HOMECOMING
Fort Hill wins a bruiser, 26-8

MIKE MATHEWS
TIMES-NEWS STAFF WRITER

CUMBERLAND — The stadium was a sea of red and blue but the official colors of this year’s Homecoming game just might be black and blue.

And in the end, it was Fort Hill going over the top again and extending its City winning streak to 24 games.

The Sentinels, in one of the hardest-hitting, bruising battles in recent years of the 41year series, scored touchdowns after two Allegany turnovers in the first half and got another on an interceptionreturn by D.J. Powell in the second for a 26-8 victory on a crisp, sunny Saturday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

Fort Hill (10-0) has won the last seven Homecoming games and nine of the last 10 meetings overall against Allegany (6-3), with a rematch in two weeks possible if both win their region semifinal games this week.

Alex Barnes, who ran 19 times for 76 yards and a touchdown, was voted the Offensive Player of the Game and Powell, whose 26-yard interception return made it 24-0 late in the third quarter, was the Defensive Player of the Game.

Raen Smith led all rushers with 83 yards on 11 carries, including a 43-yarder, for Fort Hill. Kirk Robinette ran 17 times for 62 yards and led the Allegany defense.

The teams in the lowestscoring Homecoming game in six years produced less than 400 yards offense. The big difference was turnovers. Allegany had four, including three fumbles in the first quarter, that helped Fort Hill build a 14-0 lead. Fort Hill lost two fumbles in the second half, but neither led to Allegany points.

“It’s always nice to get turnovers on your end. We had a few of our own but we were able to capitalize on a few of theirs,’’ said Fort Hill coach Todd Appel. “In this game sometimes it becomes a battle of turnovers, of who has the most and who has the least, but Ithought we capitalized enough and played great defense to win the game. “Our defensive line played tremendous, and our young linebackers did, too. It was definitely the story of the game. Allegany played great defense, too. Our defense was just a little better.”

In a decade of high school football that has produced inflated scores and record-setting offensive performances, Saturday’s game was a throwback. It was old school. There were no 100-yard rushers, and only four plays that gained 20 yards or more.

“It was a grind-it-out game,’’ said Barnes. “Everybody had to come together as one. Another key to the game was ball control. We got the ‘W’ and it feels great. We just want four more wins and another state championship to bring home.”

The number of 20-yard plays was overwhelmed by the hard hitting by both sides. Each team had players hobble to the sideline and miss time throughout the afternoon.

“We feel physically we can play with Fort Hill,” said Allegany coach Tom Preaskorn. “You hear how big and strong they are, and they are big. But our kids are, too, and our weight room’s just as good as their’s. I think we proved that today.

“I’m pleased with the way the kids played. Unfortunately, the outcome isn’t what we wanted. We gave up three turnovers in the first half and put our defense in some bad positions. Kirk Robinette had an outstanding game on defense and defensively, we held them to 14 points. One of those touchdowns came after we fumbled a punt at the nineyard line.

“There was no quit in any of our guys. They played their guts out.”

Allegany, which had lost a fumble on the first possession of the game, forced a Fort Hill punt three plays later that deflected off Darian King at the 10 and was recovered by Charlie Twigg at the nine.

Two plays later Barnes scored on a three-yard sweep with 6:43 left in the first quarter.

L ater, after the Campers had held Fort Hill on fourth down, the Campers lost their third fumble of the quarter, as Brayden Brown recovered a bobbled ball by Robinette at the Allegany 42.

It took Fort Hill six plays to cover the 42 yards. Ty Johnson, with a big downfield block by Kris Jackson, scored on a 24-yard run to make it 14-0 with 10:35 left in the half.

The Sentinels chewed up the first 5:35 of the third quarter on a 66-yard drive that netted a 23-yard field goal by Austin Farrell and made it 170.

Powell came up with a big 12-yard sack to thwart Allegany’s next series. Just four plays later, the Campers got the ball right back when Hunter Wilhelm, who recovered two fumbles for Allegany, pounced on a Barnes fumble at the Campers 19.

After a short gain and an incompletion, Powell stepped in front of a Carson Imes pass and went 26 yards untouched for the game-breaking score and a 24-0 spread.

“It felt so good,” the junior linebacker said. “I saw a wide open field and I just ran as fast as I could and tried to score. This was a very hard-hitting game, and defense and sticking together were the keys for us.”

Allegany, after stopping Fort Hill on fourth down at midfield, got on the board late in the fourth quarter. Imes hit King for 37 yards on a fourthand- seven to get to the four, and three plays later scored on a two-yard sneak. King ran for the conversion to cut it to 24-8.

The Sentinels tacked on a safety with 2:10 left when Jadi Candler tackled King in the end zone on a four-yard loss.

Fort Hill led in total offense 233-154, and had 216 yards rushing compared to 90 for Allegany. Johnson, averaging 149 yards a game, had 32 on seven carries, and was one of those missing time after taking a hard hit trying to bring down Robinette in the second quarter. He sat out the last eight minutes of the first half but returned early in the third quarter after being cleared to play.

Allegany and Fort Hill have played twice in six of the last nine years. Arematch this year would be possible if Allegany wins at North Carroll and Fort Hill beats Northern in this week’s region semifinals.

“Fort Hill’s front line on defense is tough. We’ve got to figure out a way to be able to block them,’’ said Preaskorn. “As I told the kids, this is a hard loss, and there are lots of teams that don’t get a second chance. Hopefully, we’ll get a second chance.”