Anne Arundel County Football: Mid-Season Report Card

by Aaron Gray
agray@digitalsports.com

We're at the midway point of the Anne Arundel County high school football regular season so that means in five short weeks, only four teams from each region will advance to the playoffs. The next few games are critical as several marquee match ups in the county are just around the corner.

I've put together a mid-season report card for every team based on how it has performed, but still taking into consideration expectations going into the season, opponents they have played, etc.

Keep in mind that it's a current status report, not a preview for upcoming games. So here we go:

OLD MILL (offense A+ / defense A+): Senior quarterback Grant Enders makes great decisions, the offense flirts with a no-huddle while a host of linebackers pace the Patriots' defense in what is the most balanced team in the county.

Old Mill (5-0 overall, 5-0 in the county) is the only undefeated team in the league and should only get better. The Patriots will look to build because they've only had one home game so far and they have big wins over Arundel, Meade and Severna Park under their belt.

"I feel there's a great balance right now and we're getting better with each game," said third-year coach Damian Ferragamo, whose program has advanced to the postseason each of the last nine years. "On defense, there's so much speed, it's kind of hard to have a bad day. The offense is solid, too. It's important that not one side is overloaded and that there's a good group going out there every down."

Enders has connected with three different players for touchdowns, including Devante Sanders (27 catches, 523 yards), who has a county-best seven receiving touchdowns. The most important thing is that Enders has completed 57 percent of his throws and has not thrown an interception since 2007.

Junior running back Jason Clements (61 rushes, 322 yards) has eight rushing touchdowns but hasn't hit his stride yet, which is a scary thought.

NORTH COUNTY (offense B+ / defense B-): A stout front line has paved the way for the county's top running back in senior Dino Stevens, who has amassed 705 yards and nine rushing touchdowns -- he has 12 total -- on 110 carries. The Knights (4-1, 4-1) are doing what they do best and that's run the ball right up the middle in their "jumbo" package.

The defense has already contained the likes of Meade quarterback Ray Cotton and Severna Park's multi-faceted running attack. Led by junior linebacker Pat Carey with a team-high 43 tackles, North County has allowed only one team to score more than 21 points in a game. Jordan Moskal and Kyle Queen each have 30+ tackles and also lead the charge up front on defense.

"We're in pretty good shape," said North County coach Gary Liddick, whose team will be tested in the next two weeks with road games at South River and Old Mill before closing with three straight at home. "There's a lot of parity in the league and I think (Arundel coach) Chuck (Markiewicz) said it best when he pointed out that if a team is 3-2 at the midway point, they're definitely doing something right."

When Stevens isn't breaking tackles and fighting for tough yards, senior quarterback Travis Delizio (45-for-85 passing, 708 yards, six touchdowns) is looking down field for senior Josh Pfisterer, who averages a county-best 22.6 yards a catch. Pfisterer is also one of the county's leading punters.

BROADNECK (offense B- / defense A-): The Bruins (3-2, 3-2) have leadership in three-year starting quarterback Kyle Colleran, who runs the option to perfection and has racked up 311 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Sophomore running back Ronnie VanMeter is third in the county in rushing with 429 yards on 66 carries. Broadneck doesn't really have a big-time threat on the edges after the graduation of J.J. Hicks (Delaware State) so it has focused on running the ball.

"To me, it reminds me of your typical Broadneck team," said Northeast coach Kevin Kylus, whose team hosts the Bruins tomorrow. "They're just very solid all the way around and they're well-coached, which means they won't lose too many close games."

The return of fifth-year senior Tony Baker should add a spark. Baker, the team's leading rusher each of the last two seasons, has been dangerous on special teams and should find his way into the normal running back rotation, along with junior Zach Treakle, in the coming weeks.

"They may be behind the eight ball right now but (coach) Jeff (Herrick) will find a way to get it done," said Markiewicz, whose team topped the Bruins, 28-13, in Cape St. Claire to open the season.

