.)
2. Julio Gonzalez, Jr. (Substitution -- Nick Franklyn, Fr.)
3. Nick Hays, Jr.
4. Brendan Porter, Sr.
5. Nick Winikoff, Sr. (Captain)
6. Dwayne Remillard, Sr. (Subsitution -- Alex Smolen, Jr.)
7. Nicholas Rogy, Fr.
8. Jean Thomas, So.
9. Brandon Drummond, Jr.
10. Luis Von Horoch, So.
11. Jacob Jankel, Jr. (Substitution -- Matt Wagner, Jr)
12. Nicholas Nader, Sr.
13. Francisco Castro, Jr. (Substitution -- Alexander Klause, Jr.)
14. Thierno Zaniffe, So. (Substitution -- Olin Akisoglu, Sr.)
15. Ryunosuke Matsuura, Sr.