Howard County Football 2012

[JustMyThought]

Howard would actually jump into the 3rd spot with a win over River Hill.

Not true.

A win by Mt. Hebron clinches the #3 seed for them regardless of what Howard does.

This is the closest Howard could get to #3 if Mt. Hebron wins.

Mt. Hebron over Hammond
Howard over River Hill
Centennial over Long Reach

1) 9.6 River Hill (9-1)
2) 8.8 Atholton(8-2)
3) 7.1 Mt. Hebron (7-3)
4) 6.8 Howard (6-4)
5) 6.2 Reservoir (6-4)

[Smatty]

Thunderroad, I agree Anderson is a great player. But he's not POY. I've seen all of the upper tier teams play and I don't know all of their names but I'd rank the skills kids in this order and I'm sure there are a few I'm forgetting about:
1. #1 from Atholton
2. #1 from Reservoir
3. #6 from Hammond
4. #3 from River Hill
5. #3 from Atholton
6. #1 from Howard
7. #5 from River Hill
8. #24 from Reservoir
9. QB from Hebron
10. #7 from Hebron
11-15. Glenelg backs, qb and slot

[Oil Can]

Time for Mr ANDERSON to step up and win the POY award

Glenelg is the only team to lead/stay close to the river hypocrits

they run a ball control offense. Howard needs to run Mr ANDERSON relentlessly and complete enough passes to keep the defense honest

The question is can this backup qb keep the defense honest becuase if rh knows what coming u have big problems

GOOD LUCK HOWARD one time baby

Scores can be misleading. RH had 19 first downs to G's 4. If H does what G did they could just as easily lose by 35 instead of the 14 G lost by. Not saying H can't beat RH but I wouldn't exactly say that the G v RH game provided a blueprint. They might need to be a little more original.

[MDhsfootballfan]

Hhhmmm, why?

A lot of the fun of high school football is the crowds and the Friday night lights. A nuetral site, at 4pm, when the game could have been played on the original fields is not ideal. Half those teams are now missing their senior night.

[First_Down]

A lot of the fun of high school football is the crowds and the Friday night lights. A nuetral site, at 4pm, when the game could have been played on the original fields is not ideal. Half those teams are now missing their senior night.

Okay cool. I understand. I went to a couple 3:00 / 3:30 game this season and the crowd was AOK and the game seemed like a typical game just earlier. But it wasn't senior night and all. The games were played before sunset for religous reasons or something like that.

[Oil Can]

Thunderroad, I agree Anderson is a great player. But he's not POY. I've seen all of the upper tier teams play and I don't know all of their names but I'd rank the skills kids in this order and I'm sure there are a few I'm forgetting about:
1. #1 from Atholton
2. #1 from Reservoir
3. #6 from Hammond
4. #3 from River Hill
5. #3 from Atholton
6. #1 from Howard
7. #5 from River Hill
8. #24 from Reservoir
9. QB from Hebron
10. #7 from Hebron
11-15. Glenelg backs, qb and slot

It looks like Atholton is once again is loaded with talent possessing 2 of the top 5 skill players in the county. With that kind of talent on board what’s with all the 2 point wins and the loss to Long Reach? I can only assume that coach is employing a Rope-A-Dope strategy like the one Muhammad Ali made famous back in 1974. If Atholton can squeak out a first round win we might be looking at another Rumble in the Jungle. Do you think coach will loosen the reins for the rumble and let the horses run?

[ohhsterp]

An Atholton-River Hill matchup could be interesting, but the first round game will be tough. River Hill is a machine right now and is clearly favorite to win 3A. Atholton had to replaced like 19 or 20 starters from last years team, thats not easy to do. Maybe it took them a while to get the system down, plus, 2 kids don't make a team. We shall see what happens when the River Hill Invitational begins next week.

[Old Scorp]

I, for one, will be surprised if there is a RH-Atholton matchup. Put the Raiders on upset alert this week.

[44Defense]

I, for one, will be surprised if there is a RH-Atholton matchup. Put the Raiders on upset alert this week.

I have been tough on the Raiders but they have shown a lot of character going 9-1 this year. I just can't see them beating River Hill but I didn't believe they would lose to River Hill last year so maybe their is some payback coming.

[Oil Can]

Does anybody have any opinions on the sport turf fields after 1 season. I don't like them for football. I noticed Howard was playing without a few key players on Fri. They could have gotten hurt on grass for all I know but it would be interesting to see if there were more injuries on the artificial turf than on the grass before every game in the county is played on an artificial surface. MoCo started installing them and then they stopped. Maybe three turf fields is all the county really needs.