Sophomore Vaa Niumatalolo, son of Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo, leads the defense with 33 tackles and senior Blake Leathers has three interceptions. The Bruins defense has given up 12.2 points a game, which ranks third in the county.

ARUNDEL (offense A / defense C-): The Wildcats (4-1, 4-1) lost some talent from last year but re-loaded in a hurry because they had no other option. Arundel has not played a team with a losing record yet and started the season with arguably the toughest five-game stretch in the county. The tough competition hasn't slowed the development of junior quarterback Billy Cosh, who leads the league in almost every passing category.

"None of this is foreign to Billy," said Markiewicz, who has groomed multiple college quarterbacks over the years and will go for career win No. 156 this week at Annapolis, which would tie the county's all-time career wins record.

"Billy understands what he has to do and it's become more of a job to him. The emotions will come naturally."

The first-year starter has become a smooth operator in the Wildcats' no-huddle, spread offense. Cosh is 99-for-157 passing with a county-best 1,385 yards and 20 touchdowns. His No. 1 target down field is senior wide receiver Alec Lemon, a Syracuse recruit, who hasn't broke one off yet but is also deadly on kick/punt returns and averages 177.2 all-purpose yards a game.

RJ Harris (26 catches, 379 yards) and Sean Fitzgerald (16, 260) have also combined for nine receiving scores on an offense that averages 35.4 points a game, which is second in the county to Old Mill (39.6).

Junior Bobby Partilla leads the defense from middle linebacker with 25.5 tackles. Chris Rice, who has come up with some big plays on special teams, has 24 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.

MEADE (offense A- / defense C): The emergence of Cotton, a senior transfer quarterback from Alabama who has verbally committed to play at Auburn, has made the Mustangs (2-3, 1-3) a contender in the county again. Meade has dropped three straight to the league's elite, but coach Lance Clelland knows his team belongs because in two of those losses -- Arundel and North County -- the Mustangs held the lead at halftime.

"It's been three close losses but these guys are still learning and I truly believe they get better every time they step on the field," said Clelland, who is in his first year at the helm. "We're a work in progress and we will improve. One thing I've told the guys over and over again is that we control our own destiny and we will still be hanging around after the regular season ends."

Cotton has put up huge numbers throwing for 1,135 yards and 14 touchdowns, second only to Cosh at Arundel. He has the ability to scramble and the range to look for his second and third reads. He's found Darrius Brown, Trevor Turner, Tuswani Copeland and James Sayers in the end zone.

"That guy Cotton is something," said Markiewicz, whose team topped Meade, 46-25, last week. "He threw a ball over to our sideline that was a seed and if the kid that was standing there wasn't watching, it would have blew his head off. I've never seen anything like it. He's unbelievable."

The defensive line is getting to opposing quarterbacks and is led by junior defensive end Mwanza Wambulumba while another big body, senior T'Ron Francis, spearheads the offensive line.

SEVERNA PARK (offense C / defense A): A rough 0-2 start hasn't hindered the Falcons, winners of three straight. But now Severna Park has to do something it hasn't done all season: play a road game. The Falcons start their five-game away streak (a new turf playing surface will be installed on their existing home field) tomorrow at Meade.

Just like in years past, defense has been the name of the game for Severna Park, which has surrendered just 11 points a game. Senior two-way players Sean Price and Billy Nichols have tallied 42 and 36 tackles, respectively, for a defense that has already gone up against Old Mill, North County, Broadneck and Annapolis.

"They have always been a steady team that's not going to make a lot of mistakes," said Ferragamo, whose team opened the season with a 27-7 win at their house. "We saw them in Week 1 and there's certain teams you want to see early. They're one of them. With the option, it always gets better as the season goes on and I'm glad we didn't hit them in stride."

Senior Sam Jones has taken over for the departed Pat Morrison at quarterback and has multiple skill players in the backfield to pitch to. Leading the rushing attack so far has been senior Brendan Noone, a bruising fullback, who has 261 yards, two touchdowns on 47 carries. Seniors Kevin Ferris and Andrew Zido also get carries. Senior Zack Karr is a threat on the flanks.

