Fort Hill to participate in the Dunbar scrimmage.

[Waggle Pass]

FH loses only 2 starters on offense, two on defense.

Link to their schedule

http://forthillfootball.net/schedule_2013.htm

[BJC]

I wish they would stop rigging thier schedule every year and play some quality away games. no disrespect but I really cant take them serious anymore.

[DayWalker]

As Allen Iverson would say, we are talking about scrimmage, scrimmage! Not a game, but a scrimmage. As I would say, Who Cares!

[bleedred]

You cared enough to read the thread. And let's hope that New Town will continue to not take the Sentinels seriously.

Personally, I'm glad to see that Dunbar and Fort Hill will keep in contact. Say what you want about the Poets but their coaches are football people and I've always enjoyed being around them. See you in August!

[DayWalker]

One could post a thread with the subject "........." and folks will read it. That does not mean they care about the subject. Fort Hill to SCRIMMAGE Dunbar 7 months from now is a matter I'm positive no one cares about buddy. Such a thread is worse than the cheap advertising threads some post. In fact, this thread is nothing more than a cheap ad. And yes, see you in August. But what about the more important late November or early December period?

[sickofitall]

One could post a thread with the subject "........." and folks will read it. That does not mean they care about the subject. Fort Hill to SCRIMMAGE Dunbar 7 months from now is a matter I'm positive no one cares about buddy.

Not only will anyone read it, but apparently people who don't care will still post. Twice. To say how much they don't care.

As for rigging the schedule, BJC, could you elaborate a little more? Looks like a decent schedule for a rural 1A school. Before you start saying they should play this MD school or that MD school, please realize that FH can't just pick a school and say "You will play us". They ask, and are declined, usually with the reasoning of "conference" obligations for the other team. Check out the schedule:

First, Allegany is obvious. Central Martinsburg PA and Chestnut Ridge PA are two relatively close-by and same sized schools that play FH tough, so there is no shame in those games - they are competitive. Keyser is a local school across the river in WV. The strongest team in our area last year and 2012 AA State Finalist in WV - no shame at all in playing them. Mountain Ridge is a county school, so playing them is a no brainer, and they are 2A MD. And Southern Garrett is a 1A west MD team (the only 1A west team other than Alco that plays FH).

Silver Oak and Carrick (Pittsburgh) are two weak games, but every single school in MD has a couple of these on their schedule for a breather. (Plus it's nice for the team to go play at South Side Stadium in Pittsburgh every other year, a very interesting environment.)

That leaves Central Tech from Erie PA and Walter Johnson a 4A out of Bethesda. I don't know anything about either of these teams as they are brand new to the schedule. I like the idea of having 4A points on a 1A schedule, tho.

What's rigged?

[First_Down]

As for rigging the schedule, BJC, could you elaborate a little more? Looks like a decent schedule for a rural 1A school. Before you start saying they should play this MD school or that MD school, please realize that FH can't just pick a school and say "You will play us". They ask, and are declined, usually with the reasoning of "conference" obligations for the other team. Check out the schedule:

First, Allegany is obvious. Central Martinsburg PA and Chestnut Ridge PA are two relatively close-by and same sized schools that play FH tough, so there is no shame in those games - they are competitive. Keyser is a local school across the river in WV. The strongest team in our area last year and 2012 AA State Finalist in WV - no shame at all in playing them. Mountain Ridge is a county school, so playing them is a no brainer, and they are 2A MD. And Southern Garrett is a 1A west MD team (the only 1A west team other than Alco that plays FH).

Silver Oak and Carrick (Pittsburgh) are two weak games, but every single school in MD has a couple of these on their schedule for a breather. (Plus it's nice for the team to go play at South Side Stadium in Pittsburgh every other year, a very interesting environment.)

That leaves Central Tech from Erie PA and Walter Johnson a 4A out of Bethesda. I don't know anything about either of these teams as they are brand new to the schedule. I like the idea of having 4A points on a 1A schedule, tho.

What's rigged?

What's rigged??????? Perhaps BJC means a very carefully selected schedule like last year by your alum to insure you make the playoffs WITH home field advantage with scores in the likes of 63 -12, 51 -22, 70 - 6, 54 -16, 54 - 8, 42 - 6, 41 - 6. But it all comes out in the wash of the playoffs, hasn't it???

