Week 1     2024

 Reservoir @ Oakland Mills.  Tremendous week 1 matchup!  OM has looked fast AF through their 2 scrimmages.  The defending county champ gators brought back the reigning DPOY but have underwhelmed in scrimmages.  I’m sticking with my initial ranking of OM at #1 and picking the scorps to win a close one.  🦂

River Hill @ Atholton.   Yum-a delicious game early in the season.  Yes I know I ranked the Raiders higher than RH initially, but I am simply unable to pick against my Hawks in this one.  This Atown QB may be good but he’s never dealt with the types of pressure he will see from the Hawks vaunted 3-5-3.  I was impressed by the (new?) Atholton RB in the Oakdale scrimmage-made lots of defenders miss.  Hawks ground and pound will need to control things, while also utilizing the rejuvenated 3 step pass game.  The hawks were shortchanged of some scrimmage time when the refs decided to walk out after a little shoving match.  RH by one score.  🪶

Hammond @ Guilford Park. I’m calling for GP to get their first varsity win here.  Not sure when the Golden Bears last won a game in Howard County…🐆

Centennial @ Howard-The Lions numbers are WAY down from where they were a few years ago.  But we still don’t lose to Centennial.  Lions roll big here.  🦁

Wilde Lake @ Long Reach.  LR has not impressed in scrimmages, and some coaching changes mean the Lightning may take a few weeks to find their identity.  WL has been consistent over the past few years and their defense will win them a close one here.  🐯

Mount Hebron @ Marriotts Ridge.  I’m giving the nod to the defending HOCO champs here, although I don’t know much about either squad.  Hebron in a rout.  🗡️

Glenelg @ Severna Park. Fun fact-coach Bell used to be the head coach at Severna Park before heading to Hammond and now Glenelg.  I’m going with the HOCO team here in a close one.  Glenelg has a solid coaching staff with Willy Bell in year 2 and the legendary Butch Schaffer helping out.  On film these teams look fairly even at the skill positions, but Glenelg has the advantage up front.  SP will try to run some RPO looks and it will be up to the Glads D line to harass the QB.  Glenelg by one score.  ⚔️

WEEK 1 POSTMORTEM 

Well, both of the co-county champions from 2023 not only lost, but got shut out.  I knew OMwas gonna be tough, but I didn’t see them beating up on Resi that bad.  The gators brought back the DPOY-and the scorps still hung 33 on them.  Speed Kills.  Mount Hebron getting running clocked by the Ridge is unbelievable to me.  I had MR ranked down there with Centennial, Hammond and Guilford Park.  Clearly they get bumped up the next time the rankings come out.  Who will rise to the top this season?  Right now it looks like Atholton and Oakland Mills have the inside track to the County crown.  They play October 10-should be a dandy.  

I went 4-3 on the week.  I was wrong on River Hill, Glenelg and Mount Hebron winning.  

Atholton looked pretty good in their win over my Hawks.  The (new)RB and (known) QB looked pretty good.  Turnovers killed the Hawks as they seemed to be having a difficult time holding on to the football.  Score would have been closer or even a possible different outcome if they hold onto the ball.  There was a lot of cramping and injuries during the game-hopefully nothing serious.  

I have to give it up for Guilford Park.  A school with no seniors gets their first varsity win.  I knew when I watched their JV last year that they had a chance to win some games.  Nice work entire coaching staff and players. 

Howard runs all over Centennial as expected.  

Wilde Lake pulls out a 4 point victory over the Reach.

And finally Glenelg loses a close one to AA county foe Severna Park