SOUTHERN (offense C+ / defense B+): The Bulldogs (2-3, 1-3), the only Class 2A squad in the county, haven't won the big games they expected thus far but their defense has held four out of five opponents below 15 points.

"They held us to our lowest point total of the season, which says a lot," said Liddick, referring to his team's 13-0 win over Southern last week in Ferndale. "They prevented us a few scoring chances in the red zone. Thank goodness our defense answered, otherwise, it would have been another loss for us like last year when we played them."

Senior two-way player Andrew Bishop and Ike Riggs at nose guard have moved bodies around up front on defense, while Brian Aikin has led the secondary.

In the Bulldogs’ double-wing offense, seniors Andrew Gibson and Pat McBryde have paved the way in rushing while junior Ryan Sullivan leads the team with 303 yards, seven touchdowns on 65 carries.

SOUTH RIVER (offense B / defense C+): After starting the year 3-0, the Seahawks have dropped two in a row while being out-scored 64-21 during that stretch. If they can grab at least one win over their next two opponents -- North County and Broadneck -- a playoff appearance may be in the cards.

"They need a quality win against a team no one expects them to beat," said Markiewicz, whose team ended the Seahawks' win streak two weeks ago in Edgewater. "When that happens, it will get them over the hump."

South River has rode senior running back Drew Lee, who has averaged close to a first down every time he's carried the ball. The county's second-leading rusher has 591 yards, five rushing touchdowns on 60 carries. Sophomore Blane Kleinrichert has been a welcome addition to the backfield with 365 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Greg Koepping has punted only twice this season but has averaged a county-best 39.5 yards.

ANNAPOLIS (offense C- / defense B): The Panthers (3-2, 2-2) have surrendered 13.4 points a game, which ranks fifth in the county. Eddie Moon leads the way with team-high 46 tackles. Annapolis blanked North Harford to start off the year but will have its hands full with a high-scoring Arundel offense tomorrow.

"I haven't seen too much about them but they have plenty of speed, like always, and a lot of athletic guys," Ferragamo said. "Kind of unpredictable."

Sophomore running back Demond Brown has led the offense with 459 rushing yards on 56 carries and two touchdowns while junior running back Dalonte Brooks has also chimed in with a few touchdowns. The key to the offense is senior quarterback Craig Wilson, who has only played in four games, but is coming off his best performance of the season (9-for-12 passing, 126 yards, two touchdowns) in a 30-14 win at South River last week.

An upset at Arundel tomorrow and a good showing against Meade on Oct. 24 will help the Panthers' chances in the Class 3A playoff race.

NORTHEAST (offense D+ / defense D+): Coach Kevin Kylus admitted that his team has run into a few bumps along the road and that a 1-4, 1-3 record at the midpoint was not in mind before the season.

"We still have work to do," said Kylus, whose team is ranked 10th in both offense and defense in the county. "Losing close ball games to Southern and Chesapeake hurt. Now we just have to dig deep and try to turn it all around."

Ryan Joseph has led the team in rushing with 307 yards, two touchdowns on 43 carries while Dusty Thursby and Joey Lippold have each contributed rushing yards. If Ryan Leone can grab a few more passes from quarterback Daren Costa, the Eagles will be more balanced on offense and harder to prepare for.

Senior linebacker Ray Hesse leads the team in tackles with 35 and Leone has picked off two passes on defense.

CHESAPEAKE (offense F / defense D): Senior two-way player Jordan Bodnar has been all over the field for the Cougars (1-4, 1-4), but a young quarterback in sophomore Dillon Whelchel, who took over for injured starter Gary Smith (ankle), has not produced those many points. Chesapeake has been blanked three times but it scored 14 points against Northeast to claim its share of the 'Dena Bowl two weeks ago.

