Queen City Quad great way to start the season

Aug 28, 2011
by Mike Burke

If you were unable to attend last Saturday’s Queen City Quad at Greenway Avenue Stadium, the four-team scrimmage hosted by Fort Hill that included Baltimore Dunbar, T.C. Williams of Alexandria, Va. and Red Lion Christian of Bear, Del., you missed out on a perfect afternoon of hospitality and high school football.

Not only did Todd Helmick, Queen City Quad founder, devise a great charity fundraiser — all donations made at the gate and all corporate sponsorships benefit The League for Crippled Children, which, beginning Sept. 1, will be The League — A Children’s Place — but he’s brought some seriously talented football teams to Greenway. This year’s field, though, was easily the most talented one in the three years of the Quad’s existence.

Of course, there were our old friends from Dunbar, and up here (or out here, as metro types are apt to say) Dunbar always attracts interest and a crowd. The Poets didn’t disappoint, as they had their moments for the day, with the highlight for any WVU fans in attendance being having the opportunity to see 6-2, 215-pound receiver DeonTay McManus, who has already given a verbal commitment to play for the Mountaineers next season.

The Poets still seemed to be in the feeling-out process last week, but you can be assured that by the time any area teams see them again this season they’ll have gotten things where they want them to be. There’s just too much talent there for that not to take place. But it was good to see them last week and, apparently, it was mutual on their part as Helmick said all three coaches asked to be invited back, with Dunbar head coach Lawrence Smith saying the Poets had never felt so welcome.

One Dunbar fan, who uses the handle “harcohons” agreed, posting on a Baltimore Sun chat board, “First off the event and the hosts were outstanding. Loved the stadium and the people were friendly, very accommodating, very knowledgeable of football. This is a town that is very proud of its football team and I love that.

“There was not one issue that I know of on the field or off; the refs even did an outstanding job. The format was great and from a fan’s point of view it was very entertaining. As for the teams, they all did some things well and they all have things they obviously need to work on as you would expect at this time of the year, but all in all some very good football was played.

“There weren't any major injuries and every team left better than they came and that is all you can hope for. The event was an A++. Estimated 1,100 attended the scrimmage. Wow. For a scrimmage. I hope they raised a ton for The League for Crippled Children.”

Then there was Red Lion, a team Allegany had the opportunity to see last year. And if you read USA Today you know all about the Lions, which is kind of fitting since they have apparently set out to become America’s High School Football Team, recruiting from all areas of the country and playing in all areas of the country.

The Lions were the last team to arrive last week and when they walked out on to the field, they were more like the white elephant in the room, because most of the estimated crowd of 1,100 just kind of stopped what they were doing and looked at them. Man, were they huge. And, as they should be, they were pretty impressive.

The 2011 Red Lion Over America Tour opened for real Friday night at Youngstown State University as the Lions took on the Ursuline Irish, who entered the game as three-time defending Ohio state football champions and winners of 21 straight games.

How’d it go? I think Doug Chapin, sportswriter for the Youngstown Vindicator, could tell you better than I could. He was there, and here’s the lead of his Saturday game story:

“The product was every bit as good as advertised.

“The football team from Red Lion Christian Academy in Bear, Del., an all-star team made up of players from across the country, was not fazed by the three straight Ohio state titles won by the Ursuline Irish.

“The Lions didn’t even blink when Ursuline scored on an 80-yard halfback pass on the first play Friday night at Stambaugh Stadium.

“No, the visitors from Delaware showed off their superior talent, including freshman quarterback David Sills who already has committed to Southern Cal, and methodically routed the Irish, 54-18.”

Those who saw Sills last week agree they saw a very impressive work in progress. The kid, who started last year as an eighth-grader, throws a great ball — tight and on the line — and his footwork is the goods. Nor was it too difficult to watch 6-3, 255-pound defensive end Eli Ankou, who has already accepted a scholarship to play at UCLA, and say to yourself, “Thank goodness we won’t be seeing him again this year.”

Very impressive. But, as we said, it should be.

As for Fort Hill, the Sentinels had a very good day, looking very sharp against Dunbar and more than holding their own against Red Lion, the two parts of the scrimmage I was able to see.

“I thought we did really well against all three teams,” said Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel. “We executed well on both sides of the ball. We had a couple of errors, but that’s to be expected against teams of that caliber. But they weren’t forced errors, believe me. Those were real good teams.”

And it was a real good day. Congratulations to Todd Helmick and Fort Hill Principal Steve Lewis and his staff, and many thanks for your help for The League for Crippled Children.”