[Baltimore Sun] Braeden Palazzo returns to lead No. 3 McDonogh football to 44-13 win at No. 7 Mount Saint Joseph
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After a lengthy ankle injury, McDonogh quarterback Braeden Palazzo returned to the field Friday at Mount Saint Joseph. Quickly, he made sure everybody knew.
The junior threw for 280 yards and five touchdowns — including four in the first half — as the No. 3 Eagles started fast and held off a second-half rally from the No. 7 Gaels to claim a sturdy 44-13 road win in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play. McDonogh improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference, while Mount Saint Joseph (2-4) in now 1-3 in league play.
Palazzo, who was injured in the Eagles’ season opener, connected with four receivers in the win, opening with a 46-yard strike to Jansen Craig on the team’s second possession. Wide receiver-defensive back Brandon Finney caught two touchdown passes and iced the game with a fourth-quarter interception he returned 28 yards for the final score.
“I was so excited to be back,” Palazzo said. “I tried to get back as fast as I could but the high ankle sprain, it was rough. This is a great game to come back to. Everybody battled together and we just made it happen on the offensive side and the defensive side and it was great to be back.”
While Palazzo was sidelined, the Eagles relied on a Wildcat offense and solid defense to win games, only falling to No. 1 Archbishop Spalding during his absence.
On Friday, McDonogh’s more conventional offense clicked after a three-and-out on its opening possession. Leading 9-0 after Craig’s touchdown catch and a safety, Palazzo found Jeff Exinor Jr. on a 55-yard touchdown strike to make it 16-0 with 12 seconds left in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Palazzo found Finney on touchdown throws of 10 and 33 yards for a 30-0 halftime advantage.
The Gaels tried to rally in the second half, cutting the lead to 30-13 on quarterback Ben Raines’ two touchdown passes — the first a 75-yard strike to Peyton Youngbar in the opening minute of the third quarter and another one caught by Corday Bethel from 35 yards out.
But the Eagles’ defense, which got sacks from six players, stifled the Gaels the rest of the way, with the interception by Finney coming after Palazzo found Carlos Ferguson for his fifth touchdown pass. Linebacker Kamden Laudenslager and lineman Elijah Crawford played big roles defensively alongside Finney.
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“We’re just an entirely different team when we have Palazzo running the show, and you can see that. We were able to spread it out the past few weeks without him — running a Wildcat offense,” McDonogh coach Hakeem Sule said. “But with Braeden back there, we were able to get back to our bread and butter and spread the ball out to the perimeter again.”
Despite the result, Mount Saint Joseph coach Donald Davis saw growth from his young Gaels in the second half.
“After getting down early and having some difficulty, I’m just proud of the way they fought,” he said. “We got great kids. It’s a small senior class, but they’re great leaders. And we got some young kids that are still learning and it’s tough when they’re playing against this caliber of team. They made some mistakes, but we’re there, we’re growing up and trying to get where we need to be, where teams like McDonogh are.”
Both teams stay in conference play next week with home games. McDonogh hosts No. 8 Calvert Hall at 3:30 p.m. Friday and Mount Saint Joseph takes on No. 9 Loyola Blakefield at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Have a news tip? Contact Glenn Graham at ggraham@baltsun.com, 410-332-6636 and x.com/GlennGrahamSun.
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