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[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles miiiight end up winning the whole damn thing!

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 6 Howard County Football

 

 6-1 last week-33-7 on the season.

 

Oakland Mills (5-0) @ Guilford Park (5-0).  Game of the year so far.  2 undefeated juggernauts with devastating ground games and stingy defenses meet up at Howard County’s newest facility.  I’ll admit I didn’t predict GP being this good this early,  but here we are.  I’m giving the edge to OM due to the experience of the players.  Anyone who was at Linganore last year knows that OM has experienced high level, playoff intensity football.  The panthers are good, just not as good as the Scorpions-OM by 2 scores.  

 

Howard (5-0) @ Glenelg (4-1).  Fairly even match up here on paper, but Big Red got exposed last week by OM.  Howard has been consistently solid these first 5 weeks and has a winning formula.  In the oldest rivalry in our league I see Howard winning by 2 scores.  

 

Wilde Lake (1-4) @ River Hill (2-3). After starting 0-3, RH is on a 2 game tear.  I see them evening up their record here on Homecoming.  Hawks by 2 scores.  

 

Hammond (1-4) @ Reservoir (2-3).  Reservoir gets back to .500 here.  Gators by 3 scores.  

 

Centennial (0-5) @ Northeast (Anne Arundel) (3-2). Northeast has 3 wins so far this year and is about to make it 4.  NE by 3 scores.  

 

Long Reach (3-2) @ Atholton (3-2).  The A train gets back on the winning track here.   The lightning have dropped their last 2 after starting 3-0.  Atholton by 2 scores.  

 

Marriotts Ridge (3-2) @ Mount Hebron (1-4). Rowdy Ridge gets their 4th victory here over a floundering Hebron.  Mustangs by 2 scores.  

[Pedro Cerrano]

Go ahead and throw the Eagles into a bunch of parlays this weekend.

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 6 Postmortem

 

I went 6-1 on the week to bring my yearly record to 39-8

 

Guilford Park (6-0) was impressive in their win over previously undefeated Oakland Mills (5-1).  The score is deceiving as they controlled the majority of the game.  Passing attack compliments their beast running back.  Montags D background shows as they are very sound on that side of the ball and that strip 6 was phenomenal.  I didn’t see anyone beating OM this year but that’s why we play the games.  My only mistake of the week.  25-20 GP

 

Howard (6-0) stays unbeaten in a defensive slugfest over Glenelg (4-2).  These teams were very even most of the game and Big Red even had a chance to tie late but the Lion defense held.  14-7 Howard

 

River Hill (3-3) evens up their record with a win over Wilde Lake (1-5).  This one was tied at the half but the Hawks pulled away in the second stanza.  42-21 RH

 

Reservoir (3-3) gets back to .500 beating Hammond (1-5) 28-8 Resi

 

Marriotts Ridge (4-2) over Mount Hebron (1-5) 28-0

 

Atholton (4-2) over Long Reach (3-3) 32-7.  Long Reach has dropped 3 straight after starting 3-0.

 

Northeast (Anne Arundel) (4-2) takes care of business over Centennial (0-6) 56-7

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 7 Howard County Football

 

All games except 1 on Thursday night!

 

I went 6-1 last week to bring my yearly record to 39-8.  

 

Atholton (4-2) @ Howard (6-0) is the best game of the week.  Howard continues to roll behind the strength of their run game, new QB rotation and opportunistic defense.     Atholton has shown flashes of dominance against lesser teams.  Howard defense won’t give up the downfield pass game that Atholton has thrived on.  Lions by 2 scores.  

 

River Hill (3-3) @ Reservoir (3-3).  Doesn’t get much more even than this.  RH has won their last 3 and continues to improve.   Resi got their turnovers under control and gave GP a nice game and have a win over Atholton on their resume.  I could flip a coin here,  but you know I still have loyalty to my Hawks-Gimme RH by a score.  

 

Oakland Mills (5-1) @ Long Reach (3-3). The Lightning has lost their last 3 and now faces an angry Scorpions squad who was upset last week in The Den.  OM by 3 scores.

