Cecil County Sports Weekly Vol 2 Issue 42

SPORTS

‘Just a big relief’: Noah Wallace shoots 4-under to earn 2nd-straight 1A/2A state title

Tigers score 22 unanswered to down Indians, claim inaugural Battle of 272 trophy

By Victor Hensley

RISING SUN - The inaugural – and aptly named – Battle of 272 had everything you could’ve wanted from an end-of-season rivalry clash.

And with motivators like cross-town bragging rights, free chicken sandwiches and a soon-to-become iconic trophy on the line, how could it have been anything other than a slugfest?

After a tight opening half, however, Rising Sun (6-3) turned to some of its usual suspects – namely senior quarterback Gannon Russell – to pull off a near-perfect ending, rattling off 22 unanswered points to

down the North East Indians (1-8), 35-14, and claim the first-ever Battle of 272 title.

“Kudos to them,” said Clem Vaughan, the Tigers’ head coach, after the win. “North East, they’re going to come out and punch you in the mouth. Luckily, we withstood it and stayed in there and fought and started doing our thing in the second half, so we just kind of wore them down in the end.”

With the two schools being just 8.4 miles away from one another – and both technically being located in North East – it was only fitting for this storied rivalry to finally get the Susky Bowl treatment, trophy and all.

Even if you weren’t

aware of the geographical similarities between Rising Sun and North East, it would’ve taken just a few minutes of watching the players on the field to come to the conclusion that this was a rivalry game.

The physicality, the chippiness and the trash talk were all present for the Battle of 272, which included an incredible defense-heavy ballgame with big, game-changing plays to boot.

And as the cliché goes, this was one of the few matchups this season where you could actually throw out the record books. No matter what, this was going to be a gritty win for the team fortunate enough to

pull it out.

Early on, the Indians used their speed to get off to one of their best starts of the season.

North East needed just four plays to find the end zone on its opening drive, when senior quarterback Luke Keefer found junior wide receiver Evan England on a slant route over the middle. England then proceeded to get to the right sideline, cut upfield and burn past everyone in the Tigers secondary for the 60yard touchdown, giving the Indians a 7-0 lead to start things off.

It would be the first of England’s two scores on

By Victor Hensley

COLLEGE PARK, MD - Noah Wallace has accomplished everything he’s set out to do throughout his first three seasons of high school golf.

But even with two trophies under his belt, he still isn’t finished.

Last week, the soft-spoken North East junior put Cecil County on the map for the second-straight season, taking home the MPSSAA 1A/2A Men’s Golf State Championship during a three-day tournament at the University of Maryland Golf Course in College Park,

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Panthers’ Ethen Gunter hits 1,000 yards in shut-out win over Eagles

By Victor Hensley

All season long, the Perryville Panthers have stared their mistakes in the face.

Some have been small, but others have been game-altering.

Yet, last Friday night against Bo Manor, the Panthers showed what a clean, mistake-free game can look like – and showed that, if they can begin to string those together, they’ll likely be a tough out come November.

That’s because the errorless Panthers (5-4) earned a blowout win, 37-0, over the Bo Manor Eagles (5-4) in a game that saw them thrive offensively, win both the turnover and field position battles and finish out the regular season with their most complete performance of the year.

“All year long, we’ve kind of had some self-inflicted wounds, where we’ve turned the ball over, didn’t execute on special teams or, defensively, gave up big plays,” said Sean Sandora, the Panthers’ head coach. “Friday night, everything came together. We didn’t turn the ball over, we forced two turnovers. On special teams, I think their average starting field position on kickoffs was in the 20s. … We just played pretty good football for 48 minutes and didn’t beat ourselves, which is a first this season.”

Instead of making mistakes that kept the Eagles in the game, Perryville put its foot on the gas and simply never let up, scoring more points (37) than it had in any of its previous seven games.

The Panthers’ success began on the ground, where junior running back Ethen Gunter officially joined the 1,000-yard club after posting 147 yards on 21 carries (7.0 yards per carry) to go along with three scores.

“He’s just a great kid, he does a very good job,” said Sandora when asked about Gunter’s 1,000-yard season, a mark no Perryville running back has hit since Sandora’s been coaching there. “He’s one of our top film watchers. … He does a great job of preparing for games and then, on top of it, he runs hard with a great pad level and stays low. And our o-line, hats off to those guys. They’ve really been blocking well since the Edgewood game.

“I think (Gunter hitting 1,000 yards) is more important for our o-line because they really take pride in blocking for him,” Sandora added. “It makes (Gunter) happy because, when he scores a touchdown, our

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photos by Becky Young

CROSS COUNTRY UCBAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

By Amanda Callaghan

On Tuesday, October 25th, all 15 schools from Cecil and Harford counties gathered at Brantwood Regional Park for the 2022 Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference Championships. Held at Bo Manor’s home course, the race was flat and fast.

Cecil County cross country teams had great success! In the boy’s race, senior John Ferry of Rising Sun was the first Cecil runner to finish, placing fifth with a time of 16:45.21, a 5K personal record. He was followed by junior Daniel Katz of North East, finishing 11th in 17:15.77, and junior Evan Wakefield of Bo Manor, finishing 12th in 17:19.94. Both juniors also set a personal record at the championship meet.

The Bo Manor boys team was the top-placing Cecil boy’s team at the meet, racing their home course for the last time this season and finishing 6th with 172 points. Wakefield was followed by his teammates Ethan Dell (18:05.04), John Conley (18:13.36), Leighton Dell (19:11.30), and Jason Wolfenden (19:49.34).

In the girl’s race, sophomore Leanna Rogers of North East was the first Cecil finisher, placing third overall with a time of 19:29.74, a huge PR for Rogers. Senior Emily Wishart of Rising Sun placed 11th, finishing in 20:40.58, with Bo Manor sophomore Skylar Pizzuli following closely behind (20:54.58). Both Wishart and Pizzuli set 5K personal records as well.

