HOMECOMING: It’s genuine, it’s true, and we saw it

by Mike Burke

That, friends, was a football game. That was two old rivals, all of whom are teenagers, who not only were playing for themselves, their teammates and their schools, but playing for the ages. This one goes in there with any of them. Fort Hill’s 26-8 victory over Allegany on a perfect football Saturday — sunny, bright and full of hope in the beginning; a blue-gray, tense and foreboding in the end — is what you trick yourself into believeing every one of the previous 88 meetings has been, because this rivalry has been so great for so long. But in truth, there have been some barkers along the way, although the teams that were on the high end of those running clocks still remember them as things of beauty.

Saturday was no thing of beauty, but it sure was beautiful to see. Nearly every hit, nearly every tackle was heard in the enclosed press box high above the aluminum stands that are still referred to as “the wooden side.” Gasps, then roars, continuously came from the crowd as Fort Hill and Allegany went after each other and fought for every inch they could get, and every inch they refused to yield.

Allegany’s linebackers were sensational, but so, too, were Fort Hill’s, with the difference being the Sentinels’ offensive and defensive lines, their secondary and their special teams, and Allegany turnovers.

Both defenses gave up just eight first downs — normally a half’s work for both offenses — but the Sentinels were the beneficiaries of four Allegany turnovers, fumbles leading to the first two Fort Hill touchdowns and an interception becoming a D.J. Powell 26yard touchdown return. Powell, the Sentinel linebacker who burst through to sack Allegany quarterback Carson Imes for a 12-yard loss to further muddle the Campers’ field position on the previous possession, was voted Defensive Player of the Game by the media.

Moments after he scored the second touchdown on a 24-yard run, Fort Hill’s Ty Johnson, the 2013 Area Player of the Year, playing in front of Randy Edsall, his future coach at the University of Maryland, was knocked out of the game making a tackle on James Madison commit Kirk Robinette along the Fort Hill sideline. After heading to the dressing room before halftime and receiving a doctor’s clearance, Johnson helped lead the team through second-half warm-ups, then returned to the field a play before Austin Farrell’s 23-yard field goal made it 17-0 at 6:25 of the third quarter.

There were others. That was the kind of game it was, which is to say it wasn’t for the weak of heart. Which is also to say it was Alex Barnes’ kind of game. Barnes, the tough and physical running back and safety for Fort Hill, was his usual self, providing enforcement on the final line of the defense, and picking up the hardest 76 rushing yards of his career to be voted Offensive Player of the Game.

“They were physical,” Fort Hill coach Todd Appel said of the Campers. “But at the end of the day we were more physical. My hat’s off to Allegany. We’ll see them again.

“Now we have to shore up some things and play better. With the games ahead, we have to try to get better because every team we face will be better.”

The top-seeded and undefeated Sentinels, the defending Maryland 1A state champion and winners of a Cityrecord 24 games in a row, will be home at Greenway on Friday night to play the fourthseeded Northern Huskies in the first round of the West Region tournament.

The third-seeded Campers were playing for a home game as well, but will be on the road Friday night to face secondseeded North Carroll in the first round. They wanted a first-round home game, and on Friday they will essentially be playing for another one. But just as they did, just as the Sentinels did on Saturday, they will be playing for much more. Something so large and so meaningful that you have no idea what it is until you are on that field playing in the Fort Hill-Allegany football game.

“Allegany gave us all they had,” Fort Hill junior guard Timmy Friend said after the game. “It was a valiant effort — worthy of respect. Seventyeight years of pure rivalry can change a game. No team is safe when they’re involved in that much time together.”

That’s respect. It’s respect for a lot of players dressed in red and in blue through the years who passed through those goal posts before. It’s pride, a spirit of pride that is impossible to describe. But on Saturday afternoon at Greenway Avenue Stadium, Fort Hill and Allegany understood what the spirit is, and they played for it.