 

Guilford Park (6-0) @ Glenelg (4-2). Glenelg gave Howard all they wanted last week, but after seeing GP manhandle OM last week I’d be stupid to pick against them.  Panthers by 2 scores.  

 

Wilde Lake (1-5) @ Marriotts Ridge (4-2).  Mustangs are the quietest 4 win team around.  They move to 5 wins this week-MR by 2 scores

 

North Harford (1-5) @ Centennial (0-6).  Centennial has forfeited this game and moves to 0-7.  

 

(Saturday) Mount Hebron (1-5) @  Hammond (1-5). Here we go with a chance for someone to get win number 2 on the year!  This will be a nail biter with the team who makes the least amount of mistakes winning.  I believe that will be the Vikings-MtH by a score.  

[Pedro Cerrano]

North Harford forfeits. Cowards

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 7 Postmortem

 

After visiting Mount Hebron @ Hammond I can now say I’ve seen all 13 of our league teams live.  Can I get a lollipop

 

I went 5-2 on the week to take me to 44-10.  

 

Atholton (5-2) knocks off previously undefeated Howard (6-1) in a highly entertaining game at Howard.  Atholton QB Tyler Bell impressed me here-not only can he launch the deep ball, but he escapes pressure easily.  He probably had double digit designed runs in this game and took some ferocious hits and just popped up.  Hats off to the Raiders on a big win.  37-28 ATH

 

The other upset of the week is Wilde Lake (2-5) beating Marriotts Ridge (4-3).  The Wildecats used 5 interceptions and 3 defensive scores to knock off the Mustangs.  Nice win for Coach Henderson, staff and players.  28-22 WL

 

Glenelg (4-3) gave Guilford Park (7-0) a fight,  but in the end the Panthers remain undefeated.  28-16 GP

 

Don’t look now, but River Hill (4-3) has won their last 4 after a big second half in Fulton.  Reservoir moves to 3-4 on the year.  31-21 RH

 

Oakland Mills (6-1) hammers Long Reach (3-4). Lightning have dropped their last 4.  49-0 OM

 

Mount Hebron (2-5) doubles their win total on the year to spoil Hammond’s (1-6) homecoming.  This was quite an entertaining game with wild plays on virtually any kicking play, long runs and crazy penalties.  I was very happy to see 2 teams who weren’t having the success they wanted still fighting to win.  It literally came down to the final plays.  37-30 MTH

 

Centennial forfeits this week to move to 0-7.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Sucks about Centennial, really thought this year would be different.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Sucks about Centennial, really thought this year would be different.

They’re playing chess not checkers

[Tomgruneberg]

Howard County Football Week 8

 

Atholton (5-2) @ Oakland Mills (6-1).  Phenomenal match up here.  

Atholton is coming off a gigantic win over Howard and I’m sure their confidence level is sky high.  I think that OM’s loss to GP was an eye opener for them and they will not come out flat again.  Scorps will need to find a way to contain Bell both on the ground and in the air and I believe they will.  OM by a score.  

 

Howard (6-1) @ Guilford Park (7-0).  1 loss in 14 games total for these 2 squads.  Match up of the top 2 running backs in the County.  A great test for the final undefeated squad in the league.  Howard will give them all they want, but after watching Atholton upset them I’m not sure they have enough juice to knock off the Panthers.  GP is really clicking on all cylinders in only their second year of varsity action.  GP by a score.  

 

Marriotts Ridge (4-3) @ River Hill (4-3).  2 teams trending in opposite directions-Ridge was upset last week by The Lake while RH has won their last 4 straight.  Tough test for the RH D vs a potent offense, but I’m sure they are up for the task. RH by 2 scores.  

 

Glenelg (4-3) @ Long Reach (3-4). Both of these teams are on multi game losing streaks.  LR has lost their last 4 while Big Red has lost their last 3.  Something’s got to give here and one of these teams is breaking through for a W.  I see the Gladiator run game being the star of this show.  Glenelg by a score. 

