FORT HILL FOOTBALL DOMINATION
HINDSIGHT - what's going on?
November 19, 2021
Cumberland, MD - For those who understand football, in particular the history surrounding local Cumberland high school football lure, it's hard to ignore what's going on at Fort Hill in 2021 for the undefeated Sentinels.
For those tuning into the Maryland state playoffs at Greenway Avenue Stadium when this group takes the field, it's hard to ignore the sheer and complete domination. The Joppatowne Mariners have to be wondering what hit them Friday night in 32 degree weather right from the start. The school buses parked by the ambulance gate ready to head back to Joppa, just north of Baltimore, were already warming up to start the second quarter and the Mariners would have been well advised to just get out of town at that moment.
Shooting from the hip, no restraints...Joppatowne was most likely the least of any opponent this writer has seen play at Greenway in 2021. Or was it just a case of Fort Hill - now 100% healthy, COVID free and everyone on the roster legally available for the first time in a very long time - being so dominant? Probably a little of both.
The stats from this game are mind boggling. Fort Hill was up 42-0 at halftime. In that 24 minute first half span the time of possession was over 21 minutes for Jopppatowne and just over 2 minutes for Fort Hill. The Sentinels ran seven total offensive plays in the first half, scoring on four of them — and held Joppatowne to 63 total yards on 8 possessions.
REPEAT: The Sentinels ran seven total offensive plays in the first half, scoring on four of them and were up 42-0 on the scoreboard.
It was like watching a bunch of young men beat on a bunch of junior high students. Last week against Northern Garrett was the same exact thing as Fort Hill did whatever it wanted on literally every single play. The second half with a running clock has become an irrelevant norm. The Homecoming against rival Allegany wasn't much different.
We have all seen Fort Hill go on this type of run the past decade. The 2018 championship season was much the same once the playoff stretch began. Yet at the same time it was different for whatever reason. That team just peaked at the right time. This 2021 team hasn't looked back since Labor Day weekend on top of dealing with COVID and a year layoff under the guidance of a first year coaching staff.
But again, shooting from the hip, no restraints...Class 1A football outside of Allegany County is really, really, really bad right now. Splitting Maryland into six classifications instead of the usual four due to a MPSSAA COVID response only watered down the product. Fort Hill (and Mountain Ridge) are now playing in the quarterfinals against Class 1A teams that have posted .500 type records and the same will be the case again next week in the semifinals - a complete mismatch. COVID has wreaked football across the country from participation numbers to playing time to off-season training to basic skills. Oh, it shows up big time. The separation between the haves and have not's is as wide as it's ever been.
There are few people who did not believe that Fort Hill and Mountain Ridge were headed for a state championship grudge match in Annapolis the first week of December. We all have felt it and knew it long ago before the leaves started changing color. Coaches will cringe when it comes to looking ahead but the truth is Class 1A football is really bad. Ooops, said that already. And this sentiment is likely going to be the case next week in the semifinals when Fort Hill tackles Edmondson-Westside out of Baltimore City and Mountain Ridge tackles Perryville. If the MPSSAA had never set up the new six classifications, at least there would still be Dunbar. You remember the Poets? In fact, without the classification break up Mountain Ridge would be headed to Greenway this coming week and the winner would be getting Dunbar in Annapolis for all the marbles. Some things never change. Dunbar is favored to win the newly formed Class 1A-2A championship, one step up in school size from where they normally would be, although that class too is not much better in regards to competition levels.
Despite all this, there is still no question this Fort Hill team is driving a 2021 Porsche with 600 horsepower compared to the competition. The defense isn't large in size (outside of sophomore Carter Hess who may be the best lineman to ever come out of FH) but it's like watching 11 water bugs in a pond swarm to the ball at the lily pad. They are really quick across the board and then some. Offensively, the Sentinels have six to seven skill players who can make a difference and the offensive line, once considered to be an inexperienced question mark back in August, is now blowing open massive holes. Even the special teams coverage has hammered down.
Fort Hill freshmen were getting in on the act against Joppatowne. Jabril Daniels, wearing the meaningful #3 jersey in honor of his step brother Saiquan Jenkins, became the first freshman football player to score a varsity touchdown for the Sentinels since Brayden Poling in 2014 — and just the third 9th grader, along with Poling and Andre Pope (2001) to do so in multiple decades. His brother Gamil Daniels (#24) also a freshman, got in on the act and recorded an interception. Good stuff as these two have a really bright future (college coaches take notice). Then there is Blake White, likely to be voted the area's Most Valuable Player, who rushed for 151 yards on just 3 carries Friday night. The FH fullback (yeah, fullback) was blowing away cornerbacks who had the angle like the wind on long touchdown runs. But it's not just his offensive skills that stand out. Defensively he closes quick and covers everyone like glue in passing situations.
At this juncture of the season Fort Hill has become a Big Red Machine, very machine like on almost every play on both sides of the ball with a great deal of depth for the 10th smallest Maryland public school football program.
At the end of the day, given what has transpired since the pandemic, it's great to watch teenagers play football again despite a second half running clock while the Sentinel band is blaring Christmas tunes and the concessions have run out of hot chocolate in freezing weather.
But yea, that championship game looming in Annapolis is as big as it gets when looking back at the past century of Allegany County football. If the playoffs have showed fans anything it's going to be a Ridge versus a Hill. And despite the distance traveled to the state capital by both these teams while playing in the smallest classification, this one is likely to be the most crowded of all the championship games played that weekend by a large margin. Don't look ahead just yet is the ole adage. That's impossible right now.
