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[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles will take 'em down in a complete LAUGHER

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 6 Postmortem 

 

Not my best week of predictions.  4-3 on the week for an overall record of 33-9 through 6 weeks of action.  I had RH, WL and OM winning and they did not.  

 

Atholton (5-1) vs. Oakland Mills (5-1) was a tremendous football game.  It had a little bit of everything including KO returns, big pass plays, big run plays and an impressive display of ground and pound by the home team Raiders. The raiders ran back the opening KO and that was really the difference in the game as OM was never able to regain the lead after that.  Ramsey is as advertised as a runner for OM as he had a spectacular long TD run late in the game.  It was not enough however, as Atholton went into ball control mode late.  QB Bell and RB Mungo are impressive players for Atholton and both performed well last night.  There is a new number 1 in the HOCO power rankings and no undefeated teams remain.  

 

The shocker of the week has to be Wilde Lake (3-3)falling to first year varsity program Guilford Park (3-3).  I honestly did not have GP winning any games after their first 3, but congratulations to them.  They have a good chance to knock off struggling LR next week. Huge win over an established HOCO power.  

 

Howard (5-1) blanks Glenelg (3-3) 14-0.  Howard remains firmly in the number 3 spot in the county.  Howard vs. Atholton week 8 will be titanic.  

 

Marriotts Ridge (5-1) continues their unexpectedly good season with a solid 21-7 win over River Hill (3-3)

 

Mount Hebron (3-3) evens up their record against Centennial (0-6).  Word is Centennial WILL play this week vs. OM.   

 

Long Reach (1-5) breaks into the win column with a victory over Hammond (0-6)

 

Reservoir (2-4) gets 30 hung on them in a shutout loss to Baltimore County Power Franklin

[Pedro Cerrano]

OM scared of Centennial

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football Week 7

 

Overall record is 32-10 on the year.  I did have an error in my last postmortem, as I picked Hammond to beat LR and they did not.  

 

Unfortunately I won’t be at any HOCO games this week as I’m on my way to lovely Gainesville Florida to watch the Gators battle Kentucky on Saturday in The Swamp.  The football gods smiled on me because soon after booking that trip, the NFL put the Ravens at Tampa the following Monday night.  Extend the trip!  Bucs have been looking pretty good,  but they are not ready for Lamar and Mr. Henry.  A tremendous October trip South.  

 

Glenelg (3-3) @ River Hill (3-3). Match up of the week for sure.  These teams know each other so well, that these games generally come down to a few key plays here and there.  Who will make less mistakes, commit fewer turnovers and establish the run game?  I certainly have no love for that Gladiator program even though I do get along pretty well with their coaching staff.  These teams bring out the best in each other,  but with that said -Go Hawks.  RH by a score.  

 

Oakland Mills (5-1) @ Centennial (0-6).  Centennial has confirmed they will play this game against the mighty scorpions.  It won’t be pretty.  You’re gonna think OM is Abraham Lincoln as they will win this game by at least 4 scores.  

 

Atholton (5-1) @ Mount Hebron (3-3). Hebron has won their last 3 straight after dropping their first 3.  Let’s not get it twisted though, it was against 3 teams who combine for ZERO wins this season.  Raiders roll by 3 scores in this one.  

 

Howard (5-1) @ Reservoir (2-4).  Resi continues to struggle a year after winning a ship and returning the DPOY.  Here comes another loss.  At this point, Howard is probably happy to play on the road away from Centre Park Drive.  Howard by 2 scores.  

 

Wilde Lake (3-3) @ Hammond (0-6) WL gets back on the winning side here after the GP catastrophe.  Cats by 3 scores.  

 

Long Reach (1-5) @ Guilford Park (4-2) Coach Montag versus the program that birthed him.  LR is struggling heavily this year and GP is coming off the biggest win in program history vs. WL.  It will be close,  but GP wins by a score.  

 

North County (Anne Arundel) (1-5) @ Marriotts Ridge (5-1) North County is an Arundel doormat, with only 1 win this season over first year program Severn Run.  MR should romp here in this out of county contest.  Ridge represents Howard county and wins by 3 scores.

[Pedro Cerrano]

OM = Lincoln
Centennial = John Wilkes Booth

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 7 postmortem

 

5-2 on the week-errors on the Wilde Lake upset and Glenelg over RH.  Overall record of 37-12.  We have 4 teams sitting at 6-1 currently in Howard County.  