Rising Sun was the top-scoring Cecil girl’s team

Do Your Homework Before Voting for Board of Education

By Frances Bowman

With three of the five positions on the Cecil County Public Schools Board of Education on the ballot, it isn’t an exaggeration to say the future of public education in Cecil County could be determined in this election.

Two candidates, Diana Hawley and William Malesh, are seeking reelection to the board and two newcomers are vying for the third seat.

at the meet, finishing 8th with 187 points. Following Wishart were teammates Kaitlin Perry (22:26.29), Amanda Callaghan (23:19.22), Bella Chavis (25:26.47), and Isabelle Griffith (25:48.75).

Cecil teams are preparing for the most important races of the season so far: the 1A and 2A East Regional championships on Thursday, November 3rd. Held at Cambridge South Dorchester’s course, home of the famous Rumble in the Jungle invitational, the regional championships are sure to be another fast race as runners fight to qualify for the 1A/2A State Championships. Good luck to all of the runners and teams!

At a recent candidate forum sponsored by the Cecil County Public Schools’ BEPAC organization, five of the six board of education candidates were asked questions on topics ranging from county school funding and the rollout of the state’s groundbreaking Blueprint for Education to the laws protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ students and the requirement that board members remain nonpartisan.

When Ms. Hawley and Mr. Malesh responded to the questions, they demonstrated a depth of knowledge gained from their experience on the Board of Education and participation in related state organizations.

Their challengers, on the other hand, relied on tired talking points with a clear conservative bias and their responses often showed either a lack of understanding or a disregard of the laws and policies binding public school systems in Maryland. One challenger spoke animatedly about their willingness to form coalitions with other counties to fight the state. The other challenger posted a photo on their campaign Facebook page of a signed pledge to challenge government regulation if they were elected.

These views could be problematic if the challengers were elected since Maryland boards of education are entities of the state. Board members are considered state officials and take an oath that they will execute their duties in compliance with state laws, rules, & policies. Failing to comply with any of those regulations could result in the state withholding funding from the local board of education or the removal of the superintendent or individual board members. Such actions would interfere with the effective and efficient operation of our public schools.

Your vote is important so please make sure it’s an informed choice. Reelect Diana Hawley and William Malesh to Cecil County Public Schools Board of Education.

Tigers score 22 unanswered

the evening, with the Tigers struggling to catch up to his ability to accelerate once he saw an open field in front of him.

“He’s an athlete, man, he’s a playmaker,” said Taylor Slaughenhoupt, the Indians’ head coach, of England. “This is his first year playing football. He’s a baseball player … and the kid ran a 4.6 40(-yard-dash) in socks over the summer. He’s fast, very fast, and he’s just a tough, physical kid. He has a lot of heart.”

But, while the Indians’ defense came to play in the loss, they were also subject to a couple of momentum-crushing big plays, the first of which came on the Tigers’ second possession, when senior running back Sam Ehrhart took the handoff from Russell and immediately found a gaping hole in front of him, slicing through it and chugging 47 yards down the field and into the end zone to tie things up at 7 apiece.

Similar to England, Ehrhart also had a pair of touchdowns on the day –one rushing, one receiving – as he became Russell’s top target and the Tigers’ top rushing option when they weren’t using Russell on quarterback keepers.

Ehrhart would strike again in the second quarter on the very next Rising Sun possession, when he was on the receiving end of a 21yard touchdown pass from Russell to give the Tigers a 13-7 advantage as they began to get into a groove.

down Indians,

“Sam Ehrhart had a fantastic night tonight,” Vaughan said. “That group (of seniors), they’ve been working hard for four years, they put in the time, put in the weight room time. We have 16 kids that are working their tails off every day.”

The Tigers’ celebration would be short lived, though, with the Indians returning the favor on the very next play.

That’s when England took the handoff from Keefer, cut to the right and bolted down the sideline for a 55-yard rushing touchdown, his second touchdown play of 50-plus yards on the night. With the extra point – which the Tigers’ missed on Ehrhart’s second touchdown – North East took a 14-13 lead that they’d maintain into the halftime break.

“We played to our potential in the first half,” said Slaughenhoupt. “The way we came out of the gate, the way we stuck to the plan, we executed and we didn’t really beat ourselves at all in that first half. And Rising Sun, they’re a good team, there’s a reason they’re the No. 1 seed in the region. … In the second half, I think we just ran out of juice.”

As has been the case for most of the season, however, Rising Sun put their fate on Russell’s shoulders in the second half. And they never looked back.

On the Tigers’ second possession of the second half – made possible by a North East fumble, the first turnover of the game by

either team – Russell drove his team down to the 3-yardline and punched in a touchdown run of his own, then got the two-point conversion on the ground, too, which put Rising Sun ahead, 2114. That would be the first of Russell’s three rushing touchdowns in the second half as he began to use his legs to make plays.

In total, Russell carried the ball 29 times for 220 yards (7.6 yards per carry) in the win.

However, his best run came on the next Tigers drive, when, on the opening play, he sprinted through the line and into the open field, darting past everyone for a 63-yard score that effectively put the Indians away, 2814, as North East struggled to move the ball for the rest of the night.

“(Russell) was coming back and saying, ‘This is here, this is here, this is

here,’ and I was like, ‘All right, I better listen to you,’ so we ran it a couple of times and he churned off an 80-yard run,” Vaughan said. “You’ve just got to get him going.”

Russell tacked on another 6-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to seal the 35-14 victory and bring home the first-ever Battle of 272 trophy as the celebration got underway near the Tigers’ sideline after the game.

