VIDEO: Richard Montgomery Runs Out of Steam vs. Northwest, Loses Finale 54-20

Richard Montgomery took an early second quarter lead, but eventually was left in the dust of an offensive explosion, falling 54-20 to Northwest in a high school football clash with playoff implications on Friday in Rockville.

The Jaguars are in the playoffs. The Rockets are out after a disappointing end to a strong season that saw coach Neal Owens’ team fall just short of its preseason goal while posting its first winning record since its last playoff appearance in 2005.

The Rockets appeared poised to make a game—or more appropriately a track meet—of the contest, scoring three straight touchdowns after the Jaguars took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. But Northwest roared back, scoring again twice before halftime and holding RM scoreless for the remainder of the night.

The Jaguars used 402 rushing yards and a passing attack led by senior quarterback Matty Callahan (14 of 22 for 185 yards and 1 interception). Joshua Gills totaled 192 yards on 15 carries for Northwest.

Richard Montgomery’s Steven Burchett went 12-of-23 passing for 206 yards in the last game of his Rockets career, including a 84-yard touchdown pass that hit senior Jose Ortiz in stride in the second quarter (see video above).

That would be the Rockets’ last strike, as Northwest ripped off 41 unanswered points to end the game.

Burchett finished with 1,167 yards passing and 815 yards rushing for the season.

Richard Montgomery finishes at 6-4 (2-3 in 4A West region). Northwest (7-3; 4-1 in 4A West) clinched the No. 2 seed in the 4A state playoffs. The Jaguars will host Churchill (7-3; 5-0 in 4A South) at 7 p.m. on Friday in Germantown.

Click here for a game story and here for a photo gallery of Friday’s game from The Washington Post.

Box scores for all Montgomery County high school football games can be found on The Washington Post.

Video package courtesy Dual Cam Productions.