By Mike Mathews

CUMBERLAND — Two big runs. Two tough defenses. One big win and a perfect regular season for the Fort Hill Sentinels.

And perhaps an encore in just two weeks.

Saturday, under a spectacular sunny sky, defense ruled the turf at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

Fort Hill did just enough in the middle two quarters, scoring on a 55-yard run by Dakota Welsh in the second and a 52-yard run by Sam Walker in the third to beat back Allegany, 17-7, in their annual Homecoming game in front of an estimated crowd of 8,000.

After a first quarter in which the Sentinels led in total yardage 19-15, the Sentinels appeared to be, if not in control, in a comfort zone with a 10-0 lead and the ball in the final minutes of the first half.

But things turned abruptly when Allegany’s Steffan Bonnett stepped in front of a Devin Lee pass and returned it 31 yards to the Fort Hill 22.

Five plays later, the double-figure lead was gone when Dustin Wharton scored on a 5-yard run, making it 10-7 at the break.

“We felt like we came out flat in the first half,’’ said Walker, who ran eight times for 76 yards. “The first scoring drive was good, but after that we were flat and we thought we had the game won.

“Allegany didn’t stop playing the entire game. At halftime we wanted to get the message through to everybody that we needed to come out energetic and finish the game off,” Walker continued. “We had the lead. We weren’t down; but we weren’t playing good. We made some adjustments and played well in the second half.”

Walker’s game-breaking run came on 2nd-and-9 from the Fort Hill 48 with 1:37 left in the quarter.

“We got in the I and ran Hit It, and Dakota Welsh got a great block on the linebacker and Colton Sibley and Dylan Clay did a good job hustling downfield and I was able to cut it back and just score from there,’’ Walker said.

The touchdown came during a crazy third quarter that featured three turnovers, including two on consecutive plays.

Shawn Metheny hit Drew O’Neal just as the Allegany quarterback threw a pass, and Welsh picked it off at the Alco 37. On the next play, Wharton pounced on a fumbled snap, giving the Campers the ball back at the Fort Hill 35.

But the Sentinels defense restored order by stopping two runs for no gain and forcing an incompletion, and after an Allegany punt drove 72 yards in five plays, with Walker’s touchdown moving a tenuous 10-7 lead to a bit more comfortable 17-7.

“We had a lot of strong players coming back on defense this year, and more returning players on defense than offense,” said junior linebacker Garrett Dolly, who had six tackles. “All nine games (Allegany) played we watched and studied on film and our coaches had a great game plan.

“But no matter who you play, the other team’s going to have athletes and things happen. You can never let up on a team no matter what the score is because they can always come back on you. I wasn’t really shocked about anything. And I think we’ll be playing them again.”

Allegany, averaging 46 points per game, had just 37 yards at halftime and 50 through three quarters. The Campers finished with 125, and were held to 67 rushing yards on 37 carries.

Wharton, as running back, Wildcat quarterback and receiver, accounted for 105 of the yards with 45 rushing, 44 receiving and 16 passing. He also had a team-high seven tackles.

The Campers lost two fumbles and had two interceptions, and were whistled for five penalties in the fourth quarter.

“We thought we could move the ball on them, but we weren’t able to execute as well as we thought we would,’’ Wharton said. “We gave them the ball too many times. You can’t turn it over and give a good team the ball like we did. You can’t make mistakes and mental mistakes. We did that, and that’s why we didn’t come out on top.”

The Allegany offense may have struggled, but the defense didn’t, matching Fort Hill hit-for-hit all day.

The Campers forced two turnovers, and with John Carpenter dropping four punts inside the Sentinels 15-yard line, Allegany had Fort Hill staring at long fields all afternoon.

“We wanted to earn some respect,’’ Wharton said of the defense. “It seemed like Fort Hill was overlooking us and I?think we showed that our defense is tough enough to stick with anybody.

“We just have to work on moving the ball and executing our offense, and we should be good. I definitely think we’ll be playing them again.”

Fort Hill ran 40 times for 195 yards. Take away the two big touchdown plays, and they had 88 yards on 38 rushes.

“It didn’t surprise us,’’ said Walker. “We play each other every year. Allegany knows most of the stuff we do, just like we know most of the stuff they do. So I figured it would be a tough game running today.”