“They were pretty darn excited about ChickFil-A, I can tell you that right now,” said Vaughan with a laugh, referring to the sponsor of the trophy, which promised free food for the winning team. “I went to North East, so it’s a little bittersweet to beat those guys tonight. 272, whatever. It’s just a game. It’s a game we needed to win, that’s how I go into all of them.”

photos by Duane Goldsmith

Golden Elks stumble in 28-6 defeat to Harford Tech

By Victor Hensley

ELKTON - It’s tough to be optimistic when your team’s on a three-game losing skid, limping into the postseason. But, when you’ve got a group of passionate players that you believe in, it makes it a little easier.

As is the case for the Elkton Golden Elks (45), which fell to the Harford Tech Cobras (5-4), 28-6, to end the regular season last Friday in what was their third-straight loss to a Harford County team.

“I know these guys and they are resilient,” said Matt Feeney, the Golden Elks’ head coach, after the loss to the Cobras. “I know

we’ve lost three in a row, but they’re just a great group of guys and I believe in them. I know they’ll respond this week.”

Elkton had a lessthan-stellar performance on both sides of the ball against Harford Tech, with Feeney crediting the Cobras for their physicality while simultaneously lamenting the Golden Elks’ own personal struggles.

“They’re much more physical than us, they did the little things well,” said Feeney of Harford Tech.

“We weren’t good at the fundamentals. Tackling was poor, blocking was poor. We made some mental mistakes. … They just beat us

physically.”

Patience Richmond, a sophomore quarterback that’s gotten reps in most games this season, started for the Golden Elks in an effort to get him a little more experience in case typical starter Eli Latshaw went down with an injury in the postseason.

However, a young quarterback against a fierce, experienced pass rush is a recipe for a rough night.

“(Richmond) worked really hard all year in the offseason, so we wanted to give him an opportunity to play, but they presented him with a lot of pressure,” Feeney said. “They played man coverage, so that al-

lowed them to really get after him and really put some pressure on him. He just had a hard time picking up on some things and making some reads, and that’s really what it came down to. I’m glad he got the opportunity to play, though. He earned it.”

On the defensive side, the Golden Elks struggled to stop the Cobras’ run game as they got out to a 21-0 first-half lead.

After the break, though, Elkton finally got on the board on a pick-six from senior Jaden Nichols, who Feeney praised after the game for the way he performed on both sides of the ball.

“Jaden Nichols, he was the guy that was giving everything he had out there,” Feeney said. “He’s been doing it his whole career. He’s got some interest out there from some schools and it’s all deserving because he doesn’t miss practice, he busts his tail. He’s a captain for a reason. He’s a guy that gets it done. We’re going to see some real special stuff out of Jaden here in the next few weeks.”

The Cobras managed to tack on another touchdown in the second half, pushing their lead to the eventual final score of 28-6.

While Feeney said he knows the Golden Elks

are in a bit of a rut, they’re talented enough to figure it out and make a run in the postseason, which begins this week.

“We challenged the guys to do a little self evaluation over the weekend and really identify what it is they want to accomplish,” Feeney said. “It's not just showing up, you’ve got to play as a team. You’ve got to do the little things, the dirty work. … I just feel like they didn't come into it with the right mindset this past Friday. But now they know it's win or go home. So, with it being win or go home, I think we'll see a true Elkton football team.”

photos by Susan Burkholder

Panthers’ Gunter hits 1,000 yards in shut-out win over Eagles

o-line is more excited than him, like Cy (McCall) and all of those guys run down the field and pick him up.”

Gunter’s big game came in conjunction with an overall well-oiled Panthers offense, which totaled 402 yards in the win.

That amounted to a 17-0 lead at the half, followed by a second half that saw the Panthers gash the Eagles on the ground with the inclusion of senior running back Trevor David, who also ran for over 100 yards with a score of his own.

Junior quarterback Ty Patchell had one of the best starts of his career, too, completing nine of his 14 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.

“Based on our competition, I mean, Bo Manor was 5-3 and I don’t think they’d given up many points per game, so yeah, (Patchell) did a really great job,” Sandora said. “Ty did a really good job getting comfortable in the offense and making some really good throws.”

Ever since Perryville’s 40-21 defeat at the hands of the Rising Sun Tigers (6-3) on Sept. 23, the Panthers have begun to find their groove, losing a couple of close games to Edgewood (7-2) and Patterson Mill (7-2) while earning quality wins along the way.

A good chunk of that recent spike is Perryville’s defense, which has been superb for most of the season, but showed out against

Bo Manor.

The Eagles — who only partially played their typical starting quarterback, Angel Granado, who’s slowly returning from a multiweek shoulder injury — had just 186 total yards of offense in the loss, but failed to find the end zone in 48 minutes of football.

It was sophomore Drew Lenz who got the start for the third straight week.

“(Lenz) makes really good reads and decisions with the ball. He has a pretty good deep ball, as well, and when guys are open, he tends to put it right on the money,” said Vince Ricci, the Eagles’ head coach. “I just think Perryville had a really good game plan once they saw Angel wasn’t there and they made it really

tough for our quarterback to get open receivers.”

There have been a lot of growing pains for Bo Manor, which has been hit with the injury bug a time or two this season, but despite its current three-game skid, Ricci appears optimistic about his team’s outlook for the postseason this week.

“The first thing we’ve got to do is step up our defense, and I’m the defensive coach, so that falls on me,” Ricci said. “I have to have a better game plan this week. … I think if our defense gets rolling, then our offense has a little bit more rhythm. … I’m going to bust my butt this week to get the kids in a better position to succeed on both the offensive and defensive sides.”

‘Just a

big relief’:

where Wallace posted a two-day total of 140 to claim the classification’s top spot.

