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[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs week 3 postmortem 

 

And then there was 1.  We only have one team remaining in Howard County as Oakland Mills (11-1) dominates Atholton (9-3) on a beautiful night in Columbia. 

I had this one being MUCH closer than it ended up being.  Even with the largest offensive line in the county, a beastly running back, and a gunslinger at QB-Atholton could not get anything going offensively.  It is their first time being shut out this year.  Credit to Coach Speake and the OM Defense-they were ready.  Special teams helped the scorps out as well as they recovered 2 of their short pooch kickoffs and hit a field goal. You may remember in the first meeting the Raiders ran the opening pooch kickoff back to jump to a quick 7-0 lead.  Punishing drives by the home team also hurt the Raiders.  It felt like OM always had the ball.  

Isaac Ramsey was the most electrifying player on the field as he had a hand in 4 TD’s on the night. Georgetown is certainly getting a good one.  

 Oakland Mills is now the flag bearer for Howard County football and we will all be rooting for them as they head west to face Linganore (12-0) on Friday.  

I’m 60-18 on the season. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial QB is leading Heisman candidate

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football-Playoffs Week 4

 

There is only 1 team remaining from our 13 team league.  Oakland Mills has outlasted the rest and defeated Lansdowne, Oxon Hill and then Atholton to get to this point. This week they face 12-0 Linganore out of Frederick county. The Lancers are loaded with tons of talent, especially at the RB and QB position. They play the fredco 5-2 default defense, and you won’t get them out of it.  They are not as big up front as they have been in the past, but they have dominated everyone they’ve faced up to this point. There has only been 1 team within 1 score of them. There is only 1 common opponent between the 2 and that is Urbana.  Linganore smacked them 49-14 in week 9 while OM beat them 36-21 in week 4.  The Scorps are coming off a huge revenge (shutout) win over Atholton.  They are loaded with talent at all positions and have shown a nifty misdirection running game and an opportunistic defense.  Special teams have been quite an advantage for the scorps as well.  Linganore is going to have to figure out what they want to do with the pooch kickoffs.  Has Linganore seen anything like the scorps in terms of scheme and athleticism?   I don’t think so.  I know Linganore is highly favored in the game BUT, I think OM is team of destiny and therefore as a Howard County Homer, I pick them to win by 1 score. 

[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs week 4 postmortem 

 

Well, all good things must come to an end and so it goes with the Oakland Mills football season.  There is no such thing as moral victories in football -you either win or you lose, but OM certainly represented themselves, and by extension Howard County Football with class.  They gave Linganore everything they wanted-heck this game was 14 all in the 3rd quarter, before the Lancers finally took over for good.  Linganore is certainly an impressive team, with Bradly Matthews as the centerpiece at RB.  (He is only a junior) They have a young O lineman who one Fredco coach told me will be the next Robbie Havenstein.  Coach Rick Conner is a true coaching legend.  The dedication to training in this program is second to none, and that comes from the top.  

 

OM -you were certainly fun to watch this season, and I’ll be looking forward to hearing how some of these seniors do as they move on in their football careers.  Most every county football staff had a representative at the game pulling for OM.  

 

On a personal note-walking into Linganores stadium did not bring back pleasant memories for me.  I had not been back there since these god forsaken Lancers eliminated us in a state semifinal game in 2013.  We blew a sizable lead that night, due to some key in game injuries and turnovers.  Mamba-has any HOCO team ever beaten Linganore?  Maybe Coach Duvall back in the WL glory years.  

 

I finished the 2024 season 60-19 for a slightly better than 75% rate of correct picks. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial 2024 World Champions of Maryland football

Title defense starts NOW