Cecil County Sports Weekly Vol 2 Issue 43

SPORTS

TOME TITANS RECLAIM CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

By Kevin Phillips

NORTH EAST–One year

after losing the Mid-Atlantic League championship game to Tri-State Chrisitan Academy, the Tome School looked to reverse the results in the 2022 edition of the title game against the Crusaders.

The Titans used the

momentum created by a close victory in the first set to sweep (25-23, 25-17, 2519) Tri-State and win another MIL championship Saturday night at Cecil College.

“Last year was tough when we lost. As the lone senior, it means so much to be just because it was my comeback year, and it’s how I’m leaving the school with

an MIL win,” Tome’s Alivia Carillo said. “I’m really excited to represent the school in that way, and it was great to play along with my sister (Ainsley Carrillo), it was my first and last year with her. It was great. I think winning the MIL was due to a lot of hustle and effort as a team.”

Tri-State and Tome engaged in a back-and-forth

first set in which there were seven ties, and at one point, the Titans trailed 13-8 before surging to a 21-17 lead late in the frame.

The Crusaders rallied to tie it at 23-23 before Tome scored two straight points on blocks to win the set 25-23 and take a 1-0 lead in the match, and Titan head coach Chris Spencer

says winning those final two points in the first set was critical for the remainder of the match.

“That was huge. That set the tone for the rest of the match. You want to win that first one and put them on their heels a little bit,” Spencer, who won his 100th game at Tome, said. “I couldn’t believe we took it.

I thought it was a little touch and go.” The Titans led the second game from the start and took firm control of the frame with ten answered points to build an 18-7 lead before holding off a late surge from the Crusaders en route to a 25-17 victory continued on B-3

photos by Susan Burkholder

Golden Elks sweat out close win over Vikings in 1st round

By Victor Hensley

ELKTON - Not every win is glamorous.

Sometimes, despite losing the turnover battle, scoring single-digit points and shooting yourself in the foot with penalty after penalty, you still find a way to get the job done.

And in the wise words of Matt Feeney: a win is still a win.

That was the message Feeney, Elkton’s head coach, delivered to the Golden Elks (5-5) last Friday in their narrow 7-6 victory over the Cambridge-South Dorchester Vikings (4-6) in the opening round of the MPSSAA 2A-1A playoffs.

“We were our own worst enemy tonight, truly,” Feeney said after his team escaped with the win over the

Vikings. “That’s a good, athletic football team and they’ve got some guys over there, but we shot ourselves in the foot too many times. That game shouldn’t have been as close as it was, in my opinion. … We should’ve had it in hand, but it is what it is. We persevered, so that’s what matters.”

When it comes to self-inflicted wounds, Feeney hit the nail on the head.

The Golden Elks likely should’ve – and would’ve –won by double digits, but a few ill-advised penalties wiped out a pair of potential game-changing scores, which prevented Elkton from breaking the game wide open.

Just before the half, Elkton senior quarterback Eli Latshaw found junior wide recontinued on A-6

photos by Duane Goldsmith

Panthers trounce Kent County behind

Ayers’ 3 TDs, advance to 2nd round

By Victor Hensley

PERRYVILLE - Of all the teams entering the postseason last week, few were on as steep of an upward trajectory as Perryville, having won its previous two games by a combined score of 61-0 to earn the region’s No. 3 seed.

And, building off of that momentum, it took just one half for the Panthers to prove why they deserve a shot at a state title.

Perryville (6-4) proceeded to wallop the visiting Kent County Trojans (3-7) last Friday by putting up 44 points in the first half en route to an eventual 44-14 victory in the opening round of the MPSSAA 1A playoffs.

“I told the kids, I was like, ‘We’ve got two choices we can make this week,’” said Sean Sandora, the Panthers’ head coach, after the blowout win. “‘We continued on

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

CECIL COUNTY SPORTS WEEKLY

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 43

November 8, 2022

PUBLISHERS:

Sam Dixon

Duane Goldsmith

Natalie Goldsmith

MANAGING EDITOR/ SPORTS EDITOR:

Sam Dixon cecilcountysportsblog@gmail.com

717-538-0843

PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Becky Young

Duane Goldsmith

Jacki Taylor

Karina Serio

Natalie Goldsmith

Sam Dixon

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WRITERS:

Andrew Barbin

Heather Dotson

Karina Serio

Kevin Phillips

Megan Steimer

Sam Dixon

Scott Serio

Victor Hensley

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MAILING ADDRESS: Cecil County Sports Blog, LLC.

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Copyright 2021-2022.

DYLAN SAYER

PERRYVILLE PANTHERS SOCCER SOPHOMORE

Perryville Sophomore Dylan Sayer played a key role in getting the Panthers through the Regional Playoffs and into the State Semifinals this week.

Sayer was part of a Perryville offense that tortured the Saints in the win, registering 11 quality shots as the Panthers retained possession for most of the match.

A large contributor to Perryville’s offensive showcase, however, was Sayer’ speed, which St. Michaels had no shot of containing as he looked to be able to score at-will.

