Friendship wins the day for Fort Hill

Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News

Hard work, faith and friendship. They all combined to produce a 26-22 Fort Hill victory over Allegany Saturday afternoon at Greenway Avenue Stadium in one of the most exciting games in the 80-game history of Fort Hill-Allegany football.

The hard work came from the Sentinels in withstanding a machine-like performance by the Allegany offensive line and running backs, as the Campers held nearly a two-to-one advantage in time of possession, 31:36 to 16:24 for the Sentinels.

The faith came into play as Fort Hill, after leading Allegany by two touchdowns with 9:10 to play in the third quarter, fell behind 22-19 with 5:24 to play in the game, only to mount its only real drive of the game, covering the needed 80 yards to score the winning touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game — on fourth-and-goal, inches from the goal line, no less, after the Alco defense mounted a near-heroic stand.

The friendship has been part of this Fort Hill team from the beginning, and it was in clear evidence when the Sentinels come down the steps and through the tunnel, not to jump into a massive get-psyched pile of humanity, but to go over to the bench to greet their teammate Mike O’Kelly, their star running back from a year ago who was badly injured in an automobile accident last February.

One by one, the Sentinels, wearing O’Kelly’s No. 2 on their shoes, came to him, seated in his wheelchair near midfield to embrace him, to promise him their best, to tell them they love him, and to thank him for being such a wonderful teammate.

Senior halfback Mike Durr, who wore No. 34 in the first eight games of the season, including last week when he returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown to help the Sentinels to a three-point win over Mountain Ridge, came to O’Kelly wearing No. 2 ... on his jersey.

Make that Mike O’Kelly’s jersey, which would, after all, be a major presence in this Homecoming Game.

“It meant a lot to me,” O’Kelly said with a soft smile as he held the Great American Rivalry championship trophy that, along with the Old Iron Kettle, was presented to the Sentinels after the game. “It meant a lot to me because Mike has been my best friend since I moved here (from Pittsburgh).

“It nearly put me in tears. When he asked, it meant the world to me.”

Fort Hill coach Todd Appel said this was no spur-of-the-moment decision on Durr’s part.

“It wasn’t spur of the moment at all,” Appel said. “Mike Durr asked me in April if it would be OK with me if he wore Mike O’Kelly’s jersey for Homecoming. This week I asked him what he wanted to do, and on Monday I hung it in his locker.

“We’ll see if he wants to wear it next week.”

As for O’Kelly, despite not being able to play, he’s every bit the member of the Fort Hill Sentinels team that he always was, attending practices when he’s able to, and being there on the sideline when his teammates need him.

“Every game,” said junior split end Devin Lee, “we play for him. We’re a different team with Mike.”

The versatile Lee, who only plays about nine positions for Fort Hill, was feeling and doing something different, something extraordinary, on that final drive when he made a sensational one-handed catch of an Eric Howser pass to put the ball on the Allegany 35.

“Mike O’Kelly is a great inspiration,” said Appel. “He’s a silent inspiration. He doesn’t want fanfare, he wants to be part of the team; and the kids know he’s around. They wear No. 2 on their shoes, and today Mike Durr wore his jersey.

“Mike O’Kelly doesn’t want to win the game for them, he wants to play hard.”

“It was a perfect game between two great teams,” O’Kelly said, still clutching that trophy. “Allegany is so tough. But in the end, it worked out great for us.”

As for Durr, he and O’Kelly enjoyed their own private moment of celebration amidst the sea of red-clad supporters who stormed the field after the hard-earned victory. And as he began the sprint up those 52 steps to take off jersey No. 2, he reflected on what a memorable day it had been and what a memorable friendship he shares with O’Kelly.

“He’s been my best friend ever since the sixth grade,” Durr said. “He’s like Superman to me; always has been. To me, he is indestructible, and to see him after that accident was life-changing for all of us. I just wanted to come out here on what would have been one of the biggest days of his life and be an inspiration to him, because he’s always been an inspiration to me.

“He’s my best friend ... He would have done the same thing for me.”

As the Fort Hill players concluded their post-game rituals in the team room atop those 52 steps, Coach Appel was informed that “Mike hasn’t seen you yet, and he’s not leaving you until he gets his hug.”

As Kelly wheeled himself into Appel’s office, the Fort Hill coach went to him and gave him his hug.

“Congratulations, Coach Appel,” O’Kelly said. “Thank you for everything.”

“Mike,” Appel said. “Thanks for being with us. Thanks for being a member of this team.”

And then with a laugh, Appel said, “Mike Durr didn’t play like you today, did he?”

Yeah, in the same inspirational manner with which Mike O’Kelly plays the game he loves, yes, Mike Durr played exactly like Mike O’Kelly on Saturday.

 

 

Big-play kids, true to their game, lift Fort Hill

Mike Burke
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Eighty yards from the desired goal line the Fort Hill Sentinels stood with 5:24 left in the game. Seeing how they had been outgained in total offense up to this point by a 306-to-92 margin by the Allegany Campers, and seeing how the Campers had hogged the ball all day to well over a 2-to-1 time-possession ratio, that 80 yards might as well have been 800 yards. That 5:24 of clock might as well have been a New York minute.

“When we were down with four minutes to go,” said Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel, “I simply did not believe we were going to lose. It never crossed my mind, because these kids find a way to win the close ones. They’re a super group of kids.”