HINDSIGHT - what's going on?
November 19, 2021
Cumberland, MD - For those who understand football, in particular the history surrounding local Cumberland high school football lure, it's hard to ignore what's going on at Fort Hill in 2021 for the undefeated Sentinels.
For those tuning into the Maryland state playoffs at Greenway Avenue Stadium when this group takes the field, it's hard to ignore the sheer and complete domination. The Joppatowne Mariners have to be wondering what hit them Friday night in 32 degree weather right from the start. The school buses parked by the ambulance gate ready to head back to Joppa, just north of Baltimore, were already warming up to start the second quarter and the Mariners would have been well advised to just get out of town at that moment.
Shooting from the hip, no restraints...Joppatowne was most likely the least of any opponent this writer has seen play at Greenway in 2021. Or was it just a case of Fort Hill - now 100% healthy, COVID free and everyone on the roster legally available for the first time in a very long time - being so dominant? Probably a little of both.
The stats from this game are mind boggling. Fort Hill was up 42-0 at halftime. In that 24 minute first half span the time of possession was over 21 minutes for Jopppatowne and just over 2 minutes for Fort Hill. The Sentinels ran seven total offensive plays in the first half, scoring on four of them — and held Joppatowne to 63 total yards on 8 possessions.
REPEAT: The Sentinels ran seven total offensive plays in the first half, scoring on four of them and were up 42-0 on the scoreboard.
It was like watching a bunch of young men beat on a bunch of junior high students. Last week against Northern Garrett was the same exact thing as Fort Hill did whatever it wanted on literally every single play. The second half with a running clock has become an irrelevant norm. The Homecoming against rival Allegany wasn't much different.
We have all seen Fort Hill go on this type of run the past decade. The 2018 championship season was much the same once the playoff stretch began. Yet at the same time it was different for whatever reason. That team just peaked at the right time. This 2021 team hasn't looked back since Labor Day weekend on top of dealing with COVID and a year layoff under the guidance of a first year coaching staff.
But again, shooting from the hip, no restraints...Class 1A football outside of Allegany County is really, really, really bad right now. Splitting Maryland into six classifications instead of the usual four due to a MPSSAA COVID response only watered down the product. Fort Hill (and Mountain Ridge) are now playing in the quarterfinals against Class 1A teams that have posted .500 type records and the same will be the case again next week in the semifinals - a complete mismatch. COVID has wreaked football across the country from participation numbers to playing time to off-season training to basic skills. Oh, it shows up big time. The separation between the haves and have not's is as wide as it's ever been.
There are few people who did not believe that Fort Hill and Mountain Ridge were headed for a state championship grudge match in Annapolis the first week of December. We all have felt it and knew it long ago before the leaves started changing color. Coaches will cringe when it comes to looking ahead but the truth is Class 1A football is really bad. Ooops, said that already. And this sentiment is likely going to be the case next week in the semifinals when Fort Hill tackles Edmondson-Westside out of Baltimore City and Mountain Ridge tackles Perryville. If the MPSSAA had never set up the new six classifications, at least there would still be Dunbar. You remember the Poets? In fact, without the classification break up Mountain Ridge would be headed to Greenway this coming week and the winner would be getting Dunbar in Annapolis for all the marbles. Some things never change. Dunbar is favored to win the newly formed Class 1A-2A championship, one step up in school size from where they normally would be, although that class too is not much better in regards to competition levels.
Despite all this, there is still no question this Fort Hill team is driving a 2021 Porsche with 600 horsepower compared to the competition. The defense isn't large in size (outside of sophomore Carter Hess who may be the best lineman to ever come out of FH) but it's like watching 11 water bugs in a pond swarm to the ball at the lily pad. They are really quick across the board and then some. Offensively, the Sentinels have six to seven skill players who can make a difference and the offensive line, once considered to be an inexperienced question mark back in August, is now blowing open massive holes. Even the special teams coverage has hammered down.
Fort Hill freshmen were getting in on the act against Joppatowne. Jabril Daniels, wearing the meaningful #3 jersey in honor of his step brother Saiquan Jenkins, became the first freshman football player to score a varsity touchdown for the Sentinels since Brayden Poling in 2014 — and just the third 9th grader, along with Poling and Andre Pope (2001) to do so in multiple decades. His brother Gamil Daniels (#24) also a freshman, got in on the act and recorded an interception. Good stuff as these two have a really bright future (college coaches take notice). Then there is Blake White, likely to be voted the area's Most Valuable Player, who rushed for 151 yards on just 3 carries Friday night. The FH fullback (yeah, fullback) was blowing away cornerbacks who had the angle like the wind on long touchdown runs. But it's not just his offensive skills that stand out. Defensively he closes quick and covers everyone like glue in passing situations.
At this juncture of the season Fort Hill has become a Big Red Machine, very machine like on almost every play on both sides of the ball with a great deal of depth for the 10th smallest Maryland public school football program.
At the end of the day, given what has transpired since the pandemic, it's great to watch teenagers play football again despite a second half running clock while the Sentinel band is blaring Christmas tunes and the concessions have run out of hot chocolate in freezing weather.
But yea, that championship game looming in Annapolis is as big as it gets when looking back at the past century of Allegany County football. If the playoffs have showed fans anything it's going to be a Ridge versus a Hill. And despite the distance traveled to the state capital by both these teams while playing in the smallest classification, this one is likely to be the most crowded of all the championship games played that weekend by a large margin. Don't look ahead just yet is the ole adage. That's impossible right now.