ALIVIA CARILLO

Tome Senior Alivia

“Liv’s

won’t

again for a long time. She gave

that

all out effort on every single point. Her desire to win and her love of her teammates and Tome School elevated everyone when they needed it most. She’s had an amazing volleyball career and l’ve said that even though she’s the only senior on the team that it’s going to feel like we lost four.”

High School Varsity Football Regular Season Standings

SPORTS SCHEDULE Nov 7 - Nov 12:

VOLLEYBALL

October 31

(8) FCA 2 (7) WNA 3

W: R. Ramadan 1 block, 4 kills R. Bass 8 aces C. Bienkowski 5 aces, 2 digs J. Odige 1 ace, 6 kills November 1 MIL Quarterfinals

(5)

High-flying Eagles soar past Surrattsville, 57-21, in playoff opener

By Victor Hensley

CHESAPEAKE CITY - It’d been nearly a month since Bo Manor found itself in the win column, with the Eagles having been slowed down by injuries that limited them against some of their toughest competition of the year.

However, last Friday, with the season on the line, the Eagles returned to form.

Bo Manor (6-4) snapped its three-game losing skid with a dominant 57-21 victory over the Surrattsville Hornets (4-6) in the opening round of the MPSSAA 1A playoffs that featured the Eagles having their most complete game of the season.

“We needed a good week of practice and we needed to refocus and throw last Friday out of the window,” said Vince Ricci, the Eagles’ head coach, referring to his team’s 37-0 loss to Perryville the week before. “The kids bought into that and they had a really good game on Friday and came out with a lot of energy.”

This was the first full game back for Eagles starting quarterback Angel Granado, who had been nursing a shoulder injury

since early October, and he absolutely flourished.

Granado was 14for-16 (88%) for 248 yards and three touchdowns, adding 45 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries on the ground as he carved up the Hornets’ defense in a multitude of ways.

“For a first game back, we couldn’t really ask for anything more,” Ricci said of his starting quarterback. “For his only two incompletions, one got batted at the line of scrimmage and the other was a drop, so realistically, he could have been 100%.”

Granado’s return –along with his near-perfect passing day – allowed the Eagles to get their running game going, which the team leaned on for most of the night.

On the very first drive, Bo Manor ran it down Surrattsville’s throat, going up 7-0 as the Hornets struggled to stop anything coming their way.

“For the first time in a while, we got our ground game going,” Ricci said. “To no one’s surprise, when we get our ground game going, we’re a heck of a lot better offense and we can play play-action off of that. … We knew it was going to be a re-

ally good night for us and we established that on the first drive. Our first drive lasted seven minutes and we kind of just went right down the field – run, run, run, run, run – and it just got easier from there.”

The Eagles totaled 267 yards on the ground, with Matt Nichols handling the brunt of the work, carrying the ball 11 times for 162 yards (14.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown, while Jake Koehler carried it eight times for 36 yards.

“Once Matt kind of got going, it’s hard to take the ball out of his hands,” Ricci said. “Matt went in there and broke one, and it was like, ‘All right, let’s see what he can do on the second carry,’ he breaks one, and it’s like, ‘All right, let’s get him a third carry.’ You just kind of ride the hot horse there and Jake was over there encouraging it, so we just stuck with it.”

Defensively, Bo Manor racked up three interceptions on the day, with Koehler being responsible for two of them and Nate Fleming having one of his own.

At the half, the Eagles were in full control, leading 43-13.

In total, seven dif-

ferent players reached the end zone for the Eagles, including Granado, Nichols, Deaven Jones (6 carries, 85 yards, TD), Ayden Frost (3 carries, 8 yards, TD), Drew Lenz (1 catch, 6 yards, TD), Chris Harris (1 catch, 5 yards, TD) and Gunnar Preston (2 carries, 9 yards, TD).

Bo Manor tacked on a couple of scores in the second half, too, to cap off its offensive showcase and seal the 57-21 win.

“I would just say that’s the monkey off the back,” Ricci said of his team snapping its three-game skid. “The kids were very excited after the game and it felt really good. And we felt it going into halftime, when the kids were really excited and they were having a good time with music going. The last three halftimes, it’s been, ‘All right, we’ve got to get in there and adjust and see what we can do.’ But this week, it was like we were finally back to being ourselves and having a little bit of a swagger back to us.”

This week, the Eagles will travel to play the Colonel Richardson Colonels (7-3) in the second round of the 1A playoffs.

photos by Deb Koehler

Indians blanked by Harford Tech, eliminated from postseason

By Victor Hensley

BEL AIR - There’s no real way to sugarcoat it – North East ran into a brick wall in its playoff opener.

The Indians (1-9) were tasked with facing off against the speedy, physical Harford Tech Cobras (6-4) in the first round of the MPSSAA 2A-1A playoffs, a matchup that ended with North East suffering a shutout loss, 36-0.

