After West Virginia high schools kicked off their seasons last week, the area’s five Maryland programs begin theirs tonight.
The action is headlined by No. 1 Fort Hill, the defending Class 1A state champion, making the trek to Garrett County to take on No. 5 Northern.
Three time Class 1A state runner-up Mountain Ridge, ranked No. 3 in the area, will play host to Southern, as both squads debut new head coaches. It will be Nathan Shipe’s first game leading the Miners, and Dave McLaughlin’s maiden contest with the Rams.
No. 4 Allegany heads to Hollidaysburg and will try to extend its win streak over the Golden Tigers to three games.
All three contests are set to kick off at 7 p.m.
Fort Hill, which finished 13-0 in 2023, returns star back Jabril Daniels, who rushed for 1,826 yards and scored a city record-tying 34 touchdowns last year, but will have many new faces up front.
Northern knows first-hand how tough its opening matchup is. Fort Hill has won all 10 of its meeting with the Huskies. The Sentinels enter the season riding a 21-game winning streak — the second-longest in the state.
“Nobody in the state in 1A has a tougher opener than we do,” Northern head coach Phil Carr said. “We know we have a huge task ahead of us taking on the defending 1A State champs.
“Coach (Zack) Alkire and his staff do such a great job. I just want our guys to compete and be as physical as we can be. We need to try and make things difficult for them and not give up the big plays. Offensively we need to be able move the ball and keep it out of their hands.
“We will have to be perfect, no mistakes at all to have a chance.”
Northern is no slouch itself. The Huskies won a home playoff game for the third season in a row and finished 6-5 last year, securing a winning record for the first time since 2019.
That’s no small feat for Northern, which is the fourth-smallest school in the state.
“Going up to Northern is no easy task,” Alkire said. “Coach Carr always puts a good product out on the field. They have a number of returning skill kids that will be able to test us. We are excited to see what our new faces are able to do. It should be a great match up.”
One of those kids is All-Area first-team receiver Luke Ross, who caught 29 passes for 487 yards and five TDs last year.
Fort Hill’s crosstown rival Allegany hits the road in Week 1 to play a Hollidaysburg team that’s trying to start 3-0 for the first time in 17 years.
Hollidaysburg’s game experience and Allegany’s plethora of new players, having lost 23 seniors after a 7-4 finish last season, will produce a challenge for the Campers.
“This is the first year we have played them where they have two games under their belts, winning both of them,” Allegany head coach Bryan Hansel said. “We are excited to play in an outstanding atmosphere with a chance to compete against an undefeated football team.”
Hollidaysburg quarterback Maddox Bainey has thrown seven touchdowns to no interceptions through two contests.
His top offensive lineman is Hunter Albright, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound guard who is committed to Division 1 St. Francis.
“They are big up front and have added more wrinkles into their offense which will challenge our guys to play with discipline and fundamentals,” Hansel said. “Defensively they are the same team. They play with great discipline and pursue the football relentlessly from all 11 positions.
“We believe this will be a challenging opening contest on the road, but we are excited to have the chance to get our first win too. We can’t wait to compete Friday night.”
Hollidaysburg has had its trouble with the Campers in past seasons, losing 26-23 and 30-23 in their last two meetings.
While the Golden Tigers will be unfamiliar with Allegany’s new starters in the backfield, namely fullback Jackson Resh and quarterback Sebastian Stewart, they know what to expect from the program.
“They are a well-coached and fundamentally sound football team that plays very detailed,” Hollidaysburg head coach Homer DeLattre said. “We have to play disciplined, control the line of scrimmage and protect the football to come out on top.”
The Western Maryland Athletic Conference’s other matchup is expected to be its least competitive, but just playing the game and having renewed life in its program should give Southern something to be happy about.
The Rams only played two games last season before canceling the rest of their varsity slate due to lack of players in the program. Entering this year, Southern has 52 players between its varsity and junior varsity squads.
Shipe highlighted a handful of players that stood out on film in the Rams’ scrimmage against Clear Spring, noting Reece Tasker’s running ability and aggression at linebacker, Joel Campbell and Jacob Brown at skill positions and Waylon Schroyer on the interior.
“Our kids are really excited to get out and play after a long camp and we’re ready for a great game and a great atmosphere Friday night,” Shipe said. “They understand the challenge in front of them this year because we have some new faces in new positions, but the standard for the program remains the same.
“We expect Southern to come into Week 1 with a solid roster of players ready to compete. At the end of last season they had a very good JV team and they return a group of solid players.
“Defensively we’ll need to play good assignment football and get 11 guys to the football every play. We’ve told our kids to slow down in pre-game and enjoy every moment, because once the games start the season will fly by.”
As for Mountain Ridge, the Miners’ track record speaks for itself after going 34-5 with three state runner-up finishes over the last three seasons.
While Mountain Ridge, which finished 11-2 in 2023, will start a new quarterback under center in Cobe Penick and have a mostly new team, the Miners’ program has been set in place.
McLaughlin wants to see how his young team will respond to the challenge.
“Outstanding program,” he said. “Good kids. They seem to have a pretty solid coaching staff. It’s a tough way for us to open, but we have to open with somebody. We’re ready and excited to play.”
“Of course everybody would like to get a ‘W.’ I just want to see how my kids react. I have juniors and seniors who, football-wise are sophomores and juniors.
“Going to Mountain Ridge, three-time reigning finalist, opening night for them, pretty night, high expectations for them. I’m interested to see how my kids will respond to all that.”