The Fort Hill Defense
- Thread starter 20Trap
- Start date
I just wanted to clarify. The sentence was broken up a little. I thought that was what you meant.
It's all good. We all do it. Lol Much respect and wanted to make sure I was getting your opinion correct.
It’s nealry impossible to compare teams between different eras. I played on the 97 squad. Two of the three def. backs on that squad went on to D1 (WVU) and D1-AA (Towson - I believe a Pre-Season All-American his senior year at Towson) playing on the offensive side of the ball in college. One of the LB’s from that squad was named All-State 1st Team (I think Consensus - Private and public all classes).
This year’s defensive line had to be the fastest I have seen, with strength to back up the speed. The linebackers are right there at the top as well. It can be fun to make comparison but it is more futile. The 75 team won the 3A state title and that is when only 4 teams from each class made the playoffs, so the level of competition school-size wise and quality wise had to be high and that squad had two guys that went D1 (if there is more someone to add on to my post) with one of them making the NFL for three years.
I say let this year’s team relish in their achievement. The defense was fun to watch and they stepped up big time in the final after giving up that early TD, against a very fast, also battle-tested team, who just beat a perinneal power in Dunbar the week prior.
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This years defense was awesome! The entire team is better than many realize. I don’t know much about 97 and 75, but I can tell you this; there are 2 DL this year that could play FCS football if they want to. I believe #1 is going D2. But he and 35, could play FCS as Edge pass rushers, if they pursue it. This years secondary has 1 that will likely have a chance to play FCS (#8) and 2 that will likely have a chance to play D2 (22 and 26). And I believe 32 may get a D2 opportunity. If he and 50 were 6’ tall, they’d be playing FCS. On the other side of the ball, 72 has 5 D1 FCS Scholarship offers and has been offered PWOs at Miami, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UVA, Utah, BYU, SMU, Western Michigan, Marshall and Southern Miss. He may get an FBS Offer soon. And these are just the Srs.
I expect Snyder to get a D1 Offer next season. And we all know King is going to a Power 5.
This years team is real, real good one!
Also, If 44 wanted to play college ball, he’d be a FCS or D2 LB. But, he’s chosen a different path. And he’ll be awesome at it and will probably make a lot of money at his shop.
2018 1A Maryland State Champs are awesome!!
I expect Snyder to get a D1 Offer next season. And we all know King is going to a Power 5.
This years team is real, real good one!
Also, If 44 wanted to play college ball, he’d be a FCS or D2 LB. But, he’s chosen a different path. And he’ll be awesome at it and will probably make a lot of money at his shop.
2018 1A Maryland State Champs are awesome!!
50, 32, and 62 seemed to all play with a great deal of fire despite all 3 of them not being taller than 5'9
You can’t measure heart. If so, those 3 would be 7’ tall.
Maybe i feel this way because my son was on this teams d line but it would be interesting to see the stats. We evidently play together so best wishes to ya
No disrespect to any of these kids but I have to wonder about this...
Todd Helmick has stated repeatedly how incredibly difficult it is for kids from this area to get recruited, yet you have 7 kids moving on.
There was discussion on this board not long ago regarding the difficulty of western md football players and recruiting and out of all the players you mentioned, I’ve only seen 2 kids actually going on visits and promoting themselves (#72 and #8).
Maybe the others have kept it under wraps, but in the day where everything is put on social media, I kind of doubt it. Or maybe it’s easier to play D2 and D3 ball than we think it is.
I’m not saying these players aren’t good enough, they’re very good. But if every really good player went to the next level, it seems to me we would see a lot more of them doing it, instead of the handful of players every few years. And by that I mean the players that actually stick with it and don’t come home after a semester. Because, let’s face it college football at ANY level is way tougher than most anticipate.
It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I wish them all luck!
It’s very hard to get recruited in Cumberland. Kids have to do most of the work. Lots of emails, Tweet DMs, Spring Visits, Summer Camps and phone calls to get coaches to stop at Fort Hill. Because of the work that 72 and 8 have done, reaching out and visiting. Many schools have come by FH and will continue to come by during this Evaluation Period. D1, D2 and D3. Marist, Davidson, Richmond, WVSU, WVWC, Bryant, Robert Morris, Saint Francis, Shepherd, Eastern Michigan and many others will be there. Last Spring, about 15 FCS coaches came by. And many D2 and D3. That’s uncommon for this area. It’s alot easier for coaches to stay in highly populated metro areas with big private schools that recruit. They have to have a good reason to drive all the way to Cumberland.
When they’re there, they’ll have an opportunity to see all the kids. And they’ll check the film. If the kids that I mentioned, have the grades and test scores necessary, and the desire to continue playing, they’ll get an opportunity.
A lot of kids are done after Fort Hill, because of the length of their seasons (13-14 games a year) and the amount of time they’ve committed over 4 years.
When they’re there, they’ll have an opportunity to see all the kids. And they’ll check the film. If the kids that I mentioned, have the grades and test scores necessary, and the desire to continue playing, they’ll get an opportunity.
A lot of kids are done after Fort Hill, because of the length of their seasons (13-14 games a year) and the amount of time they’ve committed over 4 years.
College coaches have been visiting FH for quite a while but when Ty got recruited by UMD, it put FH on the college radar.
Then Brown and Hamilton got recruited by D1 schools and that really started getting coaches attention . Obviously every kid FH sends to school on scholarship is going to continue to draw attention from colleges.
From what I’m told, the coaches that come through are mainly there to see one or two specific players. This year, my guess is they are primarily there to see #72 and #3. Most of the time, as a courtesy, they will talk to all interested kids but you can bet they’ve got their eye on a specific person.
I’m not saying no other player will get noticed . They should definitely take advantage of every opportunity a coach comes to school. But at this point in the season, most schools already have a list of who they want. However, things fall through, players change their minds, etc. so it’s definitely still possible to get recruited.
Colleges having their eye on this area has benefited other schools too.
I believe the Sefa kid from Mt Ridge is being recruited at the d1 level.
I hope the trend continues and Western MD continues to send kids to college to play at the next level AND get a free education!