“They have multiple playmakers, man,” said Taylor Slaughenhoupt, the Indians’ head coach, following the loss. “There’s three or four guys that anytime they touch the ball, they can take it to the house, so if you don’t do your job, especially on defense, they’ll make you pay. We did a decent job of keeping them in check, but

they got a couple of big plays and took advantage of it.”

While the Indians’ defense managed to force punts on back-to-back drives to start the game –leading to just a 7-0 deficit after the first quarter – a variety of mistakes and missteps would eventually catch up to them, with the Cobras hopping out to a 30-0 lead by halftime.

North East was without its starting quarterback, Luke Keefer, in the loss, who tweaked his ankle in the regular season finale against Rising Sun.

Taking on a team as talented as Harford Tech without your starting quarterback is a recipe for a rough night. And the Indians felt it.

In the second half,

North East’s defense improved significantly, holding Harford Tech to just a single score in the fourth quarter. But with the offense being unable to move the ball, the Indians were simply in too deep of a hole to climb out of.

Despite the Indians finishing the season with a 1-9 record, Slaughenhoupt expressed hope for the future of the program after his second full season as the team’s head coach.

“Although the results weren’t what we wanted this year, I would go to war with all 30 of those guys and the coaches any day of the week,” he said. “We talk about it all the time: lay your brick. We’re setting out to build a solid program that contends for championships and it’s a slow process. And

we have to trust that process.” This year, North East’s J.V. team finished with an 8-1 record, a sign that there are plenty of players that can help the Indians contend next season once they move up to varsity. That, paired with the fact that Slaughenhoupt sounds hopeful for the sophomores and juniors returning next year, leaves plenty of reason to be excited about what’s to come. “We have two solid layers of brick in the ground,” Slaughenhoupt said. “Now, we’re going to continue to build on it and continue to lay a brick every day. … The potential is there, our ability is there. Now, let’s go work on it, improve on it and do what we’re capable of doing.”

‘We persevered’: Golden Elks sweat out close win over Vikings in 1st round

ceiver Kyle Jackson down the left sideline for a perfectly executed 85-yard touchdown play that featured Latshaw hitting Jackson in stride as he sped toward the end zone, which would’ve given the Golden Elks a two-score halftime lead.

But, instead, the play was called back on an ineligible receiver downfield penalty – the very same penalty that negated a 28-yard touchdown pass from Latshaw to senior Isaiah Huffstutler on the opening drive of the third quarter.

“That was a tough win, it was a real tough win,” Huffstutler said. “On offense, it’s mental mistakes. … We had a couple of stupid penalties, but at the same time, we held them to six points. And that’s a team that can score.”

In total, the Golden Elks racked up 309 total yards on the evening while running up-tempo all game, but had

eight of their 14 drives end in either a forced turnover or a turnover on downs.

In short, Elkton struggled mightily to move the football – or, at least, to cap off some of its longer drives with points.

However, thanks to a strong defensive effort, Cambridge-South Dorchester struggled just a tad more. And, in the end, it all came down to a single extra point.

On the Vikings’ end, they totaled just 160 yards in the loss, with six of their 12 drives ending in either a turnover or turnover on downs, while also adding four three-and-outs in a game that saw their offense routinely fold under the Golden Elks’ pressure.

“That’s what we build off of, just each other’s energy,” said Huffstutler, who plays both wide receiver and defensive back. “I don’t want to stop. It’s my senior year, my last year,

and I don’t want to go home and say, ‘What could I have done better?’ so, my team, I just asked them one simple question, ‘I don’t want to go home. Do you guys?’ and they didn’t want to go home. … We did our best, fought hard and that was just a good game of football.”

Elkton got on the board first with 11:13 to play in the second quarter, when Latshaw found sophomore wide receiver DJ Piner wide open in the middle of the field for a 27yard touchdown.

Piner, one of the team’s young cornerstones, strode into the end zone all alone after getting behind the Vikings’ defense for his sixth touchdown of the year.

“A lot of seniors would be like, ‘Wow, that should’ve been me,’” said Huffstutler. “No, dude, I’m running down the field screaming, waving my arms. I’m saying, ‘That’s my kid.’ I love that kid. DJ, I hold that kid to my

heart and I hope he goes really far.”

It would be the only score of the night for Latshaw and the Golden Elks, who threw for 193 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in the win.

It may not have been the prettiest game for the senior starting quarterback, who had a couple of costly mistakes, but again, a win is a win.

“He’s not the biggest guy, he’s not the fastest guy, he’s not the strongest guy, but he’s got guts and he cares,” Feeney said when asked about Latshaw. “That passion is sometimes all you need to move a football team up and down the field. I know that he wants to win as much as anybody on this football team. We put him in spots, he makes plays and he does what he does.”

Things got shaky for the Golden Elks in the third quarter when, after a three-

and-out by Elkton’s offense, the Vikings needed just one play to reach the end zone.

On that single play, sophomore wide receiver Anthony Hughes received a short shovel pass from senior quarterback Talan Middleton, who shifted his way past Elkton’s defenders and took it 46 yards to the house, making it 7-6 pending the game-tying extra point.