 

Big congrats to Hammond (1-6) who gets their first win of the year vs Wilde Lake (3-4)!  I’m not sure what is going on over on Trumpeter road as the Cats have lost in consecutive weeks to a first year varsity program and now to a winless program.  

 

Glenelg (4-3) wins a close one vs. my hawks (3-4).  I’ll have to take a look at this film next week.  

 

Oakland Mills (6-1) and Atholton (6-1) continue to roll vs. Cen (0-7) and MtH (3-4)

 

Guilford park (5-2)with another big win vs. Long Reach.  (1-6)

 

Marriotts Ridge (6-1). with a win for Howard County over North County. (1-6)

 

Howard (6-1) wins their sixth vs. Reservoir (2-5)

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football Week 8

 

Only one HOCO team remains winless and we have FOUR teams sitting at 6-1!  2 of those 6-1 teams happen to be playing this week as Howard heads over to Atholton.  What a match up.  I’m sitting at an overall record of 37-12 on the year.  

 

Howard (6-1) @ Atholton (6-1) Game of the week for sure.  Atholton has looked quite good since the week 2 smackdown that rolled in from Delaware.  Howard has rolled as well, with their only loss coming, oddly enough, from Wilde Lake.  While Howard’s defense has been quite good this year, especially the LB’s, Atholton presents major difficulties for any D coordinator.  First, they have the largest OL in the league.  These guys are capable of taking over a game like they did in the second half vs. OM.  Secondly their RB is very good.  He makes things happen on his own.  Thirdly, the QB has been an effective game manager, but can shine when he needs to-he had a lovely little scramble throw vs. OM.  I think this game will be tight with Atholton coming out ahead when the smoke clears.  Unless DJS gifts Howard another player on an ankle monitor, I have the Raiders by a score.  

 

Glenelg (4-3) @ Mount Hebron (3-4). Hebron’s wins are deceptive and this isn’t as even a match up as the records would suggest.  The Vikings have exactly 1 bonus point for those who follow the playoff points.  Glads will roll here by 2 scores.  

 

Marriotts Ridge (6-1) @ Reservoir (2-5)   MR picks up their 7th win of the season.  Impressive for a team I had ranked quite low in the preseason.  ATH/MR in week 9 should be a dandy-both teams could be 7-1.  Mustangs by 2 scores.  

 

Guilford Park (5-2) @ Oakland Mills (6-1). GP has been quite hot this year,  but OM is a different animal.  Scorps sting the panthers by 3 scores.  

 

Centennial (0-7) @ Long Reach (1-6). Win number 2 incoming for the Lightning.  LR by 2 scores.  

 

River Hill (3-4) @ Wilde Lake (3-4). Looks like the Hawks get the Lake at an opportune time.  WL is reeling after 2 straight defeats that have to be considered upsets (Hammond and GP).  River Hill took Glenelg to OT last week and have been steadily improving.  Hawks by a score.  

 

Crossland (2-5) @ Hammond (1-6). Crossland is on the low end of Prince George’s County football with a 2-5 record.  They were manhandled last week by Douglass 44-0.  This is a winnable game for the Golden Bears!  Hammond is coming off a huge upset of Wilde Lake and they will carry that momentum into this week.  HOCO school here by a score. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles will have this over by half

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 8 POSTMORTEM 

 

Is it an upset if a 6-1 team beats another 6-1 team?  I don’t know for sure, but I really thought Atholton (6-2) was beating Howard(7-1). Congrats to coach Hannon and staff-that’s a big win.  Why Atholton never went to their heavy/power run game is beyond me, but here we are.  

 

So I went 6-1 on the week, nearly perfect except for that Howard/Atholton contest.  Overall I’m 43-13.  

 

Glenelg (5-3) blanks Mount Hebron (3-5).  Hebron continues to struggle against anyone who actually won a game.  

 

Marriotts Ridge (7-1) squeaks by Resi (2-6).  Hard to believe this was a one score game.  Not sure what happened here, but Resi has been terrible this year and I expected Ridge to roll.  Oh well, there’s a W column and an L column…

 

Oakland Mills (7-1) blanks Guilford Park (5-3).  I caught the first half of this game and I have to say Isaac Ramsey and the scorpions are quite entertaining to watch.  QB runs, counters, lineman pulling everywhere-beautiful.  I’d also like to give GP credit-they fight-they don’t lay down and take a beating like some other teams in this league.  

