CUMBERLAND — One record fell and another was tied Friday afternoon as Bishop Walsh finished up the 2008 season by outpacing Hancock 59-36 at Brother Stephen F. Paul Spartan Stadium.

The 59 points gave the Spartans a season total of 317 to surpass the points accumulated by the 2003 team. The win gave Bishop Walsh its ninth to match the total of the 1991 squad.

The 59 points seemed laughable at the beginning, as only six points came out of the first quarter. Offenses escalated from there as a combined 25 points were scored in the second quarter, and 33 scored in the third. The fourth quarter saw 27 points scored. Three touchdowns were scored in the final two minutes of the opening half.

Senior Robby Lehmann had a memorable final day in a Spartan uniform by scoring four touchdowns. He returned two kickoffs a total of 125 yards and two touchdowns, caught three balls for 106 yards and carried it two times for 47 more. He was also able to pick off his 12th pass of the season.

As he did last week against Southern, Mickey Burkett got BW going when he scored on the first play of the Spartans second drive to get the first points on the board. The junior bulldozer carried the ball just four times but had 78 yards.

He would also prove valuable as a blocker out of the backfield. He helped seal the corner for the next Spartans touchdown, a 13-yard run by Dylan D’Atri.

D’Atri added another strong performance to his growing list by rushing for 91 yards. He would score later in the third quarter on a five-yard run.

Bishop Walsh had big numbers on the ground with five ball carriers gaining 322 yards. Quarterback Jared Mathews was the leading rusher with 100 yards on six rushes.

Hancock cut the score in half when it completed a 15-play drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Nick Lanehart to Tommy Kratz.

The momentum from that touchdown lasted all of one play as Lehmann returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown. After the Panthers turned the ball over on downs, Lehmann caught a jump ball on the home sideline, brushed aside a defender and jogged into the end zone to make it 15-6.

Lehmann’s interception would be the final play of the first half.

Mathews pushed the score to 31-6 with a 34-yard run on BW’s first drive of the second half. He then threw a 39-yard touchdown to Lehmann on the team’s next possession. The junior completed four of his five passes for a 123 yards.

Hancock answered the Lehmann score with a 78-yard kickoff return by Alex Bishop that moved the score to 38-22.

D’Atri’s second touchdown pushed the score to 44-22, but Hancock kept it from getting out of control with a one-yard run from big fullback Joey True. True finished as the game’s leading rusher by gaining 101 yards. He had 27 carries, and was tough for the Spartans to bring down initially.

Lehmann had a 44-yard return that set the Spartans up with great field position, and then got them better field position with a 23-yard run on the first play of the drive. On the second play, Mathews hit Jonathan Cullen for a 17-yard score.

True scored his second touchdown with 5:30 left in the fourth, and the Panthers tried an onside kick that backfired when Lehmann took it 55 yards for the final touchdown.

In his first year, Head Coach Mike Page wasn’t expecting these results from the Spartans.

“This is much more than I expected coming in,” he said. “I had confidence in myself and the players, and when I got a coaching staff together had confidence in them. I wasn’t thinking we would get here this quick. As a coach, all I try to do is show my players that they are capable of playing above their abilities. The rest is up to the players.”

Hancock finishes 0-9, but had their best offensive performance of the season. They had scored 30 points for the entire season before getting 36 on Friday.

Chris Appel is a sportswriter for the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Chris Appel at cappel@times-news.com.