STATE CHAMPS: Sentinels delivered in many ways and on all days

by Mike Mathews

BALTIMORE - Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor cold or wind could stop the Fort Hill Sentinels.

They delivered, in the heat and humidity of September and October, in the cold, wind and even snow at playoff time, and one final time in a driving rainstorm Saturday in Baltimore.

Now they’re in a pretty exclusive club, as back-toback state champions. Make that back-to-back unbeaten state champions.

No football team in the Cumberland area has won more games in a row than Fort Hill, whose streak sits at 28 after a 40-8 victory over Frederick Douglass of Baltimore in the state title game.

“Fort Hill is known for its tradition, and I want to leave the younger kids with an (understanding) of that tradition,’’ said senior Alex Barnes, who scored a touchdown and had five tackles Saturday. “It’s all about carrying on the tradition, keeping The Kettle, going in every day and working hard, and dedication.

“It’s the experience of knowing if you work hard you can end up here, where we ended up,” he said while celebratinganother state championship.

M&T Bank Stadium was where Ty Johnson wanted his high school career to end. But on the sideline, after suffering a high ankle sprain in the third quarter, wasn’t how he wanted it to end.

“I love these guys right here and always want to give my best for them,’’ he said. “Going out and being told Icouldn’t go back in was tough. It was heartbreaking because it was my last game in my senior year.

“I was cheering for the others. I had to cheer for them and stop feeling pity for myself. We worked so hard during the offseason to not go home with a loss on our record.”

Johnson played only the first half and half of the third quarter but certainly left his mark. He ran for 40 yards on the Sentinels’ first play from scrimmage, finished with 10 carries and 78 yards, a catch for 10 yards, two tackles, a forced fumble and an interception.

So when he left with seven minutes to go in the third quarter and Fort Hill clinging to just a 14-8 lead, it was understandable if the fans dressed in red and white were feeling a little blue.

That feeling didn’t last long. It wasn’t a case of next man up, but a case of every man up. And it started in the trenches.

“I was getting a little nervous, but this is states so you are going to get a little nervous,” said center Tanner Brode. “We were down at halftime. We went into the locker room like we were losing. But coach (Shaun) Lewis knows how to get us going and he got us fired up.”

Brode has a simple reason for the offensive line’s success this year. “Dedication,’’ he said. “We don’t stop. We try to keep our motors running the whole play.”

With a line like that leading the way for backs like Johnson, Barnes and Raen Smith, the Sentinels proved too much to handle.

The season may have been a perfect one record-wise, but it was not without some adversity and injuries, including a knee that sidelined senior Ryan Smith for the season.

“He was one of our best football players and we had to look around and find some answers,’’ said head coach Todd Appel, now 80-11 in seven seasons with the Sentinels. That’s an .879 winning percentage. “We had lost some seniors (to graduation) in some key positions last year, but we had a lot of key people back, too. We just had some key positions to fill.”

Raen Smith started the season on the offensive line but moved to fullback after the injury to Ryan Smith. On Saturday, the sophomore ran for 122 yards, with 103 coming in the second half, and three touchdowns as the Sentinels scored 40 points against a team that had allowed only 60 all season.

“We had some early injuries that set us back and one game I just had to step up and have been giving it my hardest every week,’’ he said. “I’m just glad we got to this point and glad we got that second state championship.

“I love all these guys. They are family. I couldn’t have done any of this without them. Especially the line. I want to give them a shout out.”

Brode, Timmy Friend, Danny May, Josh Roberts and Wilbert Page make up that offensive line, plus tight end Ryan Shives, who caught a touchdown pass from someone he knows pretty well, his twin brother, who took over at quarterback this year.

Rashaan Shives, a 6-1, 241pound senior, was 3 for 3 passing for 50 yards and a TD in the first half. The touchdown to Ryan made it 14-0 in the second quarter.

“I couldn’t find anyone to my left,’’ he said of the pass play. “They said Ty was wide open, but I couldn’t see him ... so I turned around to the right and saw my brother flaring out. I gave him a little toss and he went right in.”

There aren’t many quarterback/ defensive lineman combinations, but that was the dual role Rashaan Shives played. He handled the quarterback job very well, showed off a nice touch and spiralling throws all year and loved to see points go up on the scoreboard. But he seemed to like it better when the Sentinels didn’t have the ball.

“I love playing defense, and I always give 110 percent,’’ he said. “That’s where I like to succeed at, on defense. On offense, these guys block,” he said of the linemen, “and I hand the ball off to those guys and they do their thing,” he said with a laugh.

In baseball, each team gets 21 outs in a 7-inning game. In basketball, a shot clock helps assure changes of possession. But in football, there are no guarantees. One team can hog the ball all it wants to, and that’s what Fort Hill did, especially in the second half. The Sentinels had the ball 18:06 in the second half, and Douglass for only 5:54.

Without the ball, Douglass didn’t stand a chance. When they did have the ball, they had little success. The Ducks had two first downs and 39 yards of offense in the second half.

“Douglass ran the ball better throughout the entire season,” Appel said in comparing the Ducks to last year’s team. “They have bigger linemen this year and they wall you off. It was hard to find (Maurice) McFadden, at 5-6, who runs with a lot of power, hiding behind that big offensive line.” McFadden, a 1,000-yard rusher who averaged more than 10 yards per carry, had 21 yards on eight tries Saturday.

“Our defensive line did a great job of listening to coach (John) McKenney. We stayed in our run lanes and didn’t allow the cutbacks. Our linebackers knew where they were going and we were all over it. And we got some good pressure on their quarterback throughout the game, too.”

Saturday’s game was a rematch of the 2013 final but there won’t be another. Douglass vaults to Class 3A next year while the Sentinels stay in 1A, which appears to be bad news for everyone else. In their 8-0 run through the last two postseasons, they’ve outscored their opponents 359-77. It was 65-8 in the two state championship games against Douglass.

Now that’s called delivering.