"We've been pretty banged up," Cougars coach Merlin Means said. "We went through a three-game stretch already this season without eight starters."

Bodnar, a safety, has three interceptions and averages about 11 tackles a game. John Brisentine, Jason Tauber and Josh Grimes have led the defensive line. Jordan Emge is a load on the offensive line.

GLEN BURNIE (offense D / defense F): The offensive tandem of junior Matt Watson and senior transfer Rochon Dixon have shown signs of brilliance but a lackluster defense hasn't been able to keep the Gophers (0-5, 0-5) in games. Junior Rob Stancil has tallied 42 tackles to lead a defense that surrenders 40.8 points a game.

Junior Joe Thorton is under center for an offense that has not been able to score multiple touchdowns in a game since the season opener.


Class 4A East Region playoff standings (as of Oct. 7, 2008)

School	Schedule	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win Points	Bonus Points	Accumulated Points	Point Average
Old Mill	10	5	0	0	38.00	10.00	48.00	9.60
Arundel	10	4	1	0	31.00	12.00	43.00	8.60
North County	10	4	1	0	29.00	8.00	37.00	7.40
Severna Park	10	3	2	0	23.00	6.00	29.00	5.80
Broadneck	10	3	2	0	23.00	4.00	27.00	5.40
South River	10	3	2	0	22.00	3.00	25.00	5.00
Thomas Stone	10	1	4	0	8.00	1.00	9.00	1.80
Chesapeake-AA	10	1	4	0	7.00	1.00	8.00	1.60
Leonardtown	10	1	4	0	7.00	0.00	7.00	1.40
Glen Burnie	10	0	5	0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Class 3A East Region playoff standings (as of Oct. 7, 2008)

School	Schedule	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win Points	Bonus Points	Accumulated Points	Point Average
Wilde Lake	10	5	0	0	31.00	9.00	40.00	8.00
Howard	10	4	1	0	26.00	4.00	30.00	6.00
Annapolis	10	3	2	0	21.00	7.00	28.00	5.60
Fallston	10	3	2	0	22.00	6.00	28.00	5.60
Stephen Decatur	10	3	2	0	17.00	6.00	23.00	4.60
Reservoir	10	3	2	0	19.00	3.00	22.00	4.40
Aberdeen	10	3	2	0	17.00	4.11	21.11	4.22
Meade	10	2	3	0	15.00	4.00	19.00	3.80
Centennial	10	2	3	0	13.00	5.00	18.00	3.60
Long Reach	10	2	3	0	12.00	5.00	17.00	3.40
North Harford	10	2	3	0	13.00	4.00	17.00	3.40
Bel Air	10	2	3	0	12.00	2.00	14.00	2.80
Atholton	10	1	4	0	7.00	2.00	9.00	1.80
Northeast-AA	10	1	4	0	8.00	0.00	8.00	1.60

Class 2A South Region playoff standings (as of Oct. 7, 2008)

School	Schedule	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win Points	Bonus Points	Accumulated Points	Point Average
Gwynn Park	10	5	0	0	29.00	12.00	41.00	8.20
North Point	10	4	1	0	28.00	13.00	41.00	8.20
River Hill	10	5	0	0	33.00	7.00	40.00	8.00
Douglass-PG	10	4	1	0	27.00	9.00	36.00	7.20
Marriotts Ridge	10	4	1	0	24.00	7.00	31.00	6.20
Patuxent	10	3	2	0	21.00	7.00	28.00	5.60
Southern-AA	10	2	3	0	14.00	3.00	17.00	3.40
Central-PG	10	2	3	0	10.00	5.33	15.33	3.07
Mt. Hebron	10	1	4	0	7.00	1.00	8.00	1.60
McDonough	10	1	4	0	6.00	0.00	6.00	1.20
Oakland Mills	10	1	4	0	6.00	0.00	6.00	1.20
Calvert	10	0	5	0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Fairmont Heights	10	0	5	0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Hammond	10	0	5	0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

source: MPSSAA.org