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[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 7 POSTMORTEM 

 

3-3 on the week, my worst week so far…31-11 overall.  

 

What a crazy season in HOCO.  Upsets abound.  Probably none bigger than this week.  Previously winless Oakland Mills knocks off Atholton.  Mind you, Atholton had won their last 4 including beating 2 unbeaten teams!  Huge win for the scorpions on their homecoming.  I imagine Kilimanjaro road was rocking after that one.  

 

Huge win for River Hill over the Ridge.  Andres Contreras rushed for over 100 yards, Omar looked like Omar, and the patchwork Hawks D was stout in a 35-7 romp.  

 

Glenelg edges Howard in a defensive slug fest.  That’s 3 straight losses for the Lions after starting 4-0.  Very impressive showing for the Glads D against one of the best backs in HOCO.  

 

Hebron drops a 50 burger on Centennial.

 

Wilde Lake shuts out Resi 6-0.  The gators have been shut out the last 2 weeks after starting 5-0. Maybe we need to film another hype video on Scaggsville road.  

 

Long Reach beats Hammond 27-0. 

[SonicAttack]

Good stuff. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 58

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 8

 

Parity is the name of the game this season in Howard County.  Outside of Hebron, Centennial and Hammond, you don’t know what is going to happen.  3 teams are currently 5-2 and 4 teams are currently 4-3.  That’s a huge log jam in the second/third tier teams.  Any given week those teams could beat one another.  Last week we had our biggest upset when OM dropped the Raiders.  What the heck can we expect this week?

 

All Games except 1 are on Thursday night.  River Hill @ Glenelg gets the Friday night feature.  I would expect a huge crowd.  

 

RIVER HILL  (4-3) @ GLENELG (5-2).  I got a lot of flack for picking against my hawks last week.  But the previous 2 weeks of film didn’t lie-they were getting gashed on the ground. But they cleaned up some things and responded with a 35-7 dismantling of Marriotts Ridge.  The Hawks are getting hot at the right time.  They are getting players back off the walking wounded squad. The Glads, however, are no slouch.  They are a physical team that has been running a lot more double tight and pro sets and just pounding opponents.  RH showed last week they are capable of stout run defense.  They will need to do it again to win this game.  Hawks in a nail biter on Burntwoods.  

 

RESERVOIR (5-2) @ LONG REACH (5-2).  Well here’s where I’ll be Thursday night.  It’s the quietest 5-2 team vs the loudest 5-2 team.  I think you know who’s who.  Reservoir has been shut out the past 2 weeks after winning their first 5.  The Lightning have won their last 3, granted the combined record of those 3 teams is 1-20,  but still.  Whichever teams makes the least amount of boneheaded mistakes will win.   I like long reach in a low scoring slugfest at home.  

 

HOWARD (4-3) @ MOUNT HEBRON (7-0). Can anyone explain what’s happened on old Annapolis Road?  The Lions started the season 4-0, but they’ve dropped their last 3!   Can they get back on track with an upset of the Vikings?  Survey says? NO.  Hebron will run the gauntlet for an undefeated regular season.  Is it the first time ever?  Likely.  Would need @aka_themamba to confirm.  

 

HAMMOND (0-7) @ ATHOLTON (4-3).  Atholton moves to 5-3.  They should be pissed off after getting embarrassed by a winless team last week. Guilford Park JV would be a better matchup for the raiders.  

 

OAKLAND MILLS (1-6) @ WILDE LAKE (4-3). Big win for OM last week.  Can they ride that momentum?  I don’t think so-WL gets their 5th win

 

MARRIOTTS RIDGE (3-4) @ CENTENNIAL (0-7).  Ridge will even up their record here against the eagles. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 83

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 8 postmortem 

 

3-3 on the week, 34-14 overall.  

 

Insanity continues in the county.  There will be not be an undefeated team this season, as Mount Hebron is upset by the Howard Lions.  Howard played hard, had no turnovers, and converted all of their kicks.  A few penalties at the end made it dramatic, but Howard prevails  18-14.  A nice win for former Vikings head coach Ross Hannon and staff.  Hebron is still guaranteed at least a shared county championship so hats off to Coach Frederick, Coach AD and the rest of the Vikings.  They win it outright if they beat reservoir next week.  

 

Oakland mills gets their second win in as many weeks knocking off Wilde Lake in an afternoon matinee.  Scorps are getting hot at the right time, and with only Hammond remaining on the schedule, there is a good to excellent chance they finish the regular season with 3 straight wins.  

 

Reservoir beats Long Reach in a back and forth, closely matched affair.  TJ Welsh called a good game offensively for the gators to get them out of a 2 game shutout streak.  The play of the game though, has to be the horrifically botched call.  Resi is at their own 16 yd line and throw a short pass that is batted down by a LR defender .  Play is dead at this point, every player on the field and every coach on the sideline knows this.  Well, lo and behold these clown refs let the play go and a gator scoops the ball up and runs for a TD.  No one attempts to tackle him or even block for him.  Both sidelines are clearly stunned. Resi ends up winning by a point.  Clownery.  Reservoir can win a share of the county title next week if they can knock off Mount Hebron.  