But tell me, what's that scheduler's official relationship to FH? Is he an educator, administrator, or what? And is it just me or what to think that you seem to have the same scheduling woes year in and year out; issues NO ONE ELSE seem to have in scheduling games...

[eaglesinsider]

In fairness to Fort Hill, I'll say that it is a pain at any level to try to put together a completely independent football schedule. There is a reason that there are only a small handful of independents left in college football.

Week 1 is easy to schedule, because almost everyone has a Week 1 non-conference date except Anne Arundel and Howard Counties. Each week gets harder and harder to schedule as more and more teams begin conference play. It becomes incredibly difficult to schedule after about Week 5, as a huge number of teams are locked into their conference schedules.

However, this isn't to say that Fort Hill looks to play the toughest schedule year after year. In 2012 both Calvert Hall and McDonogh called Fort Hill asking for games. They were both willing to go up to Cumberland. Fort Hill turned them both down. The reasoning at the time for turning Calvert Hall down was that they were "too big." I don't know if they ever gave a reason for refusing to play McDonogh, who has a smaller enrollment than Fort Hill.

I find it funny that Calvert Hall is "too big", but Walter Johnson, a perennially bad 4A program with more students than Calvert Hall isn't. Walter Johnson has had one winning record (6-4) over the past 5 years. Their 5 year record is 15-35, good for a .300 winning percentage.

I don't want to hear the annual excuses about how Fort Hill's schedule is weak because Fort Hill asks schools and are turned down. Two of the better schools in the Baltimore area offered to play Fort Hill at home in 2012 and they said no to both of them. I'm sure they said no to others this year as well, opting instead to pick up Central Tech, which will make the trip to Cumberland all the way from Erie, PA. Central Tech was 3-7 in 2012, tied for their best season over the past 5 years. They are 8-42 overall during that span, good for a .160 winning percentage.

When the best school on your schedule is a AA WV school (Keyser), that's not a very tough schedule. WV is in the bottom 10 (maybe 5) of football playing states in the country. Martinsburg was the best team by far in WV, winning the AAA state championship going 13-1. No school from WV came within 24 points of them. Their lone loss was by 3 to Westminster, who was a very good team this year, but not an all-time great team. Talent-wise there were multiple MD teams in front of them, they almost surely won't have a single D1, and probably won't have any D2, players.

[RM7]

First I’m not a Fort Hill person by any means and only have been their once. But for the life of me I can’t understand why you give any 1a school flack for turning down games against private schools that pick and choose their best players? It’s bad enough that these small schools have to deal with Dunbar, but giving them crap about not wanting to play privates please. I’m not going to throw out any names but more than a few top 3a and 4a schools have been approached and said no to one school. So I wouldn’t judge Fort Hill or blame one bit for not playing MIAA A schools.

[DayWalker]

First I’m not a Fort Hill person by any means and only have been their once. But for the life of me I can’t understand why you give any 1a school flack for turning down games against private schools that pick and choose their best players? It’s bad enough that these small schools have to deal with Dunbar, but giving them crap about not wanting to play privates please. I’m not going to throw out any names but more than a few top 3a and 4a schools have been approached and said no to one school. So I wouldn’t judge Fort Hill or blame one bit for not playing MIAA A schools.

What makes you think that all or most private schools pick and choose the best players? And even why you think private leagues like the great MIAA-A are Giilman or Calvert Hill top to bottom. After the top two or three of every league/conference in MD, talents drop dramatically. After Good Counsel, Gonzaga, and DeMatha, the great WCAC is mediocre and can be taken by the better publics in all classifications. I would consider FH a top flight 1A program that would have a far more competitive games playing someone like McDonogh or Spalding rather than beating up on MATH to the tune of 123 to 6 in a couple games. Come on FH, afford your players a settings to be competitive rather than fixing fights for them only to have reality come to light in the playoffs year after year.

2A South, for example, is a most competitive region/classification. The four teams to make the playoffs there are typically 10- 0 or 9 -1 and at worse 8 - 2. A coupe years ago, a 8 - 2 Gwynn Park didn't make the playoffs. However, I heard that 2A Patuxent has 4A Flowers and 2A Douglass-PG has 4A champion Wise to start the season this year. They wish to be competitive and don't pad the schedule to insure they get a playoff spot.