 

Long Reach (2-6) gets their second win of the year vs.  (0-8)

 

River Hill (4-4) notches a solid victory over Wilde Lake (3-5).  There was an unfortunate injury for the Hawks just after halftime which delayed the game significantly.  The good news is the young man underwent a successful surgery Saturday and will make a full recovery.  

 

And finally, Hammond (2-6) gets their second win in 2 weeks with an out of County win over Crossland (PG county) (2-6)

 

Every team (but 1) has at least 2 wins and 3 teams sit at 7-1 (HOW, MR, OM)

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football Week 9

 

Hammond (2-6) @ Centennial (0-8).  The matchup we’ve been waiting for all year.  Fortunately both teams made it through the season with Centennial only refusing to play 1 game.  You have to give Hammond credit for coming into this game with 2 wins.  After losing their first 6, the Golden bears have knocked off Wilde Lake and Crossland in consecutive weeks.  Hammond could have easily thrown in the towel once the L’s started piling up, but to their credit they kept fighting.  I see more of the same here-Bears by 2 scores.  

 

Long Reach (2-6) @ Glenelg (5-3).  Glads roll here by 2 scores.  

 

Atholton (6-2) @ Marriotts Ridge (7-1).  Phenomenal week 9 match up here at the Ridge.  Atholton lost to Howard last week as they inexplicably abandoned their power run game.  I don’t see these coaches making the mistake 2 weeks in a row.  Atholton should be able to pound MR.  Although the Mustang DE’s should have something to say about it.  I went back and forth on this pick, but I’m going with the Raiders by a score.  

 

Mount Hebron (3-5) @ Oakland Mills (7-1).  Scorps should face little resistance here from the Vikings.  OM by 3 scores.  

 

Guilford Park (5-3) @ Howard (7-1) Howard crowns themselves County champions here in week 9.  GP will be a problem in the future, based on what I’ve seen the last 2 years from them,  it they’re not quite ready to knock off the big dogs yet.  Howard by 3 scores.  

 

Reservoir (2-6) @ Wilde Lake (3-5).  Resi has dropped their last 3 ,  but they have been against 3 heavy hitters.  They were within 1 score of 2 of the top HOCO teams.  The Lake has not been impressive lately and has also dropped their last 3 as they build for the future.  I can’t see Resi ending the regular season with only 2 wins.  I think they come out fired up here.  Gators by a score.  

 

River Hill (4-4) @ Crofton (1-7) (Anne Arundel).  Crofton is a relatively new school in AA county.  I believe they are 3 years old.  They have not yet established themselves with the upper echelons of the league.  They’ve suffered some bad blowouts in a few games and been competitive in others.  Hawks by 2 scores. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Your obsession with Centennial is weird

Eagles by 50

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 9 Postmortem 

 

Howard (8-1)is your 2024 County Champion.  They beat Guilford Park (5-4) to clinch it.  Somebody was playing around on CSZ and had GP winning this game-it took me several texts to confirm that Howard did in fact win.  

I went 6-1 on the week to bring my regular season record over 9 weeks to 49-14.  (77%). I’ll take a look at the playoff pairing later this week.  

 

Oakland Mills (8-1) finishes a nice regular season by beating Mount Hebron (3-6)

 

Glenelg (6-3) takes care of business with a shut out win over Long Reach (2-7)

 

Reservoir (3-6) uses their second largest offensive output of the season (35 points) to dispatch Wilde Lake (3-6)

 

Hammond (3-6) wins their 3rd straight game after dropping their first 6!  Centennial (0-9) finishes the regular season winless.  

 

Atholton (7-2) wins a nail biter over Marriotts Ridge (7-2).  Powerhouse run games were on display from both teams.  The raiders Lawson Mungo went off for 224 on the ground with 4 tuddys.  On the flip side, Mustangs Ashton Clark put up 298 with 4 house calls of his own.  In the end though it was a defensive stand from A town that sealed the deal.  Impressive regular season from both teams.  

 

Crofton (2-7) downs the Hawks (4-5) in Anne Arundel County. 