 

River Hill wins the battle up front and dominates Glenelg 20-7.  The score would have been worse without some RH fumbles.  It was a sellout packed house on Burntwoods and the home faithful had to be disappointed in this performance.  Glenelg moved the ball at times, but couldn’t seem to decide what they wanted to do offensively.  They would have success with something and then switch out of it.  Blitz master Breaon had em flummoxed.  Huge win for the hawks with current MD terrapin football star Beau Brade in attendance.  Hawks getting hot at the right time.  

 

Marriotts ridge blanks Centennial 

 

Atholton smacks Hammond

[SonicAttack]

Feel bad for LR - sounds like the fix was in.  Go Lions, my son goes there, 

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 9

 

I was 3-3 last week, 34-14 overall. (about 70% average).  It’s the final week of the regular season and we have an absolute log jam in the second and third tier teams.  7 of the 12 county teams have either 4 or 5 wins.  That’s almost 60% of the teams within 1 win of each other. Unheard of.  

 

RESERVOIR (6-2) @ MOUNT HEBRON (7-1). The HOCO county championship game!  If Resi wins they claim a share of the ship, if Hebrons wins, they win it outright.  Resi has been extremely lucky in at least 2 of their wins (MR/LR).  Hebron was upset last week by the Lions, but I see them getting back on track here and winning the county outright.   They have dominant in all but 1 game.   Either way-historic seasons for both of these programs.  Hebron by 2 scores.  

 

ATHOLTON (5-3) @ RIVER HILL.( 5-3) Huge rivalry game here.  Atholton has not looked like the team that went undefeated in the regular season the past 2 years.  They have lost 3 games this year (Glen, LR and OM).  River Hill comes in with 3 losses as well (How, WL and MtH).  The ties between these 2 schools are undeniable.  River Hill’s first principal, athletic director and head football coach came from Atholton when the school opened in 1996.  Current Hawks head coach Brian Van Deusen is an Atholton alum and HOCO POY for the ‘91 season.  I trust the Hawks will be well prepared for this game and, as I’ve been saying, they are getting healthy at the right time.  Hawks in a close one in front of a packed house on senior night.  

 

GLENELG (5-3)  @ MARRIOTTS RIDGE (4-4) I look for Glenelg to bounce back after a physical loss to the hawks.   Glenelg by 2 scores.  

 

OAKLAND MILLS (2-6) @ HAMMOND( 0-8). OM is poised to win their 3rd straight here after losing 6 to start the season.  They could be a dangerous playoff matchup for somebody.  OM by 3 scores.  

 

CENTENNIAL (0-8) @ HOWARD (5-3).  Howard is still riding high after that upset of the Vikings.  They get a nice week to get everyone in the game before the playoffs start next week.  Howard in a blowout. 

 

LONG REACH (5-3) @ WILDE LAKE( 4-4) Long Reach got hosed on the bogus backwards pass call last week and lost to Resi by 1 point.  I’m sure Coach Willis is still angry at that one.   Lake lost to a resurgent OM squad.  I like LR in this one as they’ve been slightly more consistent this season than WL.  That being said, recent history teaches us that anybody can beat anybody in this crazy ‘23 season.  Reach by 2 scores. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 74

[JeremyStrain]

I mean sure, Football is fun and all, but let's get really crazy and talk Volleyball.

[SonicAttack]

I mean sure, Football is fun and all, but let's get really crazy and talk Volleyball.

 Well HS athletes can get paid through NIL, so lets call 'em semi-pro. 

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 9 Postmortem 

 

We have reached the end of the regular season.  I was 4-2 this week for an overall record through the 9 week regular season of 38-16, right at a 70% success rate.  To be honest I would have thought I would be better than that,  but this season has been somewhat abnormal with a lot of teams clumped together under the top 2 of Reservoir and Mount Hebron.  7 teams have 4, 5 or 6 wins.  We just don’t usually see that.  Add in the crazy upsets we’ve seen and here we are.  I am planning on picking the playoff games until all hoco teams are eliminated or win state championships.  

 

Let’s start with the county championship game.  Reservoir beats Hebron to secure their part of the crown.  There is no tie breaker, so the head to head win does not give it to Resi outright-instead both teams finish 7-2 and share the county title.  I have to grudgingly give resi credit.  It is their first county crown in 21 years of varsity football.  The gators, however, are in no way shape or form a dominant team.  They were shut out twice this season and only have 1 shutout themselves (Hammond).  Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good though and that certainly applies to them.  I witnessed first hand the horrendous call that gave them the win at Long Reach and MR had them dead to rights as well.  Let’s see what they can do in the postseason.  

On the other hand, what in the world happened to Hebron?  This squad was chewing teams up for 7 weeks, including a dismantling of my hawks.  And then they lose 2 straight ? Now, it wasn’t like they lost to Hammond and Centennial, but I had them running the gauntlet undefeated and they were not able to do it.  Not sure what happened there.  But again, congratulations to them on winning their first county championship since I believe 1982.  

 

Glenelg blanks Marriotts Ridge to finish the regular season 6-3.  MR finishes 4-5.  Good start for first year Glenelg head coach Willy Bell.  

 

Howard takes care of Centennial to finish 6-3.  Centennial goes winless.  (0-9)

 

Long Reach holds off the Lake 27-14.  Reach finishes 6-3 and Lake moves to 4-5

 

Atholton dispatches the Hawks 33-20.  Atholton finishes 6-3 while RH goes to 5-4.  

 

Oakland Mills wins their third straight to finish 3-6.  Hammond finishes 0-9.  

 

Playoffs next week!