This is worth discussing sickoditall rather than a meaningless scrimmage, aka PRACTICE, with Dunbar like your other scrimmages that is also so meaningless the OP didn't bother to mention or he/she knows no one here cares.

[RM7]

What makes you think that all or most private schools pick and choose the best players? And even why you think private leagues like the great MIAA-A are Giilman or Calvert Hill top to bottom. After the top two or three of every league/conference in MD, talents drop dramatically. After Good Counsel, Gonzaga, and DeMatha, the great WCAC is mediocre and can be taken by the better publics in all classifications. I would consider FH a top flight 1A program that would have a far more competitive games playing someone like McDonogh or Spalding rather than beating up on MATH to the tune of 123 to 6 in a couple games. Come on FH, afford your players a settings to be competitive rather than fixing fights for them only to have reality come to light in the playoffs year after year.

2A South, for example, is a most competitive region/classification. The four teams to make the playoffs there are typically 10- 0 or 9 -1 and at worse 8 - 2. A coupe years ago, a 8 - 2 Gwynn Park didn't make the playoffs. However, I heard that 2A Patuxent has 4A Flowers and 2A Douglass-PG has 4A champion Wise to start the season this year. They wish to be competitive and don't pad the schedule to insure they get a playoff spot.

This is worth discussing sickoditall rather than a meaningless scrimmage, aka PRACTICE, with Dunbar like your other scrimmages that is also so meaningless the OP didn't bother to mention or he/she knows no one here cares.

I don’t think I know most private schools hand pick their top players and recruit them all year long. If you wish not to believe that there is nothing I can say that would bring your head out of the sand. Ft Hill is and odd school being it is so far away. I just looked back to 09 and they have played City, Dunbar, Douglass, MSJ 2, and TJ 2. That last two years the schedule was soft but they’re no different than any other school.

Now as far as your MIAA Ft Hill rant they played MSJ in 09-10 and was 1-1 against them. MSJ had a combined record of 5-14 while Ft Hill 20-5 during those two years. Ft Hill made it to the quarterfinals in 09 and lost in the semis by 6 to state champ Dunbar in 10 also the year MSJ beat Ft Hill. And oh by the way MSJ lost to Mcdonogh both years to by a combined score of 65-37. Don’t fool yourself thinking any public school can compete with the lesser teams in the MIAA or WCAC.

Every classification has its pros and cons which I feel it should be the top 16 teams regardless were they come from. And to counter your claim of schools padding their schedule you must play a certain number of classification games. Funny I remember not too long ago when the 2a was called weak because River Hill was just running through it. There were echoes of wait until they get into 3a the best division in MD. Haven’t heard too much lately after back to back titles.

[GREYHOUND ALUM]

I don’t think I know most private schools hand pick their top players and recruit them all year long. If you wish not to believe that there is nothing I can say that would bring your head out of the sand. Ft Hill is and odd school being it is so far away. I just looked back to 09 and they have played City, Dunbar, Douglass, MSJ 2, and TJ 2. That last two years the schedule was soft but they’re no different than any other school.

Now as far as your MIAA Ft Hill rant they played MSJ in 09-10 and was 1-1 against them. MSJ had a combined record of 5-14 while Ft Hill 20-5 during those two years. Ft Hill made it to the quarterfinals in 09 and lost in the semis by 6 to state champ Dunbar in 10 also the year MSJ beat Ft Hill. And oh by the way MSJ lost to Mcdonogh both years to by a combined score of 65-37. Don’t fool yourself thinking any public school can compete with the lesser teams in the MIAA or WCAC.

Every classification has its pros and cons which I feel it should be the top 16 teams regardless were they come from. And to counter your claim of schools padding their schedule you must play a certain number of classification games. Funny I remember not too long ago when the 2a was called weak because River Hill was just running through it. There were echoes of wait until they get into 3a the best division in MD. Haven’t heard too much lately after back to back titles.