“After I made the putt on the last hole, it was just a moment of relief,” said Wallace following his second state title win. “I was just grinding for two days and just being focused on both days, and then once I made that last putt and I knew it was pretty much over, that I had the win, it was just a big relief.”

On the tournament’s final day, Wallace posted a round-best 4-under score of 67, tying him with Sherwood’s Bryan Kim – the 3A/4A runner-up – for the best round of the afternoon from any golfer.

Rising Sun’s Tyler Hogue – the first Tiger to make it to states in nearly a decade – finished in 25th after posting a two-day total of 166 (79 on Day 1, 87 on Day 2).

Wallace’s title-sealing round was aided by a scalding hot start as he birdied three of his first seven holes – on No. 13, 14 and 16 – and racked up five birdies in total.

Once he was through his front nine, which included a bogey on hole 18, he was sitting pretty at 2-under and knew he just needed nine more solid holes to claim the state title.

“Going into my back nine, which was the front nine on the actual course, I was just confident in my game,” Wallace said. “Once I made the birdie putt on (hole) 4, which would have been my 13th hole of the day, that got me back to 3-under at that point … so I knew if I could just par out, or even just make a bogey or so, I should have it.”

Wallace finished out his final five holes perfectly, making par on four of them and birdying hole 6 to improve to 4-under and cruise to his second state title in as many years, having won the 2021 MPSSAA 1A/2A Men’s Golf State Championship on the same

Noah Wallace shoots 4-under to earn 2nd-straight 1A/2A state title

course last October, shooting a 145 total over two rounds to take the top spot.

His 67 on Day 2 was a whopping six strokes better than his Day 1 score of 73 as he proceeded to get a bit more comfortable with the course, putting on the best performance he’s ever had in a state championship round.

“On Day 1, I was hitting the ball great, honestly, I was driving it well,” said Wallace. “It was just that I couldn’t get many birdie putts to fall. Outside of about 10 feet, I just wasn’t making too many putts. I gave myself a ton of chances and they just weren’t falling. It was a little frustrating after Day 1 because I knew I could play a lot better.”

Yet, with Wallace still holding onto a onestroke lead after Day 1, he took the time to practice his putting game that evening. And it worked wonders.

“I worked on my putting a ton after the first round,” Wallace said. “I just made sure everything was where I wanted it to be, just worked on the green reading a little bit, made sure my stroke was good, and Day 2, I came out confident with the putter and I was rolling into the back pretty firm.”

Once the results were official – and Wallace let out a big sigh of relief –he was officially crowned the 2022 1A/2A state champion, continuing his reign as the only men’s golf state champion to come from Cecil County.

Not to mention, he’s now one of only two men’s golfers (since 1971) to earn back-to-back state titles, rightfully writing his own story into the MPSSAA history books.

“Especially last year, nobody knew who our school was, North East, and nobody knew who I was at all,” Wallace said. “This year, a couple more people knew me down (in College Park) and expected more from me. There were

big expectations for me, so to go out and perform when you knew the expectations were high, it feels pretty good.”

The climb

Becoming a twotime state champion – with the potential for a threepeat next season – doesn’t happen overnight.

Wallace first picked up a golf club about five years ago, when he was around 11 or 12 years old. From the moment he first went to the driving range with his dad, he fell in love with the sport.

“We just happened to go to the range one day and we went to the course and rode around on the cart and I loved it,” Wallace said with a laugh, “just hitting the ball and being outside and everything like that.”

From then on, his life’s been dedicated to golf. Whether it’s practicing for seven, eight or even nine hours a day during the summer to enrolling in outof-school amateur tournaments to hitting the driving range every day after school, Wallace has taken every step he can to refine his game.

“I started to play tournaments outside of high school and that’s really when I started my love for golf,” Wallace said. “It’s just the competitiveness.”

That’s why, even in between last year’s and this year’s state title runs, Wallace has seen his game improve by leaps and bounds.

“Last year, I wasn’t the longest off the tee and I didn’t have a great chance at shooting really low under par,” he said. “But this year, iron play has gotten a lot better. And even as I’ve been hitting it further and getting more distance, I’m hitting a lot of fairways, too, so I have a lot more chances for birdie now. … I can definitely tell I’m a better player this year than I was last year.”

His ultimate goal for

years, however, has been to earn a state-title threepeat, which would be the first in MPSSAA history. Next year, as long as he continues his training and plays with the same competitive edge that he has this year, that dream could very well become a reality.

“I had some low rounds this year, but I definitely feel like I can have even lower rounds next year, into the mid-60s and stuff and my average score could definitely improve,” Wallace said. “There’s a lot of improvement to make. And I definitely think I can make a big jump for next year.”

Photos by Scott Serio & Matt Wallace

Eagles use resiliency, mental toughness to secure sweep over North Harford

By Victor Hensley CHESAPEAKE CITY, MD

- When Bo Manor sophomore Hannah Beck stepped into the service zone in the second set against North Harford, the Eagles found themselves in a deep hole –and it was her job to lift them out of it.

What followed was a superb sequence that included all the makings of what makes Bo Manor special: an earth-shattering Rylee Lenz spike, a point-saving Julia Holmes

dig and near-perfect Eagles decision-making.

Once the Eagles finally dropped another point – winning eight in a row in the process – they were down just 17-16, and had all the momentum in their hands.

Bo Manor (11-4) went on to win the barn burning set, 26-24, en route to a 3-0 match sweep over North Harford (3-12) last Tuesday that saw the Eagles’ stars excel and the Hawks put up a valiant fight.

“When we were in

the timeout, I just said, ‘Make calm, simple decisions,’ because panic touches never go our way,” said Sabrina Larmer, the Eagles’ head coach, when asked about the neck-and-neck second set, “so I just wanted them to be calm and purposeful with their serving and their swinging.” This was Bo Manor’s second 3-0 sweep over North Harford this season, the other of which came on Sept. 30 as part of the Eagles’ larger seven-match winning streak.

