Top-ranked Maury knocks down last-second Hail Mary, survives scare from Wise High in season opener

NORFOLK — Maury schedules rugged opponents like Wise High for a reason.

Last season, the Commodores beat the Pumas by nearly three touchdowns. Maury went on to win the Class 5 state title, while Wise won 12 in a row to win the Maryland 4A state title.

On Friday night, it was a little bit different as the Commodores, ranked No. 1 in the 757Teamz Top 15, had to survive a last-second Hail Mary to the end zone to beat Wise 20-14 in the season opener for both teams.

“It helped us last year when we faced these situations. This is just another test for us. It lets us know that we’re not invincible and we need to get better,” said Maury coach Dyrri McCain. “We saw a bunch of guys who were trained to be ready for this moment, and we finished.”

The Commodores took an early lead when Indiana commit LeBron Bond scored on a 25-yard pass from Au’Tori Newkirk, but the extra point failed. They added to their lead a short time later when Newkirk and Bond hooked up again, this time on a 2-yard touchdown pass, to take a 13-0 lead.

“It was fourth-and-1, and I was asking Coach for the ball,” said Bond, who finished with four receptions for 36 yards and two touchdowns. “And he put the ball in my hands and we scored.”

It seemed like the Commodores might run away with the game, but Wise, located in Upper Marlboro outside of Washington, D.C., got an 89-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Eric Wedge to cut the deficit to 13-7 before the half.

The Pumas took the lead in the third quarter on Wedge’s 1-yard touchdown pass to DeCarlos Young and a PAT kick with 4:08 left.

But the Commodores regained the lead when Cameryn Simmons scored on a 17-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter.

Wise had two chances to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, including a long heave in the final seconds, but the Commodores broke up the pass in the end zone.

“It was very big for the program,” Maury defensive back Kendall Daniels Jr. said about the win. “Anything can happen at that moment, but we’ve prepared ourselves for that every day at practice.”

Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com