In regards on how recruiting is now and how it use to be, it's not even close. 4 years ago the top publics could play with the privates on any given year, I don't believe that's the case. Look at the Dunbar-CHC game. A very good CHC team but by no means special. Dunbar IMO had the most talent out of all publics this past season. The gap between the Privates and Publics is wide now and continuing to grow.

[DayWalker]

I don’t think I know most private schools hand pick their top players and recruit them all year long. If you wish not to believe that there is nothing I can say that would bring your head out of the sand. Ft Hill is and odd school being it is so far away. I just looked back to 09 and they have played City, Dunbar, Douglass, MSJ 2, and TJ 2. That last two years the schedule was soft but they’re no different than any other school.

Now as far as your MIAA Ft Hill rant they played MSJ in 09-10 and was 1-1 against them. MSJ had a combined record of 5-14 while Ft Hill 20-5 during those two years. Ft Hill made it to the quarterfinals in 09 and lost in the semis by 6 to state champ Dunbar in 10 also the year MSJ beat Ft Hill. And oh by the way MSJ lost to Mcdonogh both years to by a combined score of 65-37. Don’t fool yourself thinking any public school can compete with the lesser teams in the MIAA or WCAC.

Every classification has its pros and cons which I feel it should be the top 16 teams regardless were they come from. And to counter your claim of schools padding their schedule you must play a certain number of classification games. Funny I remember not too long ago when the 2a was called weak because River Hill was just running through it. There were echoes of wait until they get into 3a the best division in MD. Haven’t heard too much lately after back to back titles.

My head in the sand! You may need to check where your head is and check your facts. Fort Hill is no more of an odd school being it is so far away as you say than many other schools. Far away from what? Have you heard of Alco or Mountain Ridge or N Garrett out west? How about N Dorchester and Wicomico out east? You can probaly walk to the PA border from Manchester Valley and there is Great Mills and others down south. There is nothing really odd about FH's location. In fact FH is really in a nice size city albeit folks and they like to think of themselves as a rural town. There are three high schools in whatever you wish to call Cumberland.

Regarding who they played in 2009, they did not play City nor Dunbar but did play MSJ and TJ. Quite a few of your facts are just wrong. You have seasons mixed or merged. But I somewhat get your point that they played some named schools but it wasn't all in one season taking on everyone like you are trying to potray.

I am NOT fooling myself in saying that any public school can compete with the lesser teams of the MIAA and WCAC. What I said was that the top public schools can compete with non-top tier two or three teams in the private leagues And that FH is a top 1A public that would be better served playing the non-top tier privates and better publics than Silver Oak and MATH and going 123 to 6 in two games against MATH and games called at haltime against Silver Oak upholds my position.

By the way, 2A was not considered weak because River ran through 2A as you say. River Hill simply had the best team led by Campanaro, Redd, and Eaddy in that run. Douglass PG, Gwynn Park, Patuxent, and others were very competitve in that classification and would have been worthy champions had River Hill not had the horses they had. During the River Hill 2A run, that was the first time River Hill had ever beaten a PG team and they managed to do it to both Douglass and Gwynn Park in the same year. So they were a most worthy champion and not in a weak classificaton in the playoffs. We just remember things differently than you and not with my head in the sand or with skewed facts.

[DayWalker]

In regards on how recruiting is now and how it use to be, it's not even close. 4 years ago the top publics could play with the privates on any given year, I don't believe that's the case. Look at the Dunbar-CHC game. A very good CHC team but by no means special. Dunbar IMO had the most talent out of all publics this past season. The gap between the Privates and Publics is wide now and continuing to grow.

I think that may be true for the Gilmans, Calvert Halls, DeMathas, Good Counsels of Maryland football. But the Spaldings, Riverdale Baptists, B McNamaras, Carrolls would be bait for the Wises, River Hills, Dunbars, Middletowns, and other top flights of the publics.

[RM7]

My head in the sand! You may need to check where your head is and check your facts. Fort Hill is no more of an odd school being it is so far away as you say than many other schools. Far away from what? Have you heard of Alco or Mountain Ridge or N Garrett out west? How about N Dorchester and Wicomico out east? You can probaly walk to the PA border from Manchester Valley and there is Great Mills and others down south. There is nothing really odd about FH's location. In fact FH is really in a nice size city albeit folks and they like to think of themselves as a rural town. There are three high schools in whatever you wish to call Cumberland.