But, in a lucky turn of events for the Golden Elks, the Vikings missed the point-after attempt, leaving Elkton in charge with just 14 minutes to play.

And, despite a hiccup here and there, the Golden Elks’ defense continued to play superbly throughout the fourth quarter, holding the Vikings to just 24 total yards in their final three possessions to seal the first-round win.

Now, with Cambridge-South Dorchester under their belts, the Golden Elks will

pay a visit to the Rising Sun to play the Tigers (6-3) in the second round of the 2A-1A playoffs this Friday.

In the two teams’ first matchup this season, which came in the season-opener on Sept. 2, Elkton downed Rising Sun by a narrow margin, 40-38. The Golden Elks also knocked the Tigers out of the playoffs in the first round last year, 58-40, and haven’t lost to their cross-county foes in years. “It always is (a heated battle),” Feeney said of his upcoming date with the Tigers. “I think the last three contests, we’ve collectively scored over 80 points. There’s been no defense. It’s the opposite of this (game tonight). So, if we don’t show up offensively next week, we might be in for a long night. But I trust my guys. We’re going to put together a defensive plan that we feel confident in and it’s going to be a battle.”

continued from A-1

photos by Susan Burkholder

Panthers trounce Kent County behind Ayers’ 3 TDs,

can either have a meeting on Monday to turn in your equipment, or have a meeting on Monday to scout our next opponent.’ And that was a direct message I sent to the kids at the pregame meal and they came out and executed.”

From the jump, the Panthers were firing on all cylinders.

After the Trojans’ first drive was cut short by an interception from Panthers senior defensive back Jaiden Proctor, it took just a single play for Perryville’s skill-position players – a couple of which had a huge night – to kick off the scoring parade.

On the first offensive play of the night for the Panthers, Ethen Gunter, the team’s star junior running back, proceeded to take the handoff 41 yards to the house, giving Perryville an almost immediate 7-0 lead.

Then, just two offensive plays later, he did it again, scoring on a 38-yard run on the team’s third offensive play of the evening.

Gunter carried the ball just five times for a whopping 96 yards – a mind-boggling 19.2 yards

per carry – and two touchdowns in the win, a stellar performance given he and most of the team’s starters didn’t touch the field in the second half.

While Gunter had one of his best games of the year, the star of last Friday’s postseason opener was senior jack-of-all-trades Zack Ayers, who scored three times in three different ways.

After junior quarterback Ty Patchell threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Proctor to make it 21-0 in the second quarter, Patchell came back again on the next possession and fired off a beautifully executed 81-yard touchdown pass to Ayers, who used his speed to get behind the entirety of Kent County’s defense to score.

Then, on the following Panthers drive, Ayers scored again, but this time on a 13-yard run that featured him weaving his way through his blocks as he found the right corner of the end zone to make it 35-0 Perryville.

On the ensuing Kent County possession, Perryville’s defense forced a safety to make it 37-0, which loomed even larger

when Ayers returned the Trojans’ kickoff for a touchdown on the next play, breaking a couple of tackles en route to a footrace to the end zone.

In total, Ayers racked up 140 yards of total offense (5 carries for 45 yards; 2 catches for 95 yards) and scored three touchdowns in the win.

But perhaps even more impressive, Ayers took his versatility to the next level, going 6-for-6 on PATs and having a perfect night as both the team’s kicker and punter.

“Ethen has kind of been the focal point of the offense since the Edgewood game, but when they tried to zero in and load the box to stop Ethen,” Sandora explained, “it gave Zack an opportunity to get on the perimeter with Jet. … He’s got all of the explosiveness and the talent in the world.”

The Trojans scored twice in the second half as the Panthers allowed some of their younger players to get some reps, but it was much too little, much too late, as Perryville cruised to the 30-point win.

With the victory, Perryville moves on to visit the Green Street Academy

Chargers (4-3) this week, where it’ll play with a state quarterfinal spot on the line in its first road game since Sept. 30.

“I feel like our team is more mature than it was the last time we traveled,” Sandora said. “We’ve just got to continue to dominate the line of scrimmage. We’ve got to displace people and get some running lanes for Ethen so he can get going. And then when they give us some one-on-one matchups on the outside, beat our man and make the throw and catch.”

photos by Duane Goldsmith

continued from A-1

REDEMPTION: Panthers blank Eagles, 3-0, to bring regional title back to Perryville

By Victor Hensley

PERRYVILLE - As the seasons change, some things stay the same.

In particular, the perfection of Perryville’s women’s soccer team.

Despite the calendar rolling over to November, the Panthers continued

doing what they did in each of the previous two months: win, win, win.