 

Hammond (1-6) @ Wilde Lake (2-5).  WildEcats coming off a big upset of MR with a defensive gem of a game.  Hammond lost a battle to MTH last week on their homecoming but I didn’t see anybody quitting on that team.  WL will ride their momentum and their defense to a victory here-Cats by 2 scores.  

 

Reservoir (3-4) @ Mount Hebron (2-5).  The Vikings doubled their win total last week over Hammond-do they have it in them again this week?  Resi brings a lot of talent to the party-too much for Hebron, Gators by 2 scores.  

 

Northwood (Montgomery County) (1-6) @ Centennial (0-7). Northwood has a win this year (over Einstein 9/19), while Centennial forfeited last week.  Those 2 things have me picking Northwood by 3 scores.  

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 8 Postmortem 

 

I was a perfect 7-0 on the week to bring me to 51-10 overall.

 

Impressive showing for Oakland Mills (7-1) as they put a first half running clock on Atholton (5-3) 43-13 OM

 

Guilford Park (8-0) remains perfect with a convincing win over Howard (6-2).  I’m not sure what happened the final few minutes to make this score so lopsided, but this was a one score game the majority of the time.  38-7 GP. 

 

River Hill (5-3) wins their 5th straight over Marriotts Ridge (4-4). 35-6 RH

 

Wilde Lake (3-5) wins a nail biter over Hammond (1-7).  38-26 WL

 

Reservoir (4-4) with a convincing win over Mount Hebron (2-6). 27-6 Reservoir

 

Glenelg (5-3) pounds Long Reach (3-5).  40-3 Big Red

 

Montgomery county foe Northwood (2-6) beats Centennial (0-8) 26-12

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles romped em!

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 9 Howard county football

 

Playoff positions can very well change this week especially in the 2A west with 7 Hoco teams.  I went 7-0 last week for an overall record of 51-10.  

 

Glenelg (5-3) @ Atholton (5-3). Even Steven-identical 5-3 records clash on Freetown, with playoff seeding implications on the line.  Both teams could be described as inconsistent.  Who the heck will show up this week.  I was impressed by Atown when they beat Howard, but then I saw OM running clock them.  Both teams are dealing with injuries,  but I see Glenelg scraping by in a slugfest.  This is where I’ll be Thursday night unless it’s a monsoon and tornado warning in which case HUDL fan will be my BFF.   Glads by a score.  

 

Oakland Mills (7-1) @ Howard (6-2).  After seeing what OM did to Atholton last week it’s hard for me to pick against them-they’re just playing with a lot of confidence right now after the GP humbling.  Howard has dropped their last 2 after winning 6 straight.  Unfortunately I think they lose their 3rd here and back into the playoffs-OM by 2 scores.  

 

Hammond (1-7) @ Marriotts Ridge (4-4). Ridge gets back on the winning track here to finish 5-4.  MR by 2 scores.  

 

River Hill (5-3) @ Mount Hebron (2-6).  The Hawks started 0-3 but there was no crying in Clarksville-instead they put their heads down and got to work ripping off 5 straight wins.  Make it 6 straight for RH-Hawks by 3 scores.  

 

Guilford Park (8-0) @ Long Reach (3-5).  Coach Montag heads home to the place that made him.  GP is rolling and likely won’t face a challenge until the second round of the playoffs-Here they could see Stephen Decatur if things stay as they are.  Anyway, I’m not anticipating any trouble for the Panthers in completing an undefeated regular season.  GP by 3 scores.  

 

Wilde Lake (3-5) @ Reservoir (4-4). Lake show has been hot as of late winning 3 of their last 4 include big W over The Ridge.  Reservoir has been hella inconsistent,  and has not won more than 2 games in a row this season.  I seriously flipped a coin for this one.  Heads for home-tails for away.  It came up tails-Lake by a score.  

 

Centennial (0-7) @ Manchester Valley (Carroll County)(3-5). Manchester Valley out of Carroll has 3 wins on the year over FSK, Winters Mill and Liberty.  They will get their 4th here.  Mavericks by 3 scores.  