Regarding who they played in 2009, they did not play City nor Dunbar but did play MSJ and TJ. Quite a few of your facts are just wrong. You have seasons mixed or merged. But I somewhat get your point that they played some named schools but it wasn't all in one season taking on everyone like you are trying to potray.

I am NOT fooling myself in saying that any public school can compete with the lesser teams of the MIAA and WCAC. What I said was that the top public schools can compete with non-top tier two or three teams in the private leagues And that FH is a top 1A public that would be better served playing the non-top tier privates and better publics than Silver Oak and MATH and going 123 to 6 in two games against MATH and games called at haltime against Silver Oak upholds my position.

By the way, 2A was not considered weak because River ran through 2A as you say. River Hill simply had the best team led by Campanaro, Redd, and Eaddy in that run. Douglass PG, Gwynn Park, Patuxent, and others were very competitve in that classification and would have been worthy champions had River Hill not had the horses they had. During the River Hill 2A run, that was the first time River Hill had ever beaten a PG team and they managed to do it to both Douglass and Gwynn Park in the same year. So they were a most worthy champion and not in a weak classificaton in the playoffs. We just remember things differently than you and not with my head in the sand or with skewed facts.

Your right they played Douglass, Dunbar, and City in 08 forgive me. And I wasn't going by year just saying they have played quality schools regardless of the year. And yes I've heard of all of those schools which the west schools all play about the same schools including MATHS and are all freelance. The eastern shore schools are closer and have more schools to play.

[comets4life09]

Douglas-PG is a solid opponent, but City benefited from easy schedules so they aren't that impressive as well as Dunbar-DC, not Balto...but I find it interesting to note that Wise is in this scrimmage as well

[sdchargers96]

eagleinsider is he gonna be a D2 player?
http://nationalchamps.net/recruiting...rtHill/Bryant/

[eaglesinsider]

eagleinsider is he gonna be a D2 player?
http://nationalchamps.net/recruiting...rtHill/Bryant/

Here's how I see it:

Size: FCS/D-II
Strength: D-II (would like to see the bench closer to 300)
Run Blocking: FCS/D-II
Pass Blocking: D-II/D-III
Athleticism: D-II/D-III

One thing that helps a lot is that there are very few truly polished linemen at the high school level. That's not a knock on Preston or anything against his abilities, it's just a lot of little things that are almost never implemented at the high school level because the schemes aren't as complicated as those in college. Those few linemen that are polished that are go to FBS and high level FCS programs. Even then they usually sit the bench. I can't remember the last time an FBS team started a o-lineman from Day 1 as a freshman. The biggest difference from one level of college football to the next is line play. D-II/D-III programs are looking for linemen that they can bring in and develop under dedicated coaching.

One longtime small college coach once told me that you'll never get an ideally sized, fully polished OL at that level. He said that you either find polished OLs that are too small to play higher or you find good-size OLs and trust you have a good OL coach to develop them.

Every scout rates kids differently, but I would say that yes, Preston has D-II potential. I think a good senior year would really help his case though.

Now is the time to get on schools' radars. Email coaches, send film, fill out recruiting questionnaires, always respond promptly when they contact you, go to as many Junior visit days as you possibly can. Every time you get on campus is a chance to keep your name on the radar.

I'd also encourage you to pursue D-III opportunities as well. If they really want you, they'll get the cost down to almost nothing. There are quite a few D-IIIs in this area that are very creative about "finding" extra money for football players they really want. In fact, it may come out that a D-III is cheaper than a D-II, especially with a 3.8 GPA to factor in for academic scholarships. Even though D-II is scholarship football the max is only 36 and many schools offer only a fraction of that. Millersville of the PSAC offers on 7 scholarships to split between their whole roster.

To sum things up. Preston's got good size, his 3.8 GPA would seem to point to having the intelligence to learn the college game and also to learn multiple positions on the o-line. I'd like to see the bench go up, as well as a 10-yd time instead of a 40, the 10 is much more relevant for linemen. I'd like to see improved hip flexibility as well, that will help with pass blocking.

That's my evaluation. D-II with room to improve.

[sdchargers96]

Thanks for your eval...please feel free to pass on his profile to your college coach contacts