That continued when the Panthers (14-0) earned a 3-0 victory over the Bo Manor Eagles (8-6) last Tuesday in the MPSSAA 1A East Region I final as they avenged last season’s defeat, bringing the regional

title back to Perryville. “It feels awesome (to be regional champions),” said Sarah Cantrell, the Panthers’ sophomore goalkeeper that was playing her first game back after suffering a concussion a couple of weeks ago. “We have this group of girls that, since middle school, we’ve been

dominant in the county. And, this year, I was so glad it happened again. To know that we’re going on past regionals with this awesome group of girls, I’m just so excited.”

A year ago, Perryville suffered a stunning defeat on its home field to Bo Manor in the regional

title matchup, 4-1, a feeling that many of the players on this year’s squad remember all too well.

“Last year, we were 7-3, had a good year and then to come here and have them beat us on our home field, that’s a feeling I know none of them wanted to (have again),” said John

Myers, the Panthers’ head coach, after the win. “The girls really wanted to come out here and not let [senior] Kylie [Narvell] go home with this being her last game.” But, once the Panthers drew first blood in the 26th minute, it was clear ancontinued on B-4

FIELD HOCKEY PLAYOFFS HAD EVERYONE OUT ON HALLOWEEN. SEE GAME PHOTOS ON B-6

14 CECIL RUNNERS GOING TO CROSS COUNTRY STATE FINALS THIS WEEK. SEE B-8

Crusaders Knock Off Avon Grove for a Trip to the MIL Championship

By Megan Steimer

ELKTON - After splitting the regular season match ups, there was no telling what outcome would take place when the second seed TriState Crusaders hosted the third seed Avon Grove Wolves in the Mid-Atlantic Independent League semifinals Thursday evening. Each team captured a win on the road during the regular season, taking the term home field advantage out of the equation. Consequently, Tri-State came away with a huge playoff win in front of the home crowd– defeating Avon Grove 18-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-20 and sending them to the MIL Championship game.

It was a rocky start for the Crusaders in game one as the Wolves generated multiple service runs to strengthen their lead in the set. There were brief periods of momentum from Tri-State though, including a double block from seniors Hope Pfadt and Jules Harris and then again from Etta Harris and Baylie Thomas to bring Tri-State within five before falling 0-1 in the

match. “We were struggling to gel and missing some hitters, so it put us in a little rut,” said Jules Harris, “After that, we finally came together.” Indeed, they did as Pfadt, Thomas, and Jules all recorded kills early in set two, including a monster kill at the net from Jules after an Avon Grove passing mistake found the ball directly over the net for the taking. Moments later, sister Etta crushed the ball out of the middle to put the Crusaders up 18-8, sending the crowd into a thunderous applaud and forcing Avon Grove to take a timeout. Senior Ashlyn Criddle’s versatility shined in the final moments of game two, knocking in a kill from the outside to put her team up 21-11 and again from the offside to win set two 25-13. “I think our mistakes got the best of us in game one, but I feel like we all recognized and understood that. We fixed it immediately and came back in game two” said Criddle. Tri-State established another strong start in set three, jumping out to massive 20-6 lead over the Wolves, only needing five

more points to put game three away. Avon Grove would not go down so easily however, as the lingering memories of set one became a reality once again when the Wolves went on an eight-point service run to cut the lead from fourteen to six. However, the Harris sisters put an immediate stop to the growing momentum of their opponent as Etta knocked in a kill followed by an ace at the service line to put her team up 23-15 before older sister Jules recorded a kill from the outside enroute to a game three win to go up 2-1 on the Wolves. “We played some tough teams when we were in Tennessee, and I think that helped us tonight when we started to slip. We learned to get out of our own heads and go back to playing together” Jules noted, “This is the best we’ve played all year.” Thomas heated up in game four, recording a couple of kills and an ace to give the Crusaders a comfortable 16-8 lead but Avon Grove again pushed back, cutting the lead to just three and forcing Tri-State to call a time out. Tied up at nine-

teen, the idea of a fifth set was looking more like a reality. Crusaders’ Savannah Henry stepped up to the service line and knocked in three crucial service points, including an ace to bring her team within two before Tri-State secured a 25-20 set four win and a trip back to the MIL Championship. “We knew what we were capable of” said Pfadt, “I’m just so grateful for this team, we wanted this win bad. Tonight, we gave it all we got.”

Etta Harris led the offense with a team high nine kills to go with her three aces followed by Jules Harris with eight kills. Baylie Thomas led the defense with 17 digs along with three aces and five kills while Ashlyn Criddle recorded seven kills. Katie Ekendorf dished out 11 assists and logged eight digs for the Crusaders. With the victory, Tri-State moves on to face a familiar county foe, the Tome Titans, in a much-anticipated rematch of the 2021 MIL Championship. While the Crusaders are the defending champs, Tome came away with 3-1 victories in both regular season match ups.

TOME TITANS RECLAIM CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

continued from A-1

and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third and final game was close for the majority of the frame as the teams were tied at 17-17, but the Titans closed the set on a 8-2 run to win 2519 and complete the sweep, clinching another MIL title.

“It means everything. It’s everything. It’s something we’ve been working for all year to make this goal,” Tome’s Ainsley Carrillo said, “It’s so exciting to be a freshman and be on the championship team, especially after losing last year.”

