CAMBRIDGE — Facing a halftime deficit on a frigid, rainy, windy night, Fort Hill showed it has the heart of a champion.
Fort Hill used its defense, its special teams and its workhorse running back Jabril Daniels to score 24 unanswered points after intermission to overwhelm a previously unbeaten Cambridge-South Dorchester team.
Daniels found the end zone three times and ran for 165 yards, and eighth-seeded Fort Hill overcame a trio of first-half turnovers to defeat top-seeded Cambridge, 30-12, in the Class 1A state quarterfinals on Friday at McWilliams Stadium.
“We’ve preached to them all year, that we have to have championship mentality,” Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire said. “There are plenty of kids on this team that have been through the rigor before and have come out champions. They had to teach this new group how to do it.
“They really showed that championship mentality.”
Fort Hill (5-7), on a mission to claim a record-tying fourth consecutive state championship, advances to the state semifinals at fourth-seeded Perryville (10-2).
The Panthers routed Patterson Mill, 27-2, in the quarterfinals Friday.
Daniels again led the way for Fort Hill, carrying the ball 30 times for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Braelyn Younger caught a nine-yard score from Noah House, and House had a tackle for a loss for a safety.
Cambridge entered the game 10-0, its undefeated regular season the program’s first since 2000, but the Vikings were dealt a bad draw after Fort Hill had to forfeit five games and dropped to the No. 8 seed.
Fort Hill held Cambridge to just 66 yards of total offense, racking up 261 itself.
The Sentinels controlled the time of possession 29:26 to 18:34 and appeared to wear the Vikings down, physically and mentally, as the second half progressed.
“We did so many really good things this year,” Cambridge head coach Rob Burnham said, “and unfortunately, the only thing that people are going to remember is when Fort Hill came to Cambridge and beat us here at our home stadium.
“It’s unfortunate that this is the way it will be remembered. I’m saddened by that. … We have great kids. We have great coaches. We want to build on this.”
The triumph is Fort Hill’s second straight on the road in ugly, rain-soaked conditions on grass fields.
Friday’s contest presented an entirely different challenge for Fort Hill than its 55-20 rout of Clear Spring in the region finals, however.
With a wind chill of 25 degrees, the Sentinels came out cold and entered the locker room trailing 12-6.
Cambridge had a chance to go up two scores after getting the opening kickoff of the second half, but Fort Hill’s defense rose to the occasion and forced a punt.
The snap was low and Fort Hill took over on the Cambridge 16-yard line.
Two plays later, Daniels danced 15 yards into the end zone, and the Sentinels led 13-12 with 9:24 to play in the third period following Bobby Brauer’s extra point.
After another stop, Fort Hill took over on the Cambridge 32. Daniels scored from a yard out, and he punched in a crucial two-point conversion for a two-score, 21-12 lead with 2:13 left in the third period.
“We can get it done anywhere, anyplace, anytime,” said Daniels.
Fort Hill swarmed in kickoff coverage after halftime, pinning Cambridge back on its 1-, 10-, 15- and 17-yard lines on its first four series of the second half.
The Sentinels’ defense followed suit, limiting Cambridge to minus 3 yards after the break, which afforded Fort Hill a trio of short fields.
Trailing by two scores, Cambridge elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 on its own 27, and Daniels got there first to tackle Vikings quarterback Anthony Hughes at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
Then facing a 4th-and-15, Fort Hill drew up the perfect play.
House entered at quarterback, and Fort Hill used Daniels as a decoy in the passing game to set up Younger for a screen to the left. Younger rumbled 30 yards down to the three-yard line.
Two plays later after two stout defensive plays by Cambridge, House found Younger for a nine-yard touchdown to put Fort Hill ahead 28-12 with 8:26 left in the fourth.
As Fort Hill’s confidence grew exponentially, so too did Cambridge’s mistakes. The Vikings’ return man went to a knee and mistakenly downed the ensuing kickoff on the one-yard line.
The next play, House exploded through the line and tackled Hughes for a safety to put the finishing touches on the victory.
After a half in which seemingly nothing went right for Fort Hill, everything went the Sentinels’ way in the second half.
“The message at halftime was, ‘We’re only down six points. It only takes one play to make up six points. We’re going to get that one play, and we’re going to start rolling,’” Alkire said. “That’s exactly what they did. They made big plays early in the half, made a great special teams play, got a stop and scored. From there, it was total domination.”
Fort Hill held Hughes to 5 of 16 passing for 59 yards and two touchdowns, and he rushed for minus 32 yards. Sterling Perkins, who like Hughes is a 1,000-yard rusher, had 39 yards on nine carries.
Fort Hill outgained Cambridge, 165-69, in the first half, but a trio of turnovers turned into a pair of Vikings’ touchdowns.
“Cambridge is a great program,” Alkire said. “They’ve always been a great program. They have history on their side too, and they have great players. We told the kids coming in that it was going to take everything we had to win the game, and it certainly did.
“Lot of kudos for Cambridge and their staff and their players for playing as hard as they did. They gave us our biggest test we’ve had in a while.”
The Sentinels struck first on a 54-yard run by Daniels for a score. Fort Hill then fumbled on its next three drives. Parker Spies and Hughes had the recoveries.
The first giveaway near midfield gave way to an eight-play, 54-yard scoring drive by Cambridge, capped by a 15-yard pitch-and-catch from Hughes to Ka’Marii Stanley.
Gamil Daniels blocked the extra point, but Cambridge gained the lead when a Fort Hill fumble gave the Vikings the ball at the Fort Hill 15.
On fourth down, Hughes linked up with Antonio Blueford for a nine-yard touchdown.
Cambridge took a 12-6 lead into the half after its two-point run was stopped.
That’s when Fort Hill showed why it’s won three straight titles, eight in 10 years and 10 overall, dominating the second half to march into the state semifinals once again.
“We want them to be road warriors,” Alkire said. “We’re one step away from going back home to Annapolis, and that’s always the goal. We’re one game away. We have to have another great week of practice and do everything we can to get back to Navy Stadium.”