[ECF]

So when will the HoCo HC openings be annouced ?

[OLINE]

Does anybody have any opinions on the sport turf fields after 1 season. I don't like them for football. I noticed Howard was playing without a few key players on Fri. They could have gotten hurt on grass for all I know but it would be interesting to see if there were more injuries on the artificial turf than on the grass before every game in the county is played on an artificial surface. MoCo started installing them and then they stopped. Maybe three turf fields is all the county really needs.

The turf fields are very nice for practice purposes and the fact you dont need to worry about games being cancelled. But going back and forth between turf and grass is difficult for athletes especially if teams dont maintain their fields (Glenelg and Marriots Ridge). Between JV and Varsity for Howard there were 4 season ending knee injuries and all but one were done on grass fields. I cant sit here and say there these injuries would have been avoided if they were on turf, but that is a very high number for any program. I like the turf fields and I understand why the county is making the jump.

I played in college and our practice field was grass and our stadium was turf and it was hard to make the transition day to day as far as injuries are concerened. We had to use different cleats and different taping jobs between the grass and turf.

[MDhsfootballfan]

River Hill 49
Mt Hebron 7

River Hill's passing attack is looking dynamic, couple that with their ground game which is as good as always, they won't be stopped by Hebron's d. Couple that with Hebron's injuries on offense and it will be a long night for the Vikings.

Atholton 21
Reservoir 20

Reservoir suprised the county with their young team this year, but I give Atholton an advantage due to their playoff experience. The Raiders just have had a knack for winning the close ones this year. I would love to see them travel to Clarksville next week for the regional championship. They embarrased the Hawks at the nest last year, and though River Hill got the bigger half of the wishbone by winning the regional championship, these boys still want to beat them bad. But as bad as they want it, Atholton will want revenge more. To have one of the best teams in the state and get beat in what was essentially the 3a state championship without the pomp and circumstance had to have stung like hell for the players and coach Schmitt. The key for the Raiders will be not looking ahead because the Gators are coming to play, and to make history for their school.

[Oil Can]

Scores can be misleading. The MH defense came ready to play. They did a nice job slowing down the RH offense. If their QB was healthy they might have been able to make a game out of it. A half dozen questionable delay of game penalties might have had the MH fans screaming home cooking. Lackluster performance from RH but they still win w a running clock. Atholton continues their Rope-A-Dope game planning up until the Rumble in the Jungle. Are they going to come out swinging or is leaning on the ropes all that they got?

[MDhsfootballfan]

Is anybody going to give me credit for calling the exact score of the Atholton game?

[Old Scorp]

@MDHSFBfan- great pick

For this week, I will take:

RH 35
Atholton 7

[MDhsfootballfan]

River Hill 41
Atholton 14

I see Atholton starting out strong and in the game with the Hawks eventually pulling away. Or River Hill dominating from the start and the Raiders scoring on a couple of big plays, 1 against the 2nds.

[Oil Can]

Rumble in the Jungle ll is in the books. Atholton leaned on the ropes for the first 13 rounds while River Hill landed punch after punch. The bell that ended the 13th round found Atholton sprawled on the canvas and the referee counting. With half their fans already in the parking lot they inhaled some smelling salts and finally came out swinging. They landed a couple of haymakers but it was too little too late. All 3 judges scored the fight RH 13 rounds to Atholton’s 2 rounds. A unanimous decision. The team that never quits certainly took a vacation from the end of the second quarter to midway through the fourth when RH reeled of 4 consecutive touchdowns without much resistance. ROTC was good to Atholton this year as the QB transfer from St Joe accounted for two thirds of their offense. He looked like something out of the leather helmet news reels of the 30’s and 40’s but he was effective primarily running the ball straight up the middle behind the Atholton center and guards. They wreaked havoc with the middle of the RH defense but Atholton’s one dimensional offense was no match for the RH offensive machine. “That offense” with “That Coach” calling the plays makes sure @ least a half dozen players touch the ball regularly and trying to figure out which one is going to get it next is a mystery that needs to get solved in a split second. They’re good enough to beat you with the run which allows them to kill you with the pass. Let’s see what MoCo killer Urbana can come up with.

[Oil Can]

I understand Makosy resigned @ Hammond?

[50defense]

Oil are you saying that AHS benefited from transfers and above board ROTC participation? River Hill has been using the system for years. Maybe AHS will continue to learn from the masters of 108.