By Steve Luse

CUMBERLAND —In probably the biggest turnaround in the long series, the second-seeded Allegany Campers came back from a 14-0 deficit to roll over the top-seeded an previously unbeaten Fort Hill Sentinels, 35-14, for the Maryland Class 1A West Region championship Friday night at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

It marks the first time in the six times the two Cumberland schools have met in the playoffs that the team that won the Homecoming game didn’t advance with a second win. Allegany will be taking a 9-3 record into the state semifinals and will be on the road to play unbeaten Joppatowne (12-0) next week.

Joppatowne knocked out Havre de Grace, 22-14, and unbeaten Catoctin (12-0) eliminated Pikesville, 49-7. Defending champion Dunbar will play Forest Park today for the other spot in the quarterfinals.

Fort Hill, which dominated the game on both sides of the 17-7 victory over Allegany two weeks ago in Homecoming, was looking to do a replay until the final minute of the first half. The story then took a quick turn and the Sentinels finish with an 11-1 record.

One play can make a big difference and Allegany got it right before the halftime break. With the Campers looking to possibly set up a field goal by John Carpenter, senior halfback Dustin Wharton took a short pass from Drew O’Neal along the sidelines and just wasn’t willing to go down as he kept busting tackles on the 48-yard play with 3.1 seconds left in the half. Carpenter kicked the first of his five extra points.

Before that play the Fort Hill defense — that hadn’t given up more than 15 points all season — had allowed only 22 total yards and two first downs.

With the momentum change, the second half was a different story as Wharton and fullback J.D. Hook showed they could run the ball against the Sentinels, who had given up only 76 points in 11 games.

Hook had touchdown runs of 37 and 23 yards and finished with 113 on 18 carries after being held to three yards on four runs before the break. Wharton returned a punt 40 yards for the tiying touchdown and rushed 82 yards on 14 carries. The Campers finished with 204 yards on 38 carries and had 63 yards through the air.

Wharton, a 6-foot, 197-pound senior, also had an outstanding game from his linebacker spot on defense with some key stops. Trey O’Baker and Aaron Murphy recovered fumbles.

Fort Hill senior fullback Dakota Welsh helped Fort Hill control the ball on the ground in the first half and finished with 117 yards on 17 attempts. Junior wingback Shawn Metheny scored the touchdowns on runs of six and four yards.

“We had a very good week of practice and I believed we could win, and the important thing is the players believed it,” said Allegany coach Tom Preaskorn. “That play at the end of the first half where we were trying to set up a field goal was a momentum changer. We made some adjustments on offense at halftime and I told the players that if we could stop them on the first possession we could win. We started to move the ball and Dustin Wharton had a great game.”

After stopping Allegany on the first possession, Fort Hill went 54 yards on eight running plays to get on the board first on Metheny’s six-yard run around the right end at the 7:51 mark in the first quarter. Welsh blasted for 38 yards in the drive. Phillip Giugliano kicked the extra point.

In the closing seconds of the first half, Devin Lee picked off an Allegany pass and returned the ball 33 yards to the Campers’ 29. After having his 16-yard run to the end zone called back by penalty, Metheny took a pitch and got outside on a the four-yard scoring run with 7:57 left in the half.

After a key defensive stop in the final minute of the half, Wharton returned a punt 22 yards to the Allegany 52 to set the stage for momentum-changing play.

Fort Hill was looking to make it a two-score lead after getting the opening kickoff to open the second half but gave up the ball on downs at the Allegany 23 when a short pass misfired.

With Hook and Wharton finding holes after some halftime adjustments the Campers went 75 yards on 15 running plays that took the remainder of the time in the third quarter off clock before losing the ball on a fumble that Garrett Dolly recovered for Fort Hill at its two-yard line.

Unable to get a first down, the Sentinels were forced to punt out of the end zone and Wharton returned the Lee’s kick 40 yards for the touchdown that resulted in the 14-14 tie with 9:47 left in the game.

The Allegany defense then stepped up again and after a Fort Hill punt, the Campers went 62 yards on only three plays with Hook getting outside on a 37-yard run for the go-ahead touchdown with 6:39 still on the clock.

Wharton then came up with a big stop when he nailed Lee on fourth down that gave Allegany the ball at the 45-yard line. Seven running plays later, Hook got loose on a 22-yard run for his second touchdown with 5:34 remaining.

Aaron Murphy then recovered a Fort Hill fumble at the one-yard line and O’Neal went in for the touchdown on the sneak with 18 clicks on the clock. Carpenter’s kick concluded the scoring.