It’s been four years since Hereford High won the Baltimore County boys lacrosse title. The Bulls may be ready to reclaim the crown.

Behind a dominant first half, Hereford handled host and reigning league champ Catonsville, 15-4, in a Division I match. Senior Baylor Davis scored five goals, all in the opening half, for the Bulls, and Trey Gibbons added four tallies.

The Parkton school (6-2 overall) charged out to a 12-0 lead at halftime, improving to 2-0 in Division I play. The top two teams in Division I will play for the Baltimore County championship in a few weeks.

“This was kind of reclaiming our season,” Davis said. “We lost to Fallston and Westminster by one and this was just us reclaiming [respect]. Making people respect Hereford again.”

Hereford coach Kyle Leppert praised his team’s ability to read the defense early, stay composed and find the open looks.

“You draw up offense with certain looks in mind and great teams, they take initial looks away almost immediately,” Leppert said. “Our guys kept composed and saw to the next level pretty quickly. It is fun to watch that as a coach. It’s them thinking and putting the pieces together.”

Catonsville did show some signs of life in the second half with four goals, including one from their goalkeeper Gabe Wallman.

Wallman saved a shot and with his teammates covered, he decided to bring the ball up the field himself. The Hereford defense parted as it seemed the Bulls expected the senior to dish the ball.

After a short time, Wallman found himself taking on Hereford goalie Cole Jedlicka one-on-one. Wallman beat the Bulls keeper with a diving shot to put the Comets on the board at 12-1.

The goal seemed to spark Catonsville over the next four minutes and senior Eric Kaplan netted two goals to make it 12-3. The Bulls responded with two goals from Brendan Kittner sandwiched around Gibbons’ fourth tally to put the game away.

The Comets defeated Hereford twice, including an 8-7 decision in the county final.

“Coming off last year, it just put a fire in us to want to beat them,” Gibbons said.

Davis said Monday’s effort was a momentum boost entering the most crucial stretch of the season. The Bulls host Towson Wednesday.

“It brings the energy up,” Davis said. “Everybody is excited now and everybody is looking forward to playing lacrosse.”

Catonsville coach KR Schultz simply told his team to turn the page afterwards.

“I think we did a couple of things scheme wise that I wouldn’t do again,” Schultz said. “They are a good team. They won the ground ball battle. They threw and caught better than we did. They ran faster than we did. In high school lacrosse, if you [do that] you are in good shape.”

The Comets (5-4, 1-1 Division I), who reached the Class 3A state semifinals last spring after reaching the 4A title match in 2021, have their toughest stretch of the season so far with league foes Towson and Dulaney still to come this week.

“We are calling it rivalry week,” he said. “We had Hereford Monday, Dulaney on Wednesday and Towson on Friday. We have no time to feel sorry for ourselves, we have to get ready for Dulaney.”

HEREFORD 15, CATONSVILLE 4

Hereford 6 6 0 3 -- 15

Catonsville 0 0 3 1 -- 4

Goals: Hereford – Baylor Davis 5, Trey Gibbons 4, Brenden Kittner 4, JP Revitte 2. Catonsville – Eric Kaplan 2, Gabe Wallman, Nathan Wess.

Assists: Hereford – JP Revitte 3, Connor Hartlove, Jay Goetz, Ryder Walter, Baylor Davis. Catonsville – Mason Ritter.

Saves: Hereford – Cole Jedlicka 9. Catonsville – Gabe Wallman 6.