The 2021 season, the real one, the fall season, saw the closest league race ever in Howard County, finishing with a three-way tie atop the standings for the first time in league history. To add, four teams finished within a game of each other at the top of the league standings for the first time, too.
Meanwhile, River Hill’s Brian Van Deusen became the 20th public school coach in Maryland to win at least 200 games. Van Deusen’s 202 victories in Clarksville ranks second only to Linganore’s Rick Conner’s 210, among active MPSSAA coaches. Van Deusen credits his assistant coaches, particularly Tom Gruneberg, who has been with the Hawks program 22 years, and recently won the Jon Voigt Assistant Coach of the Year award from the Maryland Football Coaches Association.
Oakland Mills produced their best season in twenty years, winning a share of the league title for the first time since 2000, winning a playoff game for the first time since 2001, and winning ten games for the first time since winning their only state championship in their program’s history in 1998. Atholton grabbed a share of the league crown for the first time since Kyle Schmitt led the Raiders to the title in 2011, while Glenelg’s won (or shared) its third county crown in eight (full) seasons.
With two weeks remaining in the 2021 regular season, heading into week eight, Long Reach led the eventual three co-champions by a game, before falling to Atholton that weekend, then at Oakland Mills in the regular season finale, to finish a game back of the Scorpions, Raiders, and Gladiators. Heading into week six, five teams were within a game of each other, as River Hill stood with the Scorps, Raiders, and Glads, at 4-1.
The same handful should contend again, and very well could produce a similar donnybrook in the league standings this season.
The Scorpions were twenty seconds away from advancing to the 2A state championship game that cold, late November Friday night on Kilimanjaro last season, before the eventual state champion Douglass Eagles game-winning touchdown pass in the waning seconds of the state semifinal home game.
The Scorpions (11-2) speed on both sides of the ball last season was unmatched, bolstered by a handful of players who were also state champions on the track team. One of those ‘track guys’, Kharles Ngansi (6’3 200), led the Scorpions defense and was selected as the Howard County Defensive Player of the Year, after registering a league-best 103 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. On offense, the Scorpions return running backs Shane King (5’9 155) and Trevin McHargh (5’10 175) who will be the favorites to finish 1-2 in the 100 and 200 meters in the 2A state championship next season, and who combined for 965 yards and ten touchdowns last season, at 6.6 yards per carry, as the pair finished behind their fellow track state champions in rushing, quarterback Kanye Holland and John Tatum IV. Senior Thomas Ray (5’11 170) steps in at quarterback.
Sophomore defensive tackle Kaiden Lee had an impressive freshman season and will lead the defensive line as a sophomore. Senior Xavier Patterson (5’8 185), who will play in the backfield, leads the linebacking corps. Coach Thomas Browne, who was an All-Met receiver on the Scorpions ‘98 state championship team, is entering his twelfth season as head coach for the Scorpions, and coming off his best season on Kilimanjaro. The Scorpions were not considered among the the top five in the county a year ago, according to a poll of the county coaches, yet put together a deeper post-season run than anyone else in the county, and were less than a minute away from their fourth state championship game appearance, and first in twenty years.
The Raiders (10-2) return quarterback Miles Scott (6’0 175), their best passer last season, as well as running back Dillan Watkins (6’0 215), their leading rusher last season. Scott split duties at quarterback last season, completing 44 of 83 passes for 762 yards, posting eight touchdowns against just one interception. Watkins took 129 carries for 665 yards and seven touchdowns, and caught seven passes for 109 yards. On defense, Watkins made 36 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, adding two fumble recoveries, returning one for a score. Watkins’ brother, Deacon, (5’11 220) paves the way for his brother on offense, and recorded 36 solo tackles and a fumble recovery at defensive tackle last season. Junior cornerback Daniel Ogordi (6’0 172) returns after recording 32 solo tackles, two tackles for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery as a sophomore. Raiders coach Eric Woodson, who is entering his third season with the Raiders, will begin his 18th season as head coach, after eight years at Northwestern in Baltimore City, and seven years at Glen Burnie.