The Crusaders fell just short of repeating as conference champions, but head coach Andy Mussaw says he enjoyed his first year as coach.

“It was definitely interesting taking over on a team that just came off winning the championship. It was a lot of pressure on me as a coach, and there was a lot of pressure on the kids,” Mussaw said. “I think they felt that pressure at the beginning of the season, and they realized they needed to step it up. … We had a great season. I wish it didn’t end the way it did, but it was a lot of fun.”

REDEMPTION: Panthers blank Eagles, 3-0,

other upset loss wasn’t an option.

After nearly 30 minutes of scoreless soccer — where strong play in net by both Cantrell and Eagles’ goalkeeper Mickey Mills reigned supreme — Perryville got a miracle from junior Kamryn Marcinkevich.

On one of the Panthers’ few first-half scoring chances, Marcinkevich took control of the ball near the 30-yard-line, where she proceeded to snipe a shot with precision into the top of the net, giving her team a 1-0 lead as the first half clock ticked down.

“She has a great foot,” said Sarah Murrell, one of the Panthers’ steadfast juniors. “We told her before the game, ‘If you get an open lane, just shoot it,’ and she did just that and it went in.”

Once Perryville had its lead, its defense took it to another level. From that point forward, the Eagles registered just a single quality shot for the game’s final 50 minutes.

It was a defensive effort aided by just about everyone.

Cantrell in net was superb and the back line was strong as the Panthers controlled possession, interrupted passing lanes and refused to give the Eagles a clean look at the net.

“We knew with the sun, Sarah Cantrell was really big on telling them, ‘Hey, I have the sun in my eyes, let’s not give up any shots (in the second half),’ so, at half, we talked about limiting all of the shots,” Myers said. “I didn’t think we were going to go pretty much with zero quality shots, but that’s what we did. Our defense, with Ella [Schwacke], Hai-

ley [Myers], Maddie Caine steps in there, Macy [Forest] stepped to the back, Justina [Radcliff], those girls are just amazing.”

In the 51st minute, Perryville junior Brooklynn Myers was bumped a little too hard in the penalty area as she attempted a shot that was ultimately wide left, leading to a penalty kick opportunity for the Panthers.

Murrell was the one slated to take the shot, so she calmly stepped up to the penalty spot, stared down Mills in net and fired a hard-hit shot into the right corner of the goal, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead as they got closer to solidifying their regional championship.

“Before I go up to take the shot, I just take a deep breath and just tune out whatever’s around me,” Murrell said of her penalty kick strategy, “so I can focus on making it.”

Then, seven minutes later, Brooklynn Myers scored the dagger.

On a terrific pass from Forest – which found its way from midfield and bounced over a Bo Manor defender’s head – Brooklynn Myers sped down the pitch, tracked the ball and took control right in front of the net, giving her plenty of space to whack it to the right side of the goal and score.

That goal not only gave Perryville a 3-0 advantage, but effectively sealed the revenge victory for the Panthers as the Eagles were simply in too deep of a hole to fly out of.

That’s when the celebration began, with Perryville having avenged last season’s regional title slipup and redeemed itself.

The Panthers’ unbeaten record also earned them a bye in the following round of the postseason,

allowing them to skip the state quarterfinals, making this week’s matchup against the Fallston Cougars (14-3) a state semifinal battle with a spot in the state title game on the line.

But, regardless of what happens, this has been

nothing short of a magical season for the Panthers. “Win or lose,” said Cantrell, “this is the greatest group of girls I’ve ever played with.”

continued from B-1

Sayer’ hat trick leads Panthers past St. Michaels to claim regional title

By Victor Hensley

PERRYVILLE - If you take any time to blink, breathe or get your bearings against the Perryville Panthers, there’s a strong chance you’re already too late.

The St. Michaels Saints (4-8) witnessed it firsthand last Tuesday in the MPSSAA 1A East Region I final, when the breakneck Panthers (10-2-1) used their speed to send themselves to the state tournament with a 4-1 win, taking home the regional title in the process.

“There hadn’t been (a banner) here in a long time and they were super motivated,” said Chris Tome, the Panthers’ head coach, after the win. “As soon as the regular season ended, we went right into, ‘We’re playing this one to hang a banner, we’re playing this one to hang a banner,’ so that’s just the mentality we had and it was the mentality they trained with and clearly the mentality they played with, so I’m super proud of them.”

Each of the past two seasons, St. Michaels had gotten the best of Perryville, knocking them out of the postseason in both 2019 and 2021.

This year, however, the Panthers meant business.

More specifically, sophomore striker Dylan Sayer, who had an electrifying hat trick in the win as he continues to make the most of his return from a hand injury that kept him out for most of the season.

“(Battling back from injury) was definitely draining,” Sayer said. “I was definitely down on myself a lot, but I knew when I came back, I was just going to find myself in my happy place again, which is on the soccer pitch. I love being back. It’s so much fun.”

