Queen City Quad Saturday at Greenway

August 18, 2010
by TODD HELMICK
Cumberland Times-News

The Fort Hill Sentinels will host the second Queen City Quad Football Classic Saturday at Greenway Avenue Stadium, beginning at 3 p.m., with proceeds benefitting The League for Crippled Children.

Admission is free but donations will be accepted. Gift card sales will also be available with all of the profit going to the local charity.

As the home side of Greenway Avenue Stadium is currently under construction, the gates at the front of the stadium will be off limits. Fans can enter through the Avondale Avenue gates by the Fort Hill tennis courts or from the front at the top of the steps leading to the field from Fort Hill.

In addition to the hometown Sentinels, three other schools will participate in the four-team scrimmage, including Westminster of Carroll County, Winston Churchill of Montgomery County and T.C. Williams of Alexandria, Va. Each school will also provide their junior varsity squad for a scrimmage on the upper practice field while the varsity teams will compete in the stadium, bringing the total number of teams participating at one time to eight and the total number of athletes involved to nearly 300, making Saturday the first time in the 74-year history of Greenway that this many football players been involved in games being played simultaneously.

This year the Quad will welcome three visiting schools that are all Class 4A in size, the largest athletic classification in the state of Maryland based on student enrollment. The advantage of competing against three other schools seems to be a preseason bonus most coaches have found beneficial. “It’s good for our kids to see three different schemes that will allow them to make good adjustments on the fly without a scouting report,” claims Fort Hill coach Todd Appel. “The Quad helps us with that aspect. It will be a great mental challenge along with being a physical challenge. We will find out a great deal about our kids early.”

T.C. Williams

Most people will recognize the name of this school from the Hollywood movie “Remember The Titans,” which was based on a true story in which Denzel Washington played the lead role of football coach Herman Boone.

Presently, the Titans have two Division I college football players, both of whom are on the University of Maryland recruiting radar. Offensive lineman Jay Whitmire (6-foot-4, 283 pounds) has been labeled the most mobile big man in the state of Virginia by one recruiting service. He already has 13 different scholarship offers from Penn State and Notre Dame among others.

According to head coach Dennis Randolph, “He can pretty much choose any college in America. He is so fluid that he played tight end in our summer league games.”

Defensive end Joe Massaquoi (6-5, 230) has also received an offer to play at East Carolina. Joining him on the defensive side is Damian Benton, one of the best safeties in the Titans’ league, who has recorded 147 tackles and six interceptions.

Westminster

With an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, this is one of the largest schools in the state of Maryland. Experience is what this Monocacy Valley League team will offer as Westminster returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense, with only two playing on both sides of the ball, giving head coach Brad Wilson plenty to be optimistic about.

Defensive end Tyler Krug (6-4, 250) who has already been selected to represent Maryland in the Crab Bowl All-Star game this December, as has Fort Hill linebacker Garrett Dolly. The Owls also boast a talented offensive lineman in Evan Groseclose (6-4, 275). Wilson describes his team as athletic with a great deal of team speed, which ultimately fits their spread offense in which four and five receivers are the normal set with a shotgun quarterback throwing the ball nearly every down. Eight different Owls receivers will see the field.

Winston Churchill

Churchill will field the biggest team in the quad physically, maintaining an offensive tackle weighing 265 pounds, a right guard at 285 pounds and another blocker at 315 pounds. On defense junior Karou Diakite is a 6-4, 300-pound tackle who plays beside a defensive end who weighs in at 255.

Churchill runs the triple-option run offense out of a shotgun-quarterback formation, with two solid ballcarriers, senior Marcus Brown and 208-pound junior Curtis Kamara, who also boasts a 500-pound squat in the weight room. The leader on defense is linebacker Bret Sickles who also is a part of the 500-pound squat club.

The head coach is Joe Allen and after a 7-3 season last year — which included wins over powerhouse schools Gaithersburg, Magruder and Seneca Valley — Allen has an exceptional junior varsity team that went 8-1 last year moving up and realistically expects these boys to compete for the Class 4A title in the next two seasons.

Churchill has also added defensive coordinator Willie Williams to the coaching staff. Williams was a 13-year veteran of the NFL with the distinction of being the only player from the Pittsburgh Steelers 1996 and 2006 Super Bowl roster.

Todd Helmick is a former Fort Hill High School and Florida State University football player. He is the owner of the college football Web site NationalChamps.net and his weekly radio show can be heard on Baltimore FOX Sports 1370.