Glenelg (10-2) loses the services of Bisi Owens, the county’s Offensive Player of the Year, and the Baltimore Sun’s Male Athlete of the Year, to graduation, but Coach Tim Cullen returns a pair of All-County selections to a Gladiators program that has been as consistent as any county program over the last decade. Running back Ethan Sotka (5’9 175) returns after rushing for 873 yards and five touchdowns on 173 carries last season, finishing sixth in the county in rushing yards. Junior linebacker Christian Chen (6’0 180) returns after being the only sophomore selected among the 29 players named to the Offense and Defense All-County First Teams last season. Chen recorded 49 tackles, six tackles for loss, and two interceptions.
Senior Michael Fernandes (6’0 205), a Washington & Lee commit, will be one of the best kickers and punters in the MPSSAA this season. The Gladiators also boast a pair of talented junior offensive linemen – Connor Reaves (5’11 220) and Liam Cooke (5’10 220), while Reaves will also start at defensive tackle. Twin brothers Paul (5’9 170) and Will Piwowarski (5’9 170), both juniors, will be two-way players at receiver and defensive back. Paul led the run-favored Glads in receiving last year, with 13 receptions for 230 yards and two touchdowns, and returned 11 kickoffs for 281 yards. Will made an interception on defense, and returned a kickoff for a score on special teams.
Jamie Willis will be entering his tenth season at Long Reach, a season after the Kightning started 7-0, matching a school record-best start, before dropping their final two regular season games, then losing to Chesapeake AA, 39-12, in the ‘Round of 16’. Senior quarterback Brice Koontz, a 6’2 220 passer, will lead the Lightning’s offense. Willis’ son, Alex (6’6 305), one of just three non-seniors selected to the All-County offensive first team last season, will anchor the offensive line. One of the other juniors selected to the all-county first team, Lightning receiver Jayden Baxter (5’8 150), caught 30 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns last season. Junior Jaylen Ethridge (6’1 168) and senior transfer Braeden Bae (5’10 175) bolster the receiving corps. Hard-hitting senior linebacker Michael Reid (6’0 175) and senior strong safety Abraham Kamara (5’5 150) will headline the Lightning’s defense.
Van Deusen’s Hawks (6-5) boast senior Ethan Burnett (5’8 160), who finished second in the county in rushing yards, with 1,048, and third in tackles, with 91. Defensive lineman Tyler Windsor (6’2 210) and linebacker Dylan McCullough (5’10 150), both seniors, were selected to the all-county second team. Senior Matthew Behrmann (6’1 185) grabbed seven interceptions last season. Senior Eje Okijie (5’10 185), one of the best baseball players in the county, is a two-way starter, at running back and cornerback. Senior Nico Lancashire (5’9 170) joins the backfield, and will start in the defensive backfield, as well. Van Deusen’s .802 win percentage ranks second among active MPSSAA coaches, second only to Dunbar Lawrence Smith’s mark of .871, and tenth in Maryland public school history among coaches that coached 120 or more games. With eight wins, Van Deusen would match former Eleanor Roosevelt and Thomas Johnson coach Ben Wright, with 210 wins, for 15th on the Maryland public school all-time wins list.
Mt Hebron (5-6) went 4-4 in league play last season, just the second time in 17 seasons that the Vikings finished .500 or better in league play. Shawn Frederick’s Vikes registered their biggest win over Howard in their program’s history, a 39-0 rout, and were within 8-12 points of Atholton, Long Reach, and River Hill, before getting dispatched in the second round of the playoffs by Urbana, 38-14. The Vikings return Andrew Peperone (5’11 170) at running back, after the senior finished seventh in the league in rushing yards last season, with 825, and five touchdowns. Junior defensive lineman Myon Davis and senior All-County punter Clay Lancelotta also return for the Vikings.
