Centennial finished the season 7-3 as the defense allowed only 104 points over 10 games; the three shutouts included the season opener against Howard (8-0) and the season finale against Marriotts Ridge (14-0).

Two of Centennial's losses were by a combined three points (7-6 to Atholton and 16-14 to Wilde Lake).

Offensively, the Eagles were led by Matt Harbinson, who threw for 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions and rushed for over 300 yards. Centennial's group of solid running backs, led by Frank Bloom, Austin Kemp, Sammy Duffee and Garrett Kelly, helped the team rush for over 1,800 yards.

Defensively, Centennial was led by Brian Hashimoto, Josh Melikar, Sammy Duffee and Austin Kemp. Kemp led the team with over 70 tackles, 18 for a loss.

"The highlight of our season came in week six when we were playing undefeated Glenelg at Glenelg. With a 16-8 lead, Glenelg used a drive of over 12 minutes to get first and goal at our one yard line. Our defense held, capped off on fourth and goal where Kemp sacked the QB for a four-yard loss," coach Josh Levine said.

Long Reach started the season in August with 42 freshmen and six sophomores. Coach Art Hicks Jr., who has been at Long Reach for 10 years, says he is very proud of how his freshmen from last year's squad moved up to varsity this year; most started and all contributed on both sides of the ball. Hicks knows that if he had those players this year it would have been scary at the JV level.

Freshmen running backs Allen Cross, Michael Evans, Fabian Shah, Andrew Jean-Pierre and Chris Trado provided the bulk of the running game, while freshmen quarterback Elijah Harris, receivers Josh Loveless, Lee Walker and Ryan Krumlauf did very well in the spread offense. Freshmen linemen Jason Kindel Jr., Allan Lobo, John Pickett, Obed Phanor and Adam Mercado all played well providing blocking and protection. Freshmen Kashawn Montgomery, Tyler Johnson, Matthew Brown and Nick King anchored a solid defensive line. Freshmen Nieko Evans and Hamm Mukasa shored up the secondary. Sophomore punter/safety Jeff Holtzclaw did a great job.

The