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County football-Playoffs Week 1

 

It’s playoff time here in MD!  Win or go home is now the rule.  Half of the state plays Thursday night and half play Friday to make sure we have enough officials.  Unfortunately we will be losing at least 4 Howard teams this week as there are 4 games pitting HOCO vs. HOCO.  I went 49-14 through the regular season.  

 

4A/3A

Long Reach (2-7) @ Howard (8-1)-  Not much to talk about here.  Although this is quite a rivalry historically, these 2 teams had very different regular seasons.  They met on 9/28 with Howard winning 29-12.  There were fireworks as a Howard player and coach were ejected in the victory.  I don’t see this one being close-HOCO champs, the Lions by 2 scores.  THURSDAY 

 

Reservoir (3-6) @ Great Mills (5-4).  As much as I want to be a HOCO homer here and pick the gators, I just don’t see it.  Great Mills has won their last 3 in the tough SMAC (Southern Maryland Athletic Conference) league.  Resi has flopped after last year’s championship and went 3-6 in the regular season.  They have dropped 3 of their last 4 and are staring a 2 hour drive in the face before strapping it up.  Great Mills by 2 scores.  FRIDAY 

 

3A

Lansdowne (3-6) @ Oakland Mills (8-1). The scorpions second and third team guys who have worked so hard for the previous 11 weeks or so will get some good burn in this one.  OM’s 1’s will smoke a 3-6 Baltimore County team.  Scorps by 3 scores.  THURSDAY 

 

Guilford Park (5-4) @ Oxon Hill (5-3).  Here is where my HOCO homerism shines through.  GP has weapons and they fight.  It’s about an hour drive south for the Panthers so that should not be a factor.  OH had a nice regular season, only losing to PG powers Flowers, Wise and Roosevelt.  It would be an upset if a first year program could take out a PG team,  but I’m here for it.  GP by a score!  FRIDAY

 

River Hill (4-5) @ Marriotts Ridge (7-2).  Ridge is riding one of their better seasons of all time.  The same can’t be said of the Hawks.  Mustangs by 2 scores.  FRIDAY 

 

Mount Hebron (3-6) @ Atholton (7-2). The Vikings are ready for this season to be over already.  Atholton by 3 scores.  THURSDAY 

 

2A

 

Hammond (3-6) @ Wilde Lake (3-6) Let’s quote Mr. Newton here and his 1st law: “An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion…”.  Hammond is an object in motion having won their last 3 games.  The lake appears to be at rest, having dropped their last 4 in a youth movement.  Hammonds coach Bannister is a proud WL alum so you know he’s fired up for this one.  Hammond by 2 scores.  FRIDAY

 

Centennial (0-9) @ Walkersville (4-5). Centennial takes a little jaunt out west to The Big 10 of MD football-Frederick County.  Walkersville by 3 scores.  THURSDAY 

 

Glenelg (6-3) BYE.  This is a free space for me-I still get to count it as a win…

[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs week 1 Postmortem 

6 Howard County teams remain alive to play another week.   7 teams have now concluded the season.  I went 7-2 on the week with misses on Wilde Lake over Hammond and the GP game which was misreported on County Sports Zone as a win for GP.  Shoutout to Coach Henderson for pointing out my error when I originally posted…Overall I’m now  56-16 on the year.  

 

Still Alive:

Howard (9-1)

Oakland Mills (9-1)

Marriotts Ridge (8-2)

Atholton (8-2)

Wilde Lake (4-6)

Glenelg (6-3)

 

Season Complete:

Long Reach (2-8)

Reservoir (3-7)

River Hill (4-6)

Mount Hebron (3-7)

Hammond (3-7)

Centennial (0-10)

Guilford Park (5-5)

 

HOCO champion Howard dispatches Long Reach 34-0

 

Oakland Mills rolls Lansdowne 49-6

 

Atholton stomps Mount Hebron 49-7

 

Great Mills shuts out Reservoir 29-0

 

Revenge is a dish best served cold as Wilde Lake avenges an earlier loss to Hammond to advance.  The coaches moved a sophomore WR to the QB spot and proceeded to dominate the Golden Bears 42-6.  

 

River Hill led much of the game in Marriottsville 7-0 before the Mustangs eventually tied it up and then pulled away to win 21-7.  

 

Guilford Park loses to PG foe Oxon Hill.  

 

Glenelg remains undefeated in bye weeks.  Congrats coaches.  