Despite the discrepancy in the two teams’ records – and the end result being an Eagles sweep – this was anything but a cakewalk for Bo Manor.

From the opening set, the Hawks ensured that the Eagles had to work for the win.

Late in the first set, Bo Manor held on to a 2116 advantage when, seemingly out of nowhere, North Harford went on a 6-1 run – aided by blocks at the net from Isabella Singh and Sierra McManus, the latter of

which had three kills during the stretch – to tie things up, 22-22.

But, after back-toback errors by the Hawks, making it 24-22 Eagles, it was Lenz’s time to shine.

When she received a beautiful setting pass from Beck, Lenz connected with the ball at the peak of her jump and forcefully spiked it into the ground, sealing the 25-22 set victory as she came back to earth, high-fiving her teammates with a nonchalant look on her face.

When you’re used to hitting

big shots like Lenz, powerful, set-winning spikes just make up another day at the office.

“She’s always been important for us, whether it’s on offense or defense, front row or back row,” said Larmer. “She doesn’t have to be perfect, she just needs to be aggressive for us. When she pulls back, our team kind of feels it, but when she’s on, it kind of lights us up. It’s fun to watch.”

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Panthers inch closer to regional title with 6-0 blanking of Kent County

By Victor Hensley

PERRYVILLE, MD - If you’d planned to brush your teeth, put on a pot of coffee or heat up a Hot Pocket at the start of Perryville’s second-round playoff game last Thursday, you would’ve missed the first goal of the night — and, potentially, the first two. That’s because it took Panthers junior Sarah Murrell just 16 seconds to receive a pass from junior Kamryn Marcinkevich and bury the ball into the back of the net to get her team on the board with a 1-0 lead in the 1st

minute.

No. 1 Perryville (13-0) went on to down the No. 4 Kent County Trojans (3-10), in a clean-sheet win, 6-0, in the second round of the MPSSAA 1A East Region I regionals to advance to the regional final and keep its perfect season intact.

“It was great that we were able to get in some of the girls that have been working year-round, that are at every training session, that are trying to get into games but there just haven’t been many games for them to get into,” said John Myers,

the Panthers’ head coach. “Scoring that early definitely got them a chance to get in there and show what they can do.”

Murrell’s rapid-fire score paved the way for yet another goal just two minutes later. That’s when Panthers junior Brooklynn Myers received a textbook crossing pass from Murrell herself and proceeded to pound a point-blank shot into the net for a 2-0 advantage just three minutes into the contest.

continued on B-4

Eagles sweep over North Harford

Lenz’s set-sealing kill was one of many for her in the win, racking up 10 kills in total on the night.

“I think it’s really my teammates, they put me in a really good position all of the time,” said Lenz of her ability to win points and make it look effortless. “And I just want to put away all of their hard work.”

In the second set, North Harford started strong, winning the first three points and eventually amassing a lead as large as seven, 114.

The set’s turning point, however, came just a couple of points later, when a long rally ensued between the two squads, which featured a few hard-fought digs from Holmes, the Eagles’ senior libero, who wouldn’t allow anything to get past her on the back row.

While the Eagles lost the point – won by the Hawks on a nice block at the net by Singh – the eye-popping saves by Holmes paired with the team chemistry and communication needed to pull off the lengthy rally appeared to give Bo Manor its confidence back.

“I think the players

that surround her really trust her,” Larmer said of Holmes.

“I’ve been a coach for her since she was in 8th grade and I’m like, ‘There’s things that you do that just amaze me.’ She’s fearless, she reads the game very well, so it’s not just luck and athleticism on her part, it’s her knowledge of the game.”

The Eagles went on to win 11 of the next 15 points – many of which came on mental mistakes by the Hawks – to tie it at 16 apiece.

“There were a few unforced errors on North Harford’s part that went our way and got us back into the game,” admitted Larmer. “I didn't feel like we were really controlling the game very much, but we did get back into control and I think that ultimately led to us winning the set.”

Bo Manor capitalized on their massive run, eventually taking a 19-18 lead on a return error by the Hawks.

North Harford retook the lead, 24-23, but Bo Manor won the next three points – capped off by a kill from Beck – to win the set, 26-24.

“I think it’s just our mental toughness,” said

Lenz. “We lost a recent starter, so we've been really working on staying strong because we know we can do it.”

The Eagles controlled most of the third set, getting some help from sophomore Kylee Bergman on back-to-back-to-back aces to take an early 6-3 lead.

Despite a comeback attempt midway through the set from the Hawks, cutting their deficit to just four points, 19-15, the Eagles pulled away late to finish off the 25-18 third-set victory and complete the 3-0 match sweep.

Even though the Eagles’ senior night was taking place just two nights later – when they downed Rising Sun, 3-1 – Larmer, who’s coached some of seven seniors since they were in 8th grade, was already feeling the emotions.

“They’ve been so special to me,” she said of her senior class. “These seven seniors have put in a lot of work to be where they are today and as impactful as they are. … They’re definitely going to be missed. I say that every year, but yeah, this is special, for sure.”

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Senior Night for Bohemia Manor Volleyball has a surprise twist

back and forth and it’s 1910. Then they do the coolest thing - they sub in the injured senior Raegan Lenz to serve. She fires one off and is forced to stand there as her team rally after it. The crowd goes crazy. 2414, 24-15, 25-15. The eagles dominate the first set.

