Fort Hill cruises past Kent Island for record 21st straight victory

MIKE MATHEWS
TIMES-NEWS STAFF WRITER

CUMBERLAND — Catch them, if you can.

A record-breaking 21st straight opponent tried and failed Friday night at Greenway Avenue Stadium, where the Fort Hill Sentinels had their way in a 38-13 rout of Kent Island in a battle of unbeatens.

The record-breaker went into the record book quickly as the Sentinels led 14-0 after eight minutes, 21-0 in the first minute of the second quarter, and 24-7 at halftime.

The 21st straight win broke the previous school record and tied the City record set by the 1983-84 teams of Allegany.

“It’s a big group effort,’’ Fort Hill coach Todd Appel said of the streak. “It means we’re good right now, and that’s awesome. But as far as records are concerned, I?don’t think we’re concerned with that. We’re concerned about just getting better each week.

“We’re a good team right now, but we’re not as good as we need to be.”

One thing the Sentinels (7-0) can’t improve upon much is their quick strike scoring ability which they showed off again against the Buccaneers (6-1) with touchdown drives of one, two, four and five plays.

In a game of 48 minutes, it was perhaps 12 seconds that stuck out the most.

Kent Island, down 7-0 midway through the first quarter, appeared to have gained momentum and field position when punter Zachary Goodrich boomed a 47-yarder that rolled out of bounds at the Fort Hill seven with 4:17 left in the first quarter.

But on the next play, Ty Johnson took a handoff from Rashaan Shives, hit the left side and sprinted 93 yards in 12 seconds for a touchdown and 14-0 lead.

“It always starts with listening to the coaching and the blocking schemes,’’ said Johnson. “Coach (Jeff) Brode always tells me to be patient, find the hole when it’s there, and square my shoulders and get down field.

“I just keep running till I cross that line.”

Johnson ran seven times for 188 yards with touchdown runs of 36, 44 and 93 yards, and caught a 49-yard pass from Shives for a touchdown, which was set up by Johnson’s interception in the first quarter.

While Johnson sped past many Buccaneers, Alex Barnes ran through some, carried others and ended up with 115 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Shives completed a pair of big passes, the 49-yarder to Johnson and a 32-yarder to Kris Jackson.

“We are very fortunate to have people like Ty and Alex who can take it the distance at any time, and Rashaan, who can throw it down the field 50, 60 yards,’’ said Appel. “I also thought it was our offensive line’s best game this year.

“Kent Island isn’t used to three-and-out. They’re used to 13, 14-play drives. They just keep grinding it out and they keep offenses off the field,” Appel said. “We knew that going in, and we knew we had to get some three-and-outs and get our offense on the field. We knew we could run the ball, and we knew we could score. But we had to get on the field to do that. We were able to do that because our defense did a great job.”

The Sentinels were stopped on fourth-and-one on their first possession, but scored touchdowns on their next three drives — five plays, 65 yards, 2:27; 1 play, 93 yards, 12 seconds; and 2 plays, 55 yards, 53 seconds.

After being stopped on fourth-and-one on their first possession, the Sentinels got the ball back three plays later when Timmy Friend chased Kent Island quarterback Zach Smith, whose hurried throw was picked off by Johnson at the Fort Hill 30.

Five plays later, with Kent Island keying on the run, Johnson slipped behind the secondary and Shives hit him perfectly in stride on a 49-yard touchdown play.

Johnson’s 93-yard run came less than three minutes later, and Barnes made it 21-0 with a 49-yard dash on the second play of the second quarter.

The Buccaneers marched 58 yards in 13 plays, all on the ground, and cut it to 21-7 on a five-yard run by Goodrich with 2:30 left in the half. But the Sentinels answered just before the half on a 25-yard field goal by Austin Farrell which capped a drive that featured a powerful 17-yard run on third-and-12 by Barnes, who broke five tackles on the play.

“What a great run that was,’’ admitted Appel. “Alex gives every effort he can not to be tackled. He’s hard to be denied, and a real tough kid.”

The Sentinels received the second-half kickoff and reached the end zone just 95 seconds later when Johnson scored on a 44-yard run. The lead ballooned to 38-7 when Johnson, a few plays after a 24-yard run by Barnes, scored on a 36-yard run on the final play of the quarter.

Smith, Kent Island’s quarterback had a big night with 27 rushes, 166 yards and a touchdown.

Fort Hill will host Capitol Christian Academy on Saturday at 1 p.m.