Reservoir (3-6) and coach Brian Cole hired Matt Banta as an assistant, a season after Banta led Dundalk to the 4/3A state title game. The Gators feature multi-purpose junior Destin Hill (6’2 165), and sophomore defensive lineman Moses Bailey (6’0 220). Junior linebacker Troy Buecker (6’1 205) headlines Howard’s (4-7) roster. Marriotts Ridge (0-9) boasts kicker Alex Zhao (6’0 180), ranked the 14th best kicker in the country, won the Hammer Kicking Academy’s Top 40 competition with a 62 yard field goal in June, and did the same at Notre Dame two weeks earlier, nailing a 57 yarder to win the completion. Wilde Lake (4-6) senior Will Burns (5’10 155) will be one of, if not the best, defensive backs in the county.
It’s been ten years since River Hill won its fourth state championship in six years, the last state title a county team has won. Together with Wilde Lake’s run in the 90s, Oakland Mills in ‘98, Wilde Lake in 2010, the Hawks 2012 state crown gave the county an impressive total of ten over 23 seasons. Since, the county has gone eight post-seasons without one, matching the ‘99-06 stretch as the second longest state championship drought in county history. The longest stretch was a ten season stretch after Howard won in the very first year of the MPSSAA, until Wilde Lake won the first of their six state championships in 1985.
The closest any county team came to winning a state championship since River Hill’s 41-38 state semifinal loss to Linganore as they went for their ‘three-peat’ in 2013, was at Oakland Mills last season, when the Scorpions led Douglass in the final half-minute of the game before the Eagles game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds to play. The Eagles went on to beat Milford Mill the following week in the title game, 29-14. Other than that, no other county team has come close.
Both Howard and Glenelg made nice runs from ‘14 to ‘18, but each time, ran into a buzzsaw. In ‘14, Glenelg was blanked by Damascus in a 3A state semifinal, 33-0, while Howard lost in a 4A state semifinal, 10-3. The following year, the undefeated Lions advanced to the 4A state title game, before getting routed by Wise, 55-6. The next year, in ‘16, the Lions ran into Wise in the state semifinals, and were blanked 48-0. That same year, Glenelg was turned back in a 3A state semifinal by Franklin, 30-7. In ‘17, Howard lost for a third straight post-season to Wise, and a second straight year in the semifinals, 42-6. Glenelg didn’t fare any better that night, losing 42-7 to Damascus in a 2A state semifinal. The next year the undefeated Gladiators advanced to the 2A state title game, before getting shutout by Oakdale, 38-0. In 2015, a ‘Cinderella’ Reservoir team, who joined Howard in the ‘Final Four’ weekend, was humbled by Damascus in a 2A state semifinal, 48-7. In ‘17, Long Reach joined both Howard and Glenelg in the state semifinals, before the Lightning took a 33-6 loss to Milford Mill in 3A.
It’s not to say the county teams haven’t won big playoff games over out-of-county opponents since 2012, they just haven’t won the biggest ones. Those Wise teams were beating everyone like that. Those Damascus and Franklin teams were outstanding, too. The 2018 Oakdale team was exceptional. But, both Howard and Glenelg were beating very good teams to get where they got. In ‘14, Howard beat a 9-2 Paint Branch team, 39-7, in the regional final. The next year, the Lions knocked off an undefeated Sherwood team in the regional final, then a 10 win Broadneck team that had just topped unbeaten Old Mill. In ‘16, the Lions dismantled Mervo, 42-6, in the regional final, a week after the Mustangs beat undefeated Sherwood. In ‘17, the Lions beat Sherwood and Paint Branch again, just to get to Wise.
HS Sports Analyst
Willie, a native of Chicago, and now a resident of Columbia for 40 years, is an educator at Homewood Center in Howard County, after spending 12 years as a real estate agent, following 10 years of running a small men’s retail company. Willie has contributed to Max Preps, Digital Sports, and Varsity Sports Network. Willie has produced MPSSAA top 25 rankings for both football and basketball for 15 years, across various platforms. From a large ‘sports family’, Willie’s brother Mike led Reservoir High to the 3A basketball state title game in 2018, while his nephew Anthony serves as the Indianapolis Colts College Scouting Coordinator.