Feeling pretty hot the girls crush the second a swift and decisive 25-12

Things look pretty bleak for the Tigers as we rolled into the third. 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, the tigers pull ahead

3-5. Next thing you know it’s 6-10, 9-12, 13-20. The eagles seem to be in trouble. 15-20, 19-22 bo manor is on the attack. Unbelievable the teams are tied up at 22 all, 23 all, 24 all 24-25. And then the battle torn eagles fall to the tigers 24-26 ,tragically, for our first loss of the night.

With things now at 2 - 1 going into the fourth set this is shaping up to be one of the best matches I’ve watch this season. These tigers came to fight and they clearly have their claws out.

By Josh Brown

Last night. I hear there was some kinda baseball game on or something. But the real action was at the Bo Manor gym.

Senior night and the last night of the regular season for Bo Manor volleyball. Their opponent, the Rising Sun tigers.

First up the JVers. Our eagles came out hot and in short order it was 129, but then the tigers buckled down and tied it at 16-16 but it was all for not as the Eagles win the first set 2519.

Motivated to win, the junior varsity girls took a commanding lead in the

second, starting out 8-0 and once again those tigers clawed their way back to tie 16-16. 21-20, 22-20, 2221,23-21, 23-22, 24-22 and spectacularly the eagles hit a deep backwards save from way back at the back line all the way over the net, right on the line for a photo-finish call and winning the set and the game 25-22

Not to be outdone, the seniors all get introduced, do the whole photos with their parents thing and the starting line up gets out there like they have something to prove. Things start out with some fast back and forth and quickly reach 3-3, next thing you know it’s 10-3. And few more volleys

Indians roll into playoffs with battle-tested experience.

Defeat Golden Elks 5-0 to advance to Semifinals

By Kevin Phillips

NORTH EAST-North East used the experience of playing in the Chesapeake Division of the UCBAC to help them prepare for the 1A Field Hockey State Tournament.

That battle-tested experience proved to be valuable as the fourth-seeded Indians controlled the tempo throughout and got a hat trick from Mallory Loveless en route to a 5-0 victory over Elkton in the first round of the 1A North-Region 1 tournament Thursday afternoon.

Set 4 and Bo starts out determined

1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 but the tigers are fierce and scrap back to 6-6.

6-7 and tigers slip ahead.

7-7 , 9-9, 10-9 bo pulls ahead 10-10, 11-11. 12-11 bo pulls ahead again 15-13, 20–15, 24-17, 24-18 the tigers are closing the gap. Can they bring us down again?

NO.

With a little too much gas on that last serve the lady Tigers fall 25-18 and the Eagles win 3 sets to 1 to close out the season. On to the playoffs.

“Since we are the only Cecil County team to be in the upper division, they have played really tough games,” North East head coach Kendie Sandridge said. “They are consistently being challenged. Our games are very challenging. We played Bel Air, North Harford and Fallston in a row, and in those games, they knew they had to be low, dodge and have a direct pass right away, carrying the ball out of the circle.”

With the tough schedule preparing them for powerful offenses, the Indians completely stymied the Golden Elks’ attack and limited any prolonged possession inside the scoring area around the net.

North East’s attack equaled its defensive prowess as they constantly possessed the ball and attacked the net with shots throughout the game, and Loveless paced the offense with three goals while Kelsey Jennings notched three assists.

Loveless put the Indians on the board midway through the first quar-

ter when she put in an Ava McMillian pass into the net, and the goal resulted from the run of play following a penalty corner.

“We had a corner, and I was on pads, so basically right in front of the goalie to put the ball in and hit it,” Loveless said of what happened on her first goal. “It just popped in front of me, and I was there.”

Brin Khanjar added to the North East’s lead less than three minutes into the second quarter when she placed a Jennings pass into the cage to make it 2-0, which remained the score heading into halftime.

Loveless scored twice in the third quarter, with 6:14 and 0:11 left on the clock respectively, to help the Indians put the game out

of reach, and Jennings assisted on both third quarter goals.

Maddison Squiterri capped the scoring with an unassisted goal in the final minute of the game to make it 5-0, and Sandridge says North East’s speed is a key to their offensive output.

“Our offense is very quick and very good at working together and moving together. That is very evident,” Sandridge explained. “That is a very good thing for us. It’s a strength.”

With the victory, the Indians will take on top-seeded Perryville on October 31 in the second round of the regional tournament.

Raegan Lenz surprises the crowd when she is put in for a serve during the Senior Night game.

Panthers inch closer to regional title with 6-0 blanking of Kent County

That was the goal that put Myers’ hat trick in motion, having scored two more goals at the start of the second half, the first of which came in the 42nd minute, when she used her footwork to make a Kent County defender miss and fired a shot toward the bottom-left corner of the net to increase the Panthers’ lead to 3-0.

“I’m really proud of her,” said John Myers, who’s also her dad. “She works really hard and she plays really well off of Sarah (Murrell). They’ve played with each other since they were little and they’re best friends outside of here, so it’s great to see them working together. I think Sarah had every one of the assists (on Brooklynn’s goals). … All they were talking about (afterward) was how they were going to celebrate, going to La Tolteca and everything like that, so it was great to see.”

In fact, the second half acted as a scoring party of sorts for the Panthers, who

added three more goals to their 2-0 halftime total — two by Brooklynn Myers, another by her twin sister, Hailey Myers, and one by freshman Peyton Geis.

Perryville’s offense refused to quit against the Trojans, tallying 18 shots on goal as the Panthers continuously peppered the net while simultaneously dominating possession.

On the flip side, the Trojans were unable to muster more than a single shot-on-goal in the loss, a credit to Perryville’s suffocating defense.

“That was our big thing today, we just wanted to possess the ball,” John Myers said. “We just wanted to pick our heads up and make those easy passes, those smart passes, because it’s going to be a lot tougher against Bo (Manor). … Our defense just works really hard off the ball and they communicate really, really well.”