 

Centennials season comes to an end at the hands of Walkersville. 

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football-Playoffs Week 2

 

4A 

Leonardtown (6-4) @ Howard (9-1).  These teams have history, and it’s very recent history.  

LTOWN took out 2 hoco squads last year (Howard and Resi).  Leonardtown looks like some of the old RH teams-base wing T offense and a stingy, tough defense.  They just grind you out physically .  I think this year is different though.  Howard’s defense is much improved and they have an offense that does a lot of things well plus the best player on the field.  Howard by a score.  

 

3A

Oxon Hill (6-3) @ Oakland Mills (9-1).  This will be a Donnybrook on Kilimanjaro.  Oxon Hill has Atholton level talent and a nifty offensive scheme that mixes up zone and gap scheme run plays.  OM puts arguably the most talent on the field in their history.  This should be an epic game with the home team Scorpions scraping by in a close one.  Oakland Mills by 1 score.  

 

Atholton (8-2) @ Marriotts Ridge (8-2).  RH very nearly took out the Ridge last week, as they were leading almost the entire game.  Atholton rolled over Hebron so they should be well rested.  I actually don’t think this one will be as close as the records would indicate-Atholton by 2 scores.  

 

2A

Wilde Lake (4-6) @ Damascus (6-3).  I still have a little PTSD when I think about the last game I ever coached-Damascus ‘22.  They dog walked us on their way to a state championship.  This years DMASS squad may not have the type of talent they had then, but they’re still pretty darn good.  These Damascus kids start playing tackle football shortly after being potty trained.  WL has been playing around with personnel all year in a youth movement building towards the future.  They will give the hornets a fight based on the talent alone, but they won’t be able to win this one.  Damascus by 2 scores.  

 

Walkersville (5-5) @ Glenelg (6-3). Walkersville runs the Frederick county 5-2 defense that every other team there runs,  but hey it works for them.  These Lions bring a ferocious ground game with them to Burntwoods.  Their running back is #3 in the state and the Glads will have a tough time containing him. Glenelg will have to put together drives and chew up the clock. They cannot give up big plays on defense and must force them to drive.  Wville has been inconsistent with penalties and turnovers. They rely on the home run plays.  Glenelg will need a little luck, but I believe in them-Gladiators by 1 score. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial earned a BYE - forgot to mention that

[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs week 2 postmortem 

 

Only 2 Howard County football teams remain alive after a brutal second round.  Atholton and Oakland Mills will meet next week after all other schools suffered losses.   I went 3-2 on the week with my picks to take me to 59-18 overall through 11 weeks of games.

 

Howard (9-2) is eliminated for the second year in a row by Leonardtown (7-3)

 

Oakland Mills (10-1)  survives a late scoring flurry to eliminate Oxon Hill (6-4)

 

Atholton (9-2) shuts out Marriotts Ridge (8-3) to advance.  

 

Damascus (7-3) continues their recent domination of Howard County, blanking Wilde Lake (4-7)

 

Walkersville (6-5) goes on the road to eliminate Glenelg (6-4)

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial with the double BYE!

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football-Playoffs Week 3

 

Only 2 Hoco teams remain…and they play each other.  Atholton (9-2) @ Oakland Mills (10-1) Friday night at 6:00 to see who advances to the 3A final 4.  

 

I was at the first match up at Atholton in week 6 of the regular season.  Atholton had an extra week to prepare for that game and OM was dealing with the unexpected passing of a popular faculty member that week.  Atholton won the game 27-20.  They were able to ground and pound OM in the second half.  

 

Atholton has beaten Mount Hebron and Marriotts Ridge so far in the playoffs after going 7-2 in the regular season.

 

Oakland Mills has beaten Lansdowne and Oxon Hill after going 8-1 in the regular season.

 

I would say Hebron and Lansdowne are equivalent victories,  but beating Oxon Hill is a much more impressive win for the Scorpions.  That’s not Atholton’s fault-you can only play who you get, but beating a solid PG team has to be good for the scorps confidence.  

 

I’m picking Oakland mills to win here for the following reasons: they have a tougher playoff victory, no extra week of preparation for Atholton and the desire for revenge.  OM badly wants to fix the only blemish on their record which is the loss on Freetown.  It will be a great game regardless.  Oakland Mills by one score

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial with the triple bye will meet the winner