[Pedro Cerrano]

DISAGREE with the eagles take!

[JeremyStrain]

I mean football is great and all but can we talk about the girls?

 

Soccer? Field Hockey? Volleyball? 

 

My kids and I were talking yesterday about how flag football is starting to really blow up around here. 

[Tomgruneberg]

Week 9 Postmortem 

 

Well I went 6-1 on the week with my only error being Glen/Ath.  I finish the regular season with a record of 57-11 or 84% correct pick percentage.  Much better than my NFL picks, but that’s another story.  

 

Started Thursday night at Atholton (6-3) for the Glenelg (5-4) game, but it seemed to be getting away from the visiting Glads so I popped up route 29 at halftime to Howard to see the end of that one.  I was again impressed by Atholton and their air attack.  They consistently had receivers behind the Glenelg secondary, and Bell consistently put the ball on the money.  I’m expecting Atholton to make a nice playoff run this year.  Glenelg didn’t completely fold and made a run there at the end but the final result was 40-28 Atholton.  

 

Arrived at the Oakland Mills (8-1) @ Howard (6-3) just in time to see the Scorpions win this one.  OM is playing well here at the end of the season.  The 2A is wide open this year and there is no reason the Mill can’t make a serious run at the whole darn thing.  21-12 Oakland Mills.

 

Marriotts Ridge (5-4) rolls to their 5th victory of the year over Hammond (1-8).  MR is the biggest school in Hoco and the only school in the 4A/3A classification.  They have earned at least 1 home playoff game.  41-14 MR

 

River Hill (6-3) has ripped off 6 straight wins after starting 0-3.  They finish the regular season with a win on the road over Mount Hebron (2-7) 48-3.  

 

Guilford Park (9-0) completes an undefeated regular season with a pasting of Long Reach (3-6).  They are one of 4 county school at the 3A classification and along with Atholton-they’re expected to do some damage.  46-0 GP

 

Wilde Lake (4-5) has been much improved this second half of the season.  They beat Reservoir (4-5) 28-20.  

 

Centennial (0-9) falls to Manchester Valley (4-5) of Carroll County. 37-0 Man Valley.  

[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs week 1 Howard County

 

4A/3A West

 Thursday (7) Thomas Johnson (2-7) (Frederick County) @ (2) Marriotts Ridge (5-4)

 

3A South

(8) Chopticon (2-7) (St. Mary’s County) @ (1) Guilford Park (9-0)

(6) Reservoir (4-5) @ (3) Stephen Decatur (7-1) (Worcester county)

 

3A North

(3) Atholton (6-3) First round bye-will play Westminster next week.  

Centennial (0-9) Forfeited Playoff game

 

2A West. ALL GAMES THURSDAY

(8) Mount Hebron (2-7) @ (1) Oakland Mills (8-1)

(7) Long Reach (3-6) @ (2) Howard (6-3)

(6) Poolesville (4-5) (Montgomery County) @ (3) River Hill (6-3)

(5) Wilde Lake (4-5) @ (4) Glenelg (5-4)

 

2A/1A East 

Thursday (7) Hammond (1-8) @ (2) Easton (Talbot County) (6-3)

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles have the rare quadruple BYE

[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs week 1 Howard County

 

From our 13 team league 11 are in action this week and there can be as many as 9 teams left for next week or as few as 4.  I’m 57-11 through 9 weeks of the regular season.  

 

4A/3A West

 Thursday (7) Thomas Johnson (2-7) (Frederick County) @ (2) Marriotts Ridge (5-4).  Ridge earned themselves a nice home game here vs. an outmatched TJ team.  People with long memories may remember RH smashing TJ at M&T bank stadium to win the state championship in 2011.  But back to the matter at hand-MR by 2 scores here.  

 

3A South —-Both of these games are Friday

 (8) Chopticon (2-7) (St. Mary’s County) @ (1) Guilford Park (9-0). I’m sorry Chopticon that you have to travel nearly 2 hours to catch a beat down.  GP has rolled our entire county this year and Chop is next.  GP by 3 scores.  