Putting up a clean sheet begins to look even more impressive when you realize that their typical goalkeeper,

sophomore Sarah Cantrell, was out with a concussion, leaving freshman Willow Morgen to handle goalkeeping duties in a win-or-gohome playoff scenario.

She may not have had to deal with many shots coming her way, but simply standing strong in net during a clean-sheet playoff win is a feat all on its own.

“Willow Morgen stepped in tonight without missing a beat,” John Myers said. “She was super nervous coming into it, but she was ready. She trained really well this week and got in and did what she had to do.”

“She knows we all love her and everything,” added Brooklynn Myers. “She was excited and she was doing really well at practice, so everybody was happy for her.”

But, this win was also a great opportunity for Perryville to provide some reps for its typical bench players, many of which are freshmen and sophomores that are preparing to take over the team in the next couple of years, especially once this

year’s strong junior class graduates in 2024.

“We love (scoring fast) because then, players that normally don’t play that much can get in faster,” said Brooklynn Myers. “It’s one of my favorite parts of the game, cheering (the players) on that usually don’t play that much.”

Up next for the Panthers is a rematch with the Bo Manor Eagles (7-5) on Tuesday with the regional title on the line. Perryville beat Bo Manor, 4-2, in a home game on Sept. 28.

It’ll be a rematch of last year’s regional final, where the Eagles earned a 4-1 upset win over the Panthers to snag the regional title.

“I’ve been watching tape of Bo all week long and they’re really, really good,” said John Myers. “The defense is going to have to step up again and we’re just going to have to start early, exactly like we did against Rising Sun. Start early and don’t give up the rest of the game.”

Harford Tech capitalizes on two late goals, upsets Tigers in 2nd round

By Victor Hensley

RISING SUN, MD - Midway

through the second half of a Rising Sun-Harford Tech grudge match last Friday, Cobras junior Cali Parsons saw an opportunity to break the scoreless tie – and that she did.

She stepped up into the top of the penalty area, took control of a wobbly crossing pass and lofted a high shot just low enough to sneak under the crossbar, but just high enough to soar over the head of Tigers goalkeeper Jordan Lynch, dropping into the net and giving Harford Tech a much-needed 1-0 advantage.

No. 4 seeded Harford Tech would go on to upset No. 1 Rising Sun, 2-0, in the second round of the MPSSAA 2A East Region I regionals on the road in a game in which the Tigers failed to connect on any of their offensive chances, despite hammering Cobras goalkeeper Abi Marcello with shots all game long.

“They got the better of us in the score line, but I think we outplayed them today,” said John Hartnett, the Tigers’ head coach, after the loss. “We had more possessions, we had more

shots and we created more opportunities, but their goalie’s really good. They do a good job, they have a nice coaching staff and they’re a good squad, but I’m proud of the way our girls played today.”

Down the stretch, the Tigers created more scoring opportunities than the Cobras, compiling five shots-on-goal to Harford Tech’s four in the second half.

However, it was the Cobras’ back line, along with a fearless game from Marcello, that kept the Tigers out of the net and off the board.

“Rising Sun is so good and they're so tough. They battled really hard and I think they made us step up our game a little bit,” said Matt Berg, the Cobras’ head coach. “(Marcello) had, what, four one-on-ones today? You’re supposed to score on one-on-ones. She’s so smart, she’s just so unafraid of putting her body on the line, getting to the ground and blocking as much of the goal as possible. … She’s so good.”

The Tigers’ defense – including Lynch in goal –also had a masterful day, keeping the Cobras from

putting together too many meaningful offensive possessions.

But, with the few that it did have, Harford Tech made sure to capitalize on them. That includes Parsons’ goal in the 57th minute, which acted as a huge sigh of relief for the Cobras, who defeated the No. 5 Elkton Golden Elks by a 1-0 score just two days earlier.

“(Parsons) was in the right spot at the right time, it was a great outside-of-the-foot touch off of a kind of sloppy, but effective, cross,” Berg said with a laugh. “I guess that made Rising Sun push forward a bit more than they’d have to because it's winor-go-home, so maybe that opened up a bit more for us in the back and we could take advantage of what Rising Sun now had to do.”

Rising Sun had plenty of athletes playing with passion, striving to find an answer to Parsons’ goahead goal, including senior midfielder Laney Eyman and sophomore forward Cameron Mink, but the Tigers simply couldn’t get any of their shots to fall in what was a frustrating afternoon offensively.

Then, with about three minutes left to play, Cobras senior Eve Hamilton took a chance on a deep shot, letting it fly as it proceeded to find the left corner of the net and act as the dagger in the Tigers’ season.

“It was just a sigh of relief,” said Marcello when asked about Hamilton’s goal. “We were up by two, so it’s a little less stressful. With five minutes left, it’s possible to score two goals, but on me, it’s unlikely.”

After the game, a rush of emotion flooded the Rising Sun sideline as the loss sunk in for the tight-knit Tigers.

That includes Hartnett, who praised this year’s trio of seniors – Eyman, Paige Mackie and Carley McCardell – for their hard work.

“They had a wonderful season,” Hartnett said of his seniors. “They’re a great group of kids. They work hard, they work for each other. There’s not much more you can ask for. … They’re going to be missed. I’ve been coaching them since their freshman year and I’ll definitely miss them. It’s an awesome group. Irreplaceable.”

photos by Duane Goldsmith

‘I’m so thankful’: Golden Elks stun Indians in penalty kicks to advance to 2nd round

By Victor Henlsey

NORTH EAST - As Elkton’s

Trey Givens stepped into position with the entire season resting on his shoulders, the stadium behind him was silent.

The once raucous home crowd waited in nervous anticipation, while the visitors refused to make a peep for fear of throwing Givens off his game.

