Fort Hill rolls to 43-6 rout of Joppatowne in state semis

Nov. 26, 2022
by Alex Rychwalski

CUMBERLAND — Against one of the top teams in Class 1A, Fort Hill delivered a near-perfect performance.

The Sentinels dominated Joppatowne in the trenches, showcased a multiple offense, had sure tackling on defense and cut down on those costly blocking penalties.

Tavin Willis, Mikey Allen and Jabril Daniels scored two touchdowns apiece, and the second-seeded Sentinels rolled past No. 3 Joppatowne, 43-6, in the state semifinals on Friday night at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

Fort Hill (12-1) will go for its second consecutive title and ninth overall in a rematch with No. 1 Mountain Ridge (12-0) in Annapolis next Saturday.

“It’s a big win, happy for our kids,” Sentinels head coach Zack Alkire said. “They put in a lot of work to get back to states, and they accomplished that goal of going down to Annapolis.”

While Fort Hill was back to being near 100% after battling a flu bug the past couple of weeks, Joppatowne (11-2) was without one of the state’s best players: running back Steven Robinson, who accounted for more than 2,200 yards and 31 touchdowns this year.

The Mariners didn’t have the same depth as the Sentinels, who were able to overcome having Willis out of the line-up to beat Perryville, 49-7, in the quarterfinals last week.

With all of its ball carriers in the fold, Fort Hill rushed 48 times for 342 yards, led by the performances of Willis (12 carries, 127 yards) and Allen (nine carries, 112 yards).

Daniels, the fullback, continued his bruising running on the inside, racking up 73 yards on 14 touches, and speedster Tanner Wertz ended with 51 yards on 10 carries.

Joppatowne’s defensive line was no match for Fort Hill’s front, which created gaping holes for its backs to gallop through.

“It’s been big for us to have all the backs that we have,” Alkire said. “Offensive line is coming together at the right time. We have a staple of backs that we can rotate in and keep fresh, especially on a night like tonight when Joppatowne is running three and four wide. Those guys were getting tired.”

Fort Hill outgained Joppatowne, 369-248, and had a 21-13 edge in first downs. The Mariners ran the ball 25 times for 140 yards.

Fort Hill’s wide-open playbook was on display once again, with the Sentinels using a traditional Wing-T, I formation, Wildcat with Allen under center, shotgun and a tight formation resembling the Flexbone.

“We have a lot of different athletes on the team, a lot of different people that can do stuff with the ball,” Fort Hill quarterback Anthony Burns said. “Especially with the formations. It’s hard to scout whenever we have so many different things that we do.

“It’s fun playing with all of them. Less stress on my shoulders, they pretty much do it all anyway. Them and the line, I just get the ball to them.”

The Sentinels cleaned up their penalty issues of previous weeks, committing only four for 30 yards. Joppatowne also bounced back from the 200 yards in penalties it racked up a week ago, only getting called for three for 30 yards.

“They see the negativity, kids are kids, they see all the negativity from the community,” Alkire said. “That’s one of the things that they saw the most, the penalties. It wasn’t wrong. The negativity was correct, they knew they needed to cut down on it.

“It was a big focus all week long to try and silence that, and they did a pretty good job of that tonight.”

Fort Hill led 29-6 at halftime and pushed the game to a running clock with 10:11 left in the fourth following a 10-play, 56-yard scoring drive that was capped by a five-yard Daniels run.

Daniels scored the Sentinels’ other touchdown of the second half, a one-yard run with 7:35 left in the third. Allen had runs of 13 and 20 yards on the eight-play, 65-yard series to set up the score.

Fort Hill led Joppatowne at halftime behind a pair of touchdowns apiece from Willis and Allen.

The Sentinels established control early, as Willis took a handoff out of the eye formation and cruised 53 yards untouched to the end zone on Fort Hill’s first play from scrimmage to lead 7-0 with 10:50 left in the first.

Fort Hill’s defense forced three-and-outs on Joppatowne’s first two possessions, the latter ending with a short punt that gave the Sentinels the ball on the Mariners’ 40-yard line.

Four plays later, Fort Hill found the end zone, capped by a nine-yard Allen burst with 8:08 left in the first.

Despite gaining minus-2 yards on its first seven plays, Joppatowne got on the scoreboard on its eighth play when Shawn Cain found a seam off right tackle and ran 81 yards to the end zone. After a failed two-point conversion, the Sentinels’ lead was cut to 14-6 with 7:26 on the opening-quarter clock.

Cain was Joppatowne’s most-explosive athlete with Robinson out of the line-up, rushing for 80 yards on six carries and catching five passes for 57 yards.

Fort Hill came out in a tight formation with 11 personnel in the box on its third series, and the offense moved 55 yards on five plays with ease. On the final play of the drive, Burns connected with a wide-open Willis off a play action for a 27-yard score to make it 21-6 with 5:18 left in the first.

The Sentinels showcased another offensive formation on their next drive, utilizing the Wildcat with Allen under center, but the drive was stymied by a fumble that Fort Hill recovered.

A poor snap over punter Quinn Cohen’s head — who was 5 for 5 on extra points — gave Joppatowne the ball at Fort Hill's 33. However, a Carter Hess sack kept the Mariners off the scoreboard to maintain the Sentinels’ 21-6 lead after one. Steven Spencer also had a sack for Fort Hill during the second half.

Fort Hill went back under center on its opening possession of the second quarter and drove 83 yards on nine plays for the score. The Sentinels scored off a pitch play to Allen after calling tight end Bryson Metz and the wingback in motion for a pair of extra blockers.

Allen’s 10-yard scamper made it 29-6 with 8:24 left in the half. Fort Hill converted the two-point conversion with a fake field goal pass from Landon Sensabaugh to Steven Spencer.

Joppatowne then embarked on its longest drive of the first half, driving 63 yards on 14 plays and successfully converting a trio of fourth downs along the way, but Allen put an end to the series with an interception in the end zone.

Fort Hill then controlled the tempo in the second half and cruised to a 37-point, running-clock victory.

With the win, Fort Hill will meet Mountain Ridge in the Class 1A state championship for the second straight year on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

“Can’t wait for it,” Alkire said. “It’s something we’ve been looking for since they got us there in Week 6. Looking forward to another rematch with them.”