Sayer was part of

a Perryville offense that tortured the Saints in the win, registering 11 quality shots as the Panthers retained possession for most of the match.

A large contributor to Perryville’s offensive showcase, however, was Sayer’ speed, which St. Michaels had no shot of containing as he looked to be able to score at-will.

His first goal came in the 14th minute, when he received a crossing pass from Logan Shaw from the left side, rapidly wove through a pair of Saints defenders and forcefully rocketed a shot at the right corner of the net to draw first blood and get the Panthers on the board, 1-0.

Then, just six minutes later, he’d do it again.

Waiting patiently at the 10-yard-line, Sayer was wide open to receive a pass. As soon as the ball touched his foot, he turned around and fired a shot from 20 yards out, burying it into the left portion of the net for the 2-0 lead.

He immediately shifted his body to look at the crowd after the score as if to let everyone know what they already knew – Sayer is back. And he’s hungrier than ever.

“He’s the most technically proficient player in the county, hands down,” Tome said when asked about Sayer’ hat trick. “He’s faster with the ball at his feet than most of the kids on our team are just flatout sprinting. That is a huge advantage. And it’s not just because he’s got speed, it’s because he works incredibly hard to have ball mastery.”

Before the end of the half, Perryville’s John Alexander found some success of his own, using his quickness to outrun the Saints’ defense and drill a point-blank shot into the back of the net, past St.

Michaels’ goalkeeper Will Sherwood, to make it 3-0 at the break.

It took just 30 seconds into the second half for Sayer to complete his hat trick as he sprinted down the sideline and pounded another shot into the back of the net, giving the Panthers a 4-0 advantage – effectively sealing the win – and capping off a stellar performance by the sophomore.

Later in the half, Saints senior Kyle Miller got his team on the board after Finnegan Tome saved a shot, but Miller continued to fight with the Panthers goalkeeper – who was on the ground after the first shot –avoiding the official’s whistle before eventually knocking the ball free and slapping it into the goal to make it 4-1.

But, the rest of the half was all Perryville as the Panthers continued their defensive dominance until the clock hit triple zeroes, clinching their first regional title in recent memory.

“It’s awesome to see, it’s a big morale booster,” Sayer said when asked about the Perryville men’s and women’s soccer teams both claiming regional titles this season. “It’s great work by them, you definitely can’t down them for being undefeated. That’s just an amazing feat. To come back to school tomorrow is probably going to be amazing. I mean, both soccer teams (are) going to states. … I’m pretty happy about what we’ve done.”

A few days later, the Panthers downed the Pocomoke Warriors (9-5) in a hard-fought win, 4-3, in the opening round of the state tournament.

This week, they’ll be facing off against the #1 seed Brunswick Railroaders on November 11 in the state semifinals round.

Game Photos by Becky Young

photos by Jacki Taylor

North East Indians win Regional Championship 1-0 over Bohemia Manor

By Kevin Phillips

CHESAPEAKE CITY–North

East and host Bohemia

Manor engaged in a tight, defensive battle in the finals of the 1A North, District 1 tournament Wednesday evening.

Ava McMillan scored in the game’s 10th minute to give the fourth-seeded Indians the lead, and that would be all North East needed in a 1-0 victory as its defense and goalkeeper Tess Keatley stepped up in the second half to preserve the victory

and clinch a regional title.

“I mean it’s exciting.

I’m a kid too. Today, I was a whole ball of nerves. I felt like I was going to throw up all day just like them,” North East head coach Kendie Sandridge said. “It’s exciting to see them excited after all of the time they put into it over the summer, over the spring and over the winter. They all do so much outside of it that they can keep coming into it. It’s really awesome to see what they’ve built since August.”

The Indians slowly tilted the action towards

their attacking half of the field in the first quarter, and after a restart following a whistle, the ball went into a crowd of players in front of the Bo Manor net.

Eventually, McMillan got possession of the ball near the goal line, and she shot the ball into the cage to give North East a 1-0 lead with 5:37 remaining in the first quarter

“It was kind of there. It was just set up perfectly,” McMillan said of her goal. “Our team worked to get the ball down the field. We work well together. There

was a lot of passing, and it all came together.”

The Indians controlled the tempo in the second quarter but could not add to its lead as the Eagle defense held strong around the net. Bo Manor had some promising counters in the second quarter, but the North East’s speed on defense stamped out any surge down field, keeping the score at 1-0.

The Eagles recorded their first shot midway through the third quarter and notched their best chances in the final moments of the frame, but Keatley, made a sprawling save in the final 10 seconds of the third, and the Indian defense made the stops necessary, to keep Bo Manor off the board.

Keatley, who finished with three saves, credits her defense for helping her protect the Indians’ precarious lead down the stretch.

“Our team is good offensively, so I can do what I can do to support them defensively,” Keatley said. “I blocked a shot on that attempt and did what I could to block it. I got pretty lucky, and one of my defenders had a nice defensive save, too. It wasn’t just me. I

had plenty of missed shots where the defense saved me.”