 

(6) Reservoir (4-5) @ (3) Stephen Decatur (7-1) (Worcester county).  The Gators have to travel nearly 3 hours over the Bay Bridge down to Ocean City for this one.  Decatur has won a state championship the past 2 years straight at the 2A level.  They bump up to 3A this year with thoughts on the three peat.  As much as I want to root for the HOCO team here, I don’t see it happening.  Decatur by 2 scores.  

 

3A North

Love this region-I get to count 2 correct picks without a game being played.  No I won’t count the Atholton game since it’s a bye but I am giving myself Centennial since it was supposed to be a game.  

 

(3) Atholton (6-3) First round bye-will play Westminster next week.  I need to watch some Westminster film to start getting ready for next week.  

 

Centennial (0-9) Forfeited Playoff game.  

 

2A West. ALL GAMES THURSDAY

 

(8) Mount Hebron (2-7) @ (1) Oakland Mills (8-1).  Sorry to jinx you Scorps, but several people have asked me if OM can go the distance in the 2A and my answer is yes.  The 2A is WIDE open -yes there are several good teams (especially out of the SMAC) but OM can match up with anyone here.  For week 1 though, I have the Scorps by 3 scores.  

 

(7) Long Reach (3-6) @ (2) Howard (6-3). Howard has had a tough go of things the last 3 weeks, but they are ready to get back on the winning track here vs. their Columbia sibling.  Lions by 2 scores.  

 

(6) Poolesville (4-5) (Montgomery County) @ (3) River Hill (6-3).  River Hill has won their last 6 after starting 0-3.  I’ve seen this Poolesville team live at Centennial and the Eagles hung around with them longer than they should have. Give me the Hawks by 3 scores.  

 

(5) Wilde Lake (4-5) @ (4) Glenelg (5-4)   Gahhhh-another absolute toss up involving Wilde Lake.  I’m not flipping a coin this week I’m looking at a facts.  These teams played in week 3 and Glenelg rolled 37-8.  Both teams have beaten Marriotts Ridge.  The difference here might be the last 5 games-Glenelg has lost 4 of their last 5 while Lake has won 4 of their last 5.  Yes, the strength of schedule must be considered,  but I’m going with the hotter team right now-WL by a score.  

 

2A/1A East 

Thursday (7) Hammond (1-8) @ (2) Easton (Talbot County) (6-3). Hammond makes the drive over the bridge to face Easton.  Any Hammond fans making the drive I highly recommend you stop by Legal Assets for a bite to eat-it’s only 7 minutes from the school in lovely downtown Easton-Best French Onion soup I’ve ever had in my life.  Easton by 2 scores.  

[Tomgruneberg]

Playoffs Week 1 Postmortem 

 

7 of 13 HOCO teams remain alive after this weekend, which went pretty much according to script.  I went 8-1 with my only mistake being WL/GLEN.  I’m now 65-12 overall.

 

In the 4A/3A West Marriotts Ridge (6-4) handles Frederick County foe Thomas Johnson 41-30.  

 

In the 3A South, Guilford Park (10-0) rolled as expected over Chopticon 48-0.

 

Reservoir (4-6) falls to Stephen Decatur 42-12.  Decatur won the state the last 2 years in 2A.  

 

In the 3A North Atholton (6-3) wins their bye week, while Centennial (0-10)  forfeits their playoff opportunity.  

 

Most Howard County Schools live in the 2A West region this year:

 

Oakland Mills (9-1) rolls Mount Hebron (2-8) 39-3

 

Howard (7-3) smokes Long Reach (3-7) 47-6

 

River Hill (7-3) smacks Montgomery County’s Poolesville 63-0

 

Glenelg (6-4) displays a tenacious ground game to dispatch Wilde Lake (4-6).  

 

And finally in the 2A/1A East, Hammond (1-9) falls to Easton 42-0

 

STILL ALIVE:

MR

GP

ATH

OM

HOW

RH

GLEN

 

SEASON COMPLETE:

RESI

CEN

MTH

LR

WL

HAM