Fort Hill best in the West

Nov 19, 2011
by Mike Mathews

CUMBERLAND — It was the same old story last night at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

And that means good news for the Fort Hill Sentinels.

Garrett Clay was unstoppable, the offense scored four unanswered touchdowns, and the defense refused to take a back seat to anyone in a 26-7 victory over Boonsboro for the Class 1A West Region championship.

The victory puts coach Todd Appel’s Sentinels (12-0) into the state semifinals against Perryville, which beat Cambridge-South Dorchester 21-10. The Fort Hill-Perryville game, which will be at Greenway, will be either Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

Clay ran 29 times for 238 yards and three touchdowns. Dylan Clay ran 12 times for 96 yards and Ryan Briner had six carries for 66 yards for the Sentinels.

But it was Boonsboro (10-2) that took the early lead, and when Zach Poffenberger scored on an eight-yard run with five seconds left in the first quarter, the Sentinels saw themselves trailing on the scoreboard for the first time this year.

“Boonsboro’s a great team and is well coached,” said Appel. “They get after it defensively and put a lot of pressure on you. Their linebackers really come at you.

“Our kids hung in there, and with all the penalties, still overcame adversity tonight. My hat goes off to these kids. They’re great football players and they love to play football. When it comes to Friday nights, when the lights are on, they really play hard.”

The Sentinels tied it early in the second quarter. Two plays after a 30-yard run by Garrett Clay, Dylan Clay took a pitch and raced 22 yards untouched for the score with 9:56 left in the half.

Boonsboro drove to the Fort Hill 17 but was unable to convert on third- and fourth-and-one. When the Sentinels took over at the 21, they turned to Garrett Clay, who didn’t disappoint.

Just six plays later — all runs by Garrett Clay — the Sentinels had the lead for good. Clay rattled off gains of 20, 12, 12, two and six before scoring on a 27-yard dash with 3:49 left in the quarter.

The surge of the Fort Hill line — Austin Lee, Bryce Lowery, Nick Greise, D.J. Jolley and Ethan McDermott — was evident all night, but especially in the second and fourth quarters. Garrett Clay had 128 yards in the second and 76 in the fourth.

Boonsboro coach Clayton Anders agreed. Undersized but never outworked or outhustled on the field, the Warriors fell victim to Fort Hill’s superior size in the end.

“We’ve got nine kids going two ways, and I know they have a lot, too,” Anders said. “But always trying to block a big dude, or trying to get off a block of a big dude .... if he’s any good, eventually he’s going to win some of those, and they did.”

Still, it was just 14-7 after three quarters until Cody Dolly and Company on defense came through with the play of the game.

On first-and-10 from the Fort Hill 44, Dolly and Cody Arrigo, both sophomores, sacked Ryan Ruiz and forced a fumble, which Greise scooped up near midfield and returned to the Boonsboro 37.

Eight plays later, Garrett Clay scored on an eight-yard run with 11:57 remaining. The big gain of the drive was a 26-yard reverse by Lance Fullwood that got Fort Hill to the 20.

“I was basically listening to the coach. He knew what was coming. So I just shot the gap and there it was, and I hit him,’’ Dolly said of the sack.

Boonsboro had just 77 yards in the second half.

“We just weren’t executing very well and weren’t stopping the jet sweeps and stuff in the first half,’’ Dolly said. “But we came out in the second half and were ready for all that, and we stopped them.”

Up 20-7, the Sentinels put the game on ice later in the quarter when Garrett Clay scored on a seven-yard run to cap a 64-yard, seven-play drive.

For Fort Hill, it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t supposed to be. And it wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be.

The big ugly: penalties. Unofficially, 11 for 120 yards, ranging from unsportsmanlike to a false start on a late-game kneel-down play.

“It was bad. That’s all I’d like to say,’’ said Appel. “I wasn’t at practice last Monday and usually we run for penalties on Mondays. We’ll run for penalties this week.

“We’re not going to point any fingers. We’re going to take the blame ourselves and will try to correct things next week because it will hurt us in the big game.”

J.T. Rice led Boonsboro with 13 carries and 50 yards. Gunnar Whipp ran 12 times for 49 yards.

Anders felt the inability to convert on the two short-yardage plays inside the Fort Hill 20 was crucial. At the time, the Warriors led 7-0.

“We convert down there, I think it’s a different ball game, cause we’re going to take that in.

“I am really proud of this group. They weren’t intimidated. They came and played. We showed we could play,” Anders added.

“I’m not taking anything away from Fort Hill. Fort Hill’s got a great team and a great chance to become a state champion. But look at who we put on the field, and look who they put on the field. Sometimes I wonder how we hung around at all.”

Boonsboro, with 18 juniors, went from 2-8 last year to 10-2 and a win from the state semifinals this year.