ACCIDENT — Fort Hill’s quest for a fourth-straight Class 1A title opened in convincing fashion against Northern, winning 42-7 at Half-Mile High Stadium on Friday.
“I thought the team played pretty well for the first game of the year,” Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire said.
The Sentinels (1-0) only needed three plays for its first touchdown of the season.
On third and eight at the 42, Nash Cassell lobbed a pass deep to the right, and Carson Bender did the rest, sprinting 58 yards to put Fort Hill up 7-0.
“We bring back maybe three or four guys on each side of the ball,” Alkire said. “A lot of these guys, its their first time playing varsity football. You’re gonna take a little time to adjust. Once we got a couple drives under our belt, I thought we settled in pretty well.”
The Huskies (0-1) tried to play keep away, and drained over seven minutes off the clock on its second drive.
Northern got the ball with 6:39 left in the first quarter and held it until the 11:05 mark of the second quarter.
The Huskies picked up three first downs, but were forced to punt.
“We did some good things, we’re not as physical as we were last year,” Northern head coach Phil Carr said. “I didn’t think we matched the physicalness today like we usually do. Sometimes we’re out talented, but I thought we were soft at times.”
Two plays into the Sentinels’ next drive, Caleb Hinebaugh applied heavy pressure on the quarterback.
Intentional grounding was called, backing Fort Hill up to its own seven.
On third and 23, Jabril Daniels made two cuts and was untouched for about 80 yards, dashing 93 yards to the house.
“The line gave a really good push, that was a great hole,” Daniels said. “I saw a seam and just hit it, all thanks to those guys.”
Three plays into Northern’s next drive, Nick Willison knocked the ball out of the quarterback’s hand, and Daniels picked it up and brought it back 26 yards for a scoop and score.
After another Husky punt and four plays, Daniels was gone for a 49-yard score.
Daniels did not get a carry after halftime, finishing with 178 yards on seven attempts and two touchdowns.
Northern’s next drive was another three-and-out, and on the punt, a high snap was recovered by the punter for a loss of 26 yards.
Three plays later, Braelyn Younger dived in the right corner on a toss and broke the plane for an eight-yard touchdown.
“We did some good things, we had more first downs than we probably had in two years,” Carr said. “But then we’d falter, some negative plays. We need three, four yards every play. We were getting that at times, but then you’re getting that no gain, loss of one.”
At halftime, the Sentinels led 35-0 and had outgained the Huskies 258-57.
Friday was the debut of a new offensive line for Fort Hill, consisting of Ryder Canan and Austin Zembower at tackles, Landyn Ritchey and Dakota Shambaugh at guards and Casey Martz at center.
“I think they played pretty well,” Alkire said. “We’ll go back and watch the film, see how they really did. But you score 42 points, that’s a step in the right direction.”
About four minutes into the third quarter, Tristan Ross took an end around 83 yards down the left sideline.
He was untouched from the snap and added another score to Fort Hill’s lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Huskies snapped the shutout.
Northern drove 61 yards and capped off the drive with a three-yard toss to Luke Ross.
Fort Hill ended the game with 323 rushing yards and 381 total compared to 113 combined yards for the Huskies.
Ross ran seven times for 40 yards and a score while Evan Graham led Northern with 59 yards on 16 carries.
“I thought our backs Caleb (Hinebaugh) and Graham ran tough,” Carr said. “They put their head down, got some tough yards for us.”
Northern hosts Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania, on Friday at 7 p.m.
Fort Hill heads to Morgan State in Baltimore on Friday at 5 p.m. to play Dunbar.
It will mark the seventh meeting between the teams and the first in the regular season.
It’s part of the Baltimore Ravens RISE showdown program, featuring Baltimore area high schools.
“We knew whenever we signed the game, it was gonna be a big time game,” Alkire said. “Didn’t know it was gonna be all this, but that’s awesome, it goes along with it. Just hope that our kids are able to keep their heads about themselves and stay focused on the game.”
The game will be livestreamed on the Ravens YouTube channel, with scores, highlights and a photo gallery available postgame at https://www.baltimoreravens.com/fans/rise/high-school-football-showdown.
“My uncle’s a coach, my cousin’s a starting corner, I’ve got so many family that’s gonna be there,” Daniels, a Baltimore native said. “If I was in Baltimore right now, that’s where I’d be playing. That game means so much to me right now. I don’t think they’re gonna hear the last of it if I get a W.”