Once the official blew his whistle, Givens wasted no time inching forward, taking control of the ball and propelling it into the right-center of the net, directly past North East goalkeeper Gavin Hawley.

Mere seconds after the Golden Elks’ freshman drilled the biggest kick of his career, he turned to face his teammates, who were already sprinting towards him in a fit of pure elation as the celebration began.

Givens’ goal, which came on a penalty kick in the fifth spot, lifted Elkton (37) to an upset win over North East (6-6-1) in the opening round of the MPSSAA 2A East Region I regionals. The Golden Elks secured a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks to catapult them to the 3-2 victory.

“I said we were either going to look really good or go down in flames as coaches not really knowing what they’re doing because we trusted a freshman in the five spot,” said Andrew Fetterolf, the Golden Elks’ head coach. “Just the confidence he has in front of goal, we knew he had to be in the five spot. And, most of the time, it doesn’t even come down to the five spot. … I mean, to have a freshman in the five spot and for him to step up and hit a penalty like that to win it, it’s crazy.”

However, the journey to get to Givens’ season-saving penalty kick was an ancient epic on its own.

After playing 100 minutes of soccer – 80 minutes of regulation along with two 10-minute overtime periods – the game was still knotted up, 2-2, sending it to penalty kicks with each team’s season hanging in the balance.

And, for a moment, it appeared that the Indians were going to take it home.

North East drilled its first three penalties on the backs of junior Grant Morris, senior Garrett Cudmore and senior Corey O’Connell, winding up with a 3-2 advantage with just two attempts to go after Elkton sophomore Omar Villegas-Ponce hit a shot that sailed over the net in the two spot.

But, when the Golden Elks were forced to get a stop, junior goalkeeper Matthew Destefano delivered.

He proceeded to earn back-to-back diving saves in the four and five spots, knocking away shots from Indians’ senior Darwin Berger and sophomore Greg Kosinski – while Elkton junior Evan Michalak hit his in the four slot – to set up Givens’ score-and-advance scenario.

“I just had to keep a clean mindset, keep it calm, collected and look at the player, figure them out and just go for it,” said Destefano on his thought process during the last couple of penalty kicks. “I didn’t do too hot on the first three, but usually, a lot of people say to look at (opposing players’) eyes, but it’s really not in the eyes, it’s more in the hips.”

Then, with him acting as the potential goahead scorer, Givens drilled the dagger that sent the Golden Elks to the second round.

And yet, despite all of the pressure, he said he was oddly calm as he stepped in front of Hawley in net.

“In my mind, it was either I make it or I miss it, and whatever happens, I was just going to look back, and I was hoping I’d look back and it’s great, so I got what I hoped for,” Givens said. “It's been a stressful season. We were 2-7, came here and won our first playoff game. I'm really happy.”

“I was so happy, then I started crying,” added Destefano with a laugh when asked about Givens’ game-winner. “It was just amazing. I’m so thankful Trey put that in.”

While North East came out on the losing end of Givens’ goal, the Indians deserve some credit for battling back to force overtime in the first place.

In what would be a back-and-forth first half, Elkton flipped the game on its head in the 28th minute.

The Golden Elks opened up the scoring with a point-blank goal from senior Justin Kirk, who easily plastered the ball onto the top shelf of the net off of a lofty pass from sophomore Jacob Cline for a 1-0 lead.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Elkton got another just 26 seconds later when Givens slotted a shot to the right portion of the net, wasting no time giving his squad a 2-0 advantage as it looked to be hitting its stride at the perfect time.

North East managed to get on the board four minutes later, in the

32nd minute, when Cudmore rocketed a 30-yard free kick into the left of the net to make it 2-1 Elkton and give the Indians some life.

“We’ve talked about it all year, we start slow, and we didn’t play well,” admitted David Hamilton, the Indians’ head coach, when asked about the first half.

“We were slow out of the gate, we were slow passing, we were slow moving, there was no desire. Normally, in a playoff game, you don't have to get the boys going, but they didn’t start.”

Hamilton’s halftime speech must’ve fired the Indians up, though, as they tied things just eight minutes into the second half, with O’Connell booting another long shot past Destefano and into the top-left portion of the net, making it 2-2.

The final 30 minutes would feature way more opportunities for North East –

which controlled possession for most of the half – than Elkton, but in the 67th minute, the Golden Elks nearly ended things when senior Michael Marra had a breakaway opportunity.

Marra found himself staring at an empty net after fighting past Hawley, who came out of net in an attempt to knock the ball away. He slapped a shot toward the goal, clanging it off of the post before getting his own rebound and sending a header sailing over the crossbar on two missed opportunities that could’ve given Elkton a late lead.

North East was never able to capitalize on their offensive possessions, however, getting shots off that were either a little too wide or saved perfectly by Destefano as the Golden Elks’ defense held strong.

“Evan Michalak, I don't know what we would do if we

didn't have him. I mean, he's saved us so many times in so many games,” said Fetterolf when asked about his defense’s performance. “I just feel like he came up big. … But, the person to really talk about is, we started Gavin Berry at outside back. He hasn't played outside back all season. … I don’t think he lost a challenge the whole game, which is insane, it’s 100 minutes of soccer.”

In the end, the defensive battle between the Indians and Golden Elks forced the penalty kick faceoff, where Givens and Destefano etched themselves into Elkton history and launched them into the second round.

The No. 5 Elkton Golden Elks went on to face the No. 1 seeded North Harford Hawks (9-2-1) on Saturday but were eliminated from the playoffs.

photos by Jessica Peace

NORTH EAST CHEER WINS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

Rising Sun Tigers and North East Indians compete at the UCBAC Cheer Championships at Harford Tech High School

RISING SUN VOLLEYBALL SENIOR NIGHT