Keatley’s third and fourth quarter performance is something that does not surprise Sandridge as she sees it everyday in practice.

“She’s like that. She works hard every single day. The other thing she does really well is that she pushes the other goalies. She pushes the defense. She pushes herself. She pushes herself every single day. So, does that surprise me? No.” Sandridge said. “I think she was really prepared. I mentioned this before, but playing those upper division teams, she’s had to face hard shots over and over and over again. Our defense knew that they had to work together and keep going.”

North East withstood several strong pushes from the Bo Manor attack in the fourth quarter to hold on to the victory, and when the final horn sounded, the Indians celebrated in a mob near their defensive goal.

With the win, North East advances to the 1A-State Tournament where they travel to Patuxent on November 5th, and both Keatley and McMillan both said they just want their sea-

son to continue.

“As a senior, that feels great. One more day to play is one more day I can appreciate. I am thankful to play one more game,” Keatley said.“Just expanding my season since it’s my last. It’s my last chance of glory. I’m grateful for it. We’ve played some good teams this year.” “I’m ready for the next game. I’m ready to keep going. I’m not ready for the season to be over yet,” McMillan added.

While the loss ended the Eagles’ season just short of the state tournament, head coach Caitlin Gartland expressed so much pride in what her team accomplished this season.

“Every player on this team is every coach’s dream. They work hard. They come out every day just ready to be the best players they can be. They have just changed the trajectory of this program,” Gartland said. “To get this game two years in a row as the smallest and most inexperienced team is a testament to their work ethic, their hunger and their desire to be the best players they can be. I just can’t ask more from them.”

photos by Jacki Taylor

3rd in Region, Advance to State Finals this weekend

14 Cecil Runners qualify for State Cross Country Championships setting personal and

By Amanda Callaghan

CAMBRIDGE - Thursday, November 3rd was a day of great success for the cross country teams of Cecil County. Held at Cambridge South Dorchester’s Jungle, it was the 1A/2A East Regional Championship! Many personal and season records were set at the fast, flat, and beautiful course. Of the county’s ten teams, three teams qualified for states and 14 individual runners qualified for States.

In the 1A Girls’ race, Bo Manor earned fifth with 114 points. Skylar Pizzuli led the team and county in the race finishing fourth with a time of 20:49.9. She was closely followed by teammate Kathryn Scott, running a 20:51.8 into fifth place. Both Pizzuli and Scott qualified as individuals for the State Championships. Perryville’s Girls’ team earned seventh with 166 points. Nearly all of the Perryville and Bo Manor finishers set a personal or season record at the race.

In the 1A Boys’ race, Bo Manor earned third place with 87 points. Their team of Evan Wakefield, Ethan Dell, John Conley, Leighton Dell, Jason Wolfden, Mason Darsney, and

season best times

Jacob Seiple qualified for the State Championships. Wakefield was the first Cecil runner to finish the race, finishing third (17:08.9). His teammates Ethan Dell finished thirteenth (18:03.9), and John Conley finished fourteenth (18:14.9). Wakefield, Dell, and Conley all qualified as individuals. For Perryville, Perryville’s Boy’s team earned eighth with 227 points. Leading the team was senior Michael Young, finishing eighth with a time of 17:48.4, qualifying for States.

For the 2A Girls’ race, Rising Sun took third with 79 points. Sun’s team of Emily Wishart, Katie Callaghan, Amanda Callaghan, Kaitlin Perry, Savannah Lacey, Madi Cleary, and Bella Chavis qualified for States. Emily Wishart earned fifth with a time of 20:26.50; Katie Callaghan earned seventh (20:48.7). Wishart and Callaghan qualified as individuals. From North East, Leanna Rogers was the top-finishing Cecil runner in the race, finishing third with a personal record of 19 minutes, 30 seconds. Elkton ran strong as well, with both finishing runners earning personal records.

For the 2A Boys’ race, Rising Sun again

earned third with 86 points. Helping the team qualify for states was John Ferry, Matt McKay, Nik Haraldsson, Anthony McGonigle, Landen Milloway, Eli Weston, and Hayden Graham. Ferry led Rising Sun and the county in the race, finishing third (16:54.3). Matt McKay followed in sixteenth (18:10.8) with Nik Haraldsson following close behind in seventeenth (18:16.4). Ferry, McKay, and Haraldsson all qualified as individuals. North East ran strong as well, earning 6th place with 168 points. Qualifying as individuals from North East was Daniel Katz, finishing fifth with a time of 17:14.00, and Aiden McCullough, finishing seventh with a time of 17:23.5. Elkton earned 9th place with 255 points, with all members setting season or personal records.

All of the Cecil runners ran amazing races and should be proud of their seasons and the way they represented Cecil County.

To the qualifying athletes, best of luck at States! The MPSSAA State Championships will be held on Saturday, November 11th, at Herford High School’s infamous Bull Run course. Be sure to come out to support the county’s runners!

photo by Becky Young