Clays carry FH over Alco

Nov 6, 2010
by Steve Luse

CUMBERLAND — The special teams were special, the defense came up with some key turnovers and the Fort Hill Sentinels were able to get the ball in the hands of their speed players as they exploded in the second half to rout Allegany 47-21 in the annual Homecoming Game on a chilly Saturday afternoon at renovated Greenway Avenue Stadium.

The Sentinels will be going into the Maryland Class 1A West Region playoffs seeded second behind Mountain Ridge with a 7-3 record and will be hosting third-seeded Smithsburg in the first round on Friday at 7 p.m. at Greenway. Allegany closes the season with a 5-5 record and will not be going to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

“This was a great day to be a Sentinel,” said Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel. “We made some mistakes in the first half like have done in other games, but once we decided to play Fort Hill football we really put it to them in the second half. I thought our players played pretty well with a good team effort and we really used our speed to our advantage. We wanted to eliminate Allegany and we did that.”

The Clay twins Dylan and Garrett, who are only juniors, combined for 223 yards on the ground and four touchdowns and shared the Offensive Player of the Game honors.

Dylan Clay, who received the Great American Rivalries Player of the Game Award, finished with 126 yards on 11 carries and had a 34-yard run in the final minute of the first half that led to the first Fort Hill lead. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound speedster was also given the opportunity to run the wildcat offense for the first time in the second half and responded with some big plays from the shotgun formation.

“We’re always expected to get in the playoffs and our coaches did a great job of getting us ready for this game,” said Dylan Clay. “We were reminded of what happened in the playoff game with Allegany last year and there was a lot of motivation for this game.”

Garrett Clay, the bigger of the two twins at 6-foot, 177 pounds, rushed for 97 yards on 14 carries from the fullback spot and had three touchdown runs in the second half. The junior cornerback also had a key interception and blocked an extra point.

“We had a lot of heart and have really come together as a team,” said Garrett Clay. “Our line also did a great job of blocking.”

Creating some huge holes were tackles Nathan Steckman and D.J. Jolly, guards Nick Greise and Bryce Lowery, center Zach Cohen, and ends Garrett Dolly and Justin Dawson.

Jaron Watkins was the star of the special teams with an 81-yard kickoff return for the first touchdown and also scored on a 33-yard run. Robert Vincent scored the final touchdown on a 51-yard pass from back-up quarterback Mike Austin with 6:10 left.

The Sentinels finished with 340 yards in total offense with 234 coming on 35 runs. Starter Joe Howser completed both of his passes for 55 yards and Austin was 1-for-2 for 51 yards.

Allegany fullback Aaron Leasure rushed for 61 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries, while halfback Drew O’Neal gained 55 yards on 23 attempts and had a pair of touchdowns. The Campers had 197 yards in total offense with 156 on the ground.

The Fort Hill defense, led by Defensive Player of the Game Wes Wills, stepped up after yielding a long scoring drive on Allegany’s first possession and had a pair of fumble recoveries to go along with Garrett Clay’s interception.

Wills had 10 tackles with a pair of sacks and two other tackles for losses. The 5-foot-10, 220-pound junior noseguard also recovered a fumble.

Wills didn’t play in the first quarter due to ankle injury suffered in practice during the week, but certainly made his presence felt after entering the game.

“I just wanted to do the best I could to make my girlfriend and parents proud, and help the team win,” said Wells. “The seniors had really cracked down on us to not let happen what happened in the playoffs with Allegany last year.”

The time of possession and number of offensive plays certainly did not reflect the final score. Allegany had the ball for 33 minutes and 13 seconds compared to Fort Hill’s 14:47. The Campers also had a total of 74 plays while the Sentinels only needed 39 to get their seven touchdowns.

The game started out looking to be anything but a rout.

A line drive kick on Fort Hill’s opening kickoff bounced off an Allegany linemen but was covered by the Campers’ Jimmy Shaffer at their 47-yard line. It took 14 running plays to drive the 53 yards that took 6:42 off the clock.

Senior Drew O’Neal, who finished with 57 yards on 14 carries, went one yard for the first of his two touchdowns with 5:18 on the clock. Madison Wolford kicked the extra point.

Watkins had the quick answer as he used his speed to break loose on the 81-yard kickoff return after initially bobbling the ball at the 19. Phil Giugliano kicked the first of his six extra points.

The Allegany defense then stopped Fort Hill for a three-and-out on its first possession from scrimmage and a high snap over the head of the punter Giugliano and Campers got the ball at the Sentinels’ 10-yard line.

O’Neal was given the ball three straight plays and scored on another one-yard run with 10:41 left in the second quarter. Garrett Clay then blocked the extra point.

After a short Allegany kickoff, Dylan Clay broke free on a 38-yard run for a first down at the 25-yard line, but the Sentinels drive stalled at the 16. On their next possession they lost the ball on a fumble that Cory McCagh recovered for the Campers at their own 16-yard line.

Garrett Clay then came up with the interception and returned the ball 16 yards to the Allegany 39-yard line.

A six-yard keeper by quarterback Joe Howser and a four-yard blast by Garrett Clay moved the ball to the 19. After a five-yard false start penalty, Dylan Clay got outside on a pitch and tip-toed along the sidelines, avoiding tackles on the 34-yard touchdown run with 50.2 seconds left in the half. Giugliano’s kick made it 14-13.

On the kickoff to open the second half, Lance Fullwood almost did a repeat of Watkins’ earlier return when he raced 62 yards to the Allegany 17-yard line. Garrett Clay was handed the ball for three straight plays and scored his first touchdown on a seven-yard run at the 10:42 mark in the third quarter.

Wills then recovered an Allegany fumble at the Campers’ 23-yard line to set up the next touchdown. After an eight-yard loss on first down, Dylan Clay came back with a 20-yard run to the five. Garrett Clay then went the five yards for his second touchdown with 9:03 remaining in the third quarter. Giugliano’s kick made it 27-13.

On their next scoring drive, the Sentinels went 63 yards on only four plays when Watkins got his second touchdown 25.1 seconds still on the clock in the third quarter. On a third-and-12 play just before the touchdown, Howser hit Garrett Clay with a 32-yard pass down the sidelines.

Garrett Clay’s third touchdown came on a 68-yard run at the 10:05 mark in the final quarter. Guigliano made it 41-13.

Allegany then went 67 yards on eight plays with Aaron Leasure scoring on a two-yard run with 6:36 on the clock. Wolford ran for the two points.

Vincent got wide open behind the Allegany secondary on the 51-yard pass from Austin to conclude the scoring with 6:10 left.