They’re also the Homecoming Game champions and the top seed in Maryland Class 1A West Region tournament that begins Friday when the Sentinels play host to fourth-seeded Boonsboro. They are these things, because the Sentinels refused to throw in the towel after seeing a 12-point third-quarter lead turn into a 22-19 deficit as Allegany unleashed a powerful running game, led by its offensive line and the tough running of halfback Sean Collette.

Thanks to two brilliant plays between quarterback Eric Howser and split end Devin Lee, the Sentinels not only found its offense, but it found their second life as they would cover the 80 yards in 13 plays, the most spectacular being a one-handed grab by Lee over an Allegany defender for a 32-yard gain and a Fort Hill first down 35 yards from the Allegany goal line.

Howser would find Lee on a quick-hitter for 13 more, all 13 of which Lee gained with fine open-field running. After a pass interference call on Allegany, running back Sam Walker hit the left side for 10 yards to put the ball on the one. Fort Hill had not given up, yet neither was Allegany going to.

On first down, Howser was stopped cold by Alco’s Melvin Tyson and Ryan Kane. Fullback Marcus Lashley was hit by the Campers’ Andrew Shively and Shawn Metheny on second down, and Howser was again stopped for no gain on third.

With 20 seconds remaining, Fort Hill used a timeout, with Howser finally worming his way in from the one with 18 seconds left to give the Sentinels a thrilling 26-22 victory.

“I’ve seen some good ones over the years,” said Appel, “so I wouldn’t know where to put this one or how to classify it with all of the other great Homecoming Games. When you’re on the sideline you just don’t have the privilege to sit back and say, ‘Wow, what a great game we’ve got going here.’ All you can do is try to put the kids in the best position to win it. All you’re looking for is the end, and to come out on top in the end.”

Appel certainly had Lee in the right position as the slender and talented split end made the catch of the day, and one of the catch-and-runs of the day on the final Fort Hill drive.

“Coach told me to get the job done; it was as simple as that,” Lee said. “He had faith in me and he put it in my hands.”

Was there pressure and frustration from not having the ball most of the day in the way of this game-winning drive for the Sentinels?

“We felt no pressure,” said Lee. “We never got frustrated, because we didn’t have time to. We had to stop Allegany. This feels great, because we’ve been through a lot this season, but we came together and stayed together as a team.”

While Lee may have had ice water in his veins in the final five minutes, Appel felt as though he had coffee in his.

“Plenty of frustration, yes,” said the first-year Fort Hill head coach. “Allegany did a great job. They showed they had the better offensive line — today. Usually when they play like that they win. So we had to resort to big plays, but we have big-play kids. We have the kids who can make the big play.

“As for Devin Lee, he’s one of them, and in the second half we put him out there and told Eric to get it to him. Throw it up and let him go after it and make plays. And he got it done for us.”

Other big plays were turned in by linebacker Dakota Welsh, Defensive Player of the Game and Great American Rivalry MVP Jordan Helmick, Offensive Player of the Game Howser and split end Johnathan Foster. For it was Welsh who blocked the Allegany punt that led to Helmick’s 27-yard return for touchdown to put the Sentinels up 6-0 with 1:36 left in the first quarter. It was Helmick intercepting the pass and returning it 39 yards to set up Howser’s first of two touchdowns to give the Sentinels a 19-7 lead. It was Foster who took in Howser’s 26-yard TD pass at 3:55 of the first half to put Fort Hill ahead 12-7 at the half, and it was Foster intercepting a pass on the next-to-last play of the game to ice it for Fort Hill.

If Appel was feeling frustration, Allegany head coach Tom Preaskorn was feeling pain as his team, despite dominating the game, committed two turnovers and eight penalties in the process of losing the game.

“Yes, we definitely shot ourselves in the foot,” said Preaskorn, “and that was something we discussed at length going into the game. Not because we have a mistake-prone football team; we don’t. But in a big game like this one, you have to eliminate turnovers because they’re going to come into play. And today they did.

“But the kids played hard. They came back from being down two touchdowns and battled back. They never gave up. I’m proud of them for that, and I’m proud of them for that goal-line stand. Unfortunately for us, Fort Hill got in.”

Allegany’s leading rusher, fullback J.D. Hook, suffered a leg injury with 1:54 left in the first half and missed the rest of the game. Up to that point he had gained 35 yards on nine carries. His replacement Melvin Tyson ran well, picking up 59 yards on 10 carries, and scoring a touchdown.

“We went away from some things we do with J.D.,” said Preaskorn, “but Melvin came in and did a heck of a job with his power running. He went right at Fort Hill and gave us big gains.”

Preaskorn said Hook’s status for Friday’s playoff game at undefeated Smithsburg would be determined after the junior fullback receives an MRI on Monday.

When asked what he made of this very different Homecoming Game, Preaskorn, a veteran of many as a player and now a coach, said, “They’re always good, aren’t they? I don’t know when I’ve seen one like that one.

“The kids are hurting right now, but hopefully we’ll come out next week and play hard, and execute and get another shot at Fort Hill.

“You have two evenly-matched teams here, and anything can happen. Sometimes it comes out that one is superior to the other. That’s not the case with the two of us.”

“We just worked hard,” said Helmick. “We overcame a lot of things and we overcame them with hard work and togetherness. We just worked hard and came together to beat Allegany.

“Allegany made some great plays, so we had to overcome that, and we did.”

 

Fort Hill’s Devin Lee (10) makes a one-handed grab in front of Allegany’s Shawn Metheny for a 32-yard gain and a Fort Hill first down 35 yards from the Allegany goal line during the Sentinels’ game-winning, 80-yard drive. (PHOTO BY: John A. Bone)