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The Gazette
NEWS: North Potomac teen brings cancer journey into focus with photography. A-3
GERMANTOWN | CLARKSBURG
SPORTS: Damascus falls short in state title game after Franklin rallies. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
25 cents
Victory, aggain
Road leads to growth
Northwest claims state championship
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Century Boulevard extension enables more Germantown development BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER
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orthwest High School football coach Mike Neubeiser told senior wide receiver Aaron-David Beidleman that this year’s state championship game would be played on “No drop Friday,” Beidleman said. The Jaguars’ receiving corps — Beidleman, Jamar Wilson and Brandon Wilson — complied in Northwest’s 3431 victory against Anne Arundel County’s Old Mill at M&T Bank Stadium Friday to secure the Germantown school’s second straight Class 4A state championship in football. The Jaguars became the first team to win back-to-back 4A state titles since crosstown rival Seneca Valley did it in 1998-99. It is the Jaguars’ third state championship in the sport. Senior running back E.J. Lee and Northwest’s ground game almost exclusively propelled the Jaguars past Prince George’s County’s DuVal in the state semifinals by scoring six of their seven touchdowns in that game. Still, Northwest prides itself on being a true team, Neubeiser said. Friday’s performance was more indicative of balanced offense that the Jaguars relied on to reach the state final. There’s no denying Lee’s integral role in Friday’s victory but in addition to his 206 yards and two touchdowns, Beidleman (6 catches for 74 yards, 1 touchdown), Wilson (3-99, 1 TD) and Williams (3-45) accounted for 218 of Northwest’s 438 total yards and two of five touchdowns. More
A recently completed 2,600-foot extension to the north of Century Boulevard in Germantown by the county Department of Transportation will open the way for two major building projects north of Father Hurley Boulevard. Planned is the development of the 107-acre, mixed-use Black Hills tract by Lerner Enterprises and a 24-acre tract being developed by Symmetry Developers. The total cost of the Century extension was $7.5 million, which included $4 million from Symmetry. Symmetry representative Nicole Totah could not immediately be reached for comment Monday about the project. Extended Century Boulevard now
See DEVELOPMENT, Page A-10 TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Senior running back E.J. Lee and his Northwest High School football teammates celebrate their 34-31 victory against Old Mill in the Class 4A state championship on Friday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. important than the statistics, Neubeiser said, was the number of timely catches. “Offensively, we try to spread it around,” Neubeiser said. “We look to where we can get good matchups and when they load the box up for the run, we’re able to get it to good receivers. When those guys get on the edge, they’re able to make
some big plays for us.” The nice thing about Northwest’s receiving corps is that each piece brings something different. Wilson is the fast one, Beidleman said. He proved his ability to blow past anyone on
See NORTHWEST, Page A-10
Local preteens to compete in national football game Germantown, Gaithersburg students to challenge best of the best
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BY
SAMANTHA SCHMIEDER STAFF WRITER
Marcus Simmons, 10, and Brian Plummer, 12, will travel to South Carolina on Dec. 31 to showcase their talent on the football field for the Diamond Youth All-American Bowl, where they will compete against promising youth athletes from across the country. The Diamond Youth All-American Bowl consists of 70 players, each in grades 5 through 9, as well as a sepa-
rate group of 70 senior players. The groups are split into 35-player rosters that will compete at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach on Jan. 3. Donnell Britt, president and CEO of Diamond Sports Group, explained that their are several ways to get scouted for the event, including being seen at one of the Diamond Combine drill events hosted throughout the country. “What we do is in the spring and summer we tour the country. We seek out places where athletes are less recruited, looking for athletes that nobody knows about. We call them our
See FOOTBALL, Page A-10
Reasons are outlet center, housing growth BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
The county police department hopes to win County Council approval to hire 10 more officers to work in the Clarksburg area because of expected growth there.
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BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE
town on Jan. 5. It will be one of four presentations he makes around the county, said Catherine Matthews, director of the Regional Services Center in Germantown. Gillespie also said Monday that the new Germantown central business district patrols will start Dec. 28.
See POLICE, Page A-10
See SAFETY, Page A-10
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
“There’s been an increase in population ... and we need to grow with the community,” Gillespie said. Adding 10 officers would mean there would be one or two more officers on duty in the area at any one time, he said. County Executive Isiah Leggett is expected to outline to the public his proposed operating budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 at the Black Rock Center for the Arts in German-
BAH, SCROOGE! One-man ‘Christmas Carol’ comes to Olney. Page B-4
Volume 27, No. 50, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette
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RECYCLE
December 18, 2014 1932812
Improvements made at student crosswalks
When school officials rebuild the Seneca Valley High School in Germantown two years from now, they may have a chance to incorporate even more measures to protect student pedestrians. In the meantime, officials have already taken measures to make it safer for students to walk to and from the school. Two years ago a Seneca Valley student was killed while crossing the intersection of Germantown Road and Wisteria Drive. The County Council on Sept. 17 chose the high school to publicize its new You Only Live Once [YOLO] campaign, which urges students to stay off their cell phones and look both ways before crossing the street. Ironically, later that same day, a student was bumped by a car but thankfully not injured. “It was the driver who was in the wrong,” said Seneca Valley Principal Marc Cohen. “[Students] can do everything right, but they still have to pay attention.” Students who live within two miles of the school are not eligible to ride buses, and most of those who walk head north across Germantown Road (Md. 118) to go home, he said. Seneca Valley is bounded by three
Brian Plummer, 12 (left), and Marcus Simmons Jr., 10, will play football in the Diamond Youth All-American Bowl in January in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
ENTERTAINMENT
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Clarksburg has reached half of its projected growth of 40,000 people, and the Cabin Branch outlet center with 100 stores is expected to open in 2016. “There are more calls for service, with more coming,” said Capt. David Gillespie, commander of the Fifth District, at a meeting of the Upcounty Citizens Advisory Board on Monday in Germantown. Based in Germantown, the district station serves most upcounty areas.
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STAFF WRITER
County police requesting more officers for Clarksburg n
Seneca Valley focused on student safety