FOOTBALL: Wilde Lake state final preview

By Andrew Conrad
Posted: December 4, 2008

Across the nation, former Wildecats and Doug DuVall pupils are pounding their chests and yelling, “LET’S GO!”

Tonight at 7 at M&T Bank Stadium, the Green and Gold will go for its sixth state championship in DuVall’s last game. Oh, you haven’t heard? DuVall is retiring after 36 years and more than 300 wins. He told me the other day that he’s trying to keep his retirement out of this, make this state championship game about this year’s team, etc. So to respect coach DuVall’s wishes, I will save the career retrospective until after tonight’s game, and focus on the game itself. I will throw this out, though: Towson University football coach Gordy Combs was let go; it was announced Monday. The search for his successor is on. I’ll leave it at that…

Now, to break down the battle of the ‘Lakes: Westlake (11-2) vs. Wilde Lake (12-1).

Six of the eight teams Westlake defeated during the regular season won three or fewer games, but the Wolverines have had quality wins in the playoffs, including a 37-0 shutout of Friendly, and a 24-21 win over 12-time state champion Seneca Valley last week at Seneca Valley.

The Wolverines’ two losses — to North Point (8-3) and Lackey (8-3) — indicate some vulnerability. Wilde Lake’s only loss, by comparison, was to undefeated defending state champion River Hill, 12-0, at River Hill’s homecoming.

Wilde Lake had some sloppy performances early in the season, but still managed to win those games, beating Atholton, Glenelg, Long Reach and Marriotts Ridge by a combined eight points.

Here’s the six (or four, or whatever it is) degrees of separation: Westlake lost to North Point, 24-13, which lost to Douglass, 32-10, which lost to River Hill, 21-6, which beat Wilde Lake, 12-0. Helpful? I didn’t think so.

Anyway, enough with the semantics, let’s take a look at the teams.

Westlake has Devon Smith (No. 2 in the program). He’s listed at 5 feet 7, 150 pounds, but he is FAST! He was a state champ last year in the indoor and outdoor sprints and he has been recruited to play football for Penn State. He’s the guy you need to look out for. He has scored just about all their points this season.

The Wolverines don’t have much of a passing game. Their quarterback has thrown eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and most of his passing production has come by getting the ball into the hands of Smith and allowing him to make plays.

Let’s take a look at how Wilde Lake has done against a team with a strong running attack. There’s no better example than River Hill, which features Michael Campanaro and Malek Redd.

So how did that go? Well, it was a split decision: the ‘Cats’ defense held Redd — who resembles Smith in size, speed, stature, and jersey number — to 10 yards on six carries. If they can do that against Smith, they’ll likely be state champs, and you can bet that DuVall has watched plenty of film and worked on a game plan to do just that. However, in that same game, Campanaro rushed for 175 yards (5.6 per carry). Wilde Lake held him out of the end zone, though, so the defensive effort was considered a success. It should be noted that it was rainy, windy and muddy that day. The field at M&T should be in good shape.

What it comes down to is that Wilde Lake has the players on defense to at least slow down Smith. Then Westlake’s other offensive options will have to come into play: sophomore quarterback Chris Istvan (7); 6-2, 175-pound receiver Brian Richards (20); Evan Harris (17) — who is more of a fullback-type at 6-foot, 220; and Antoine Reese (5), another mighty mite running back. They’re all good players, but Wilde Lake is used to defending against good players.

Wilde Lake, meanwhile, will look to move the ball with its own version of Devon Smith, senior Jarrel Epps (6), who is a few pounds bulkier than Smith and has put up impressive numbers. Senior Danny March gives Wilde Lake the edge at quarterback.

A big key is that, on average, the Wilde Lake line outweighs the Westlake line by about 20 pounds on offense and 30 pounds on defense. The average Wildecat is listed at 5-11, 196 pounds; the average Wolverine is 5-11, 187 pounds.

MaxPreps ranks Wilde Lake 5th and Westlake 10th.

PREDICTION: I’ve punched these numbers into the PredictaTron 3000 and after releasing some steam and expelling a few busted springs, this is what it spit out: DuVall wins his final game and closes his high school coaching career with a sixth state championship, 27-13.

Check back tonight for an injury update on Michael Campanaro, who hurt a hamstring in the state semifinal, and coverage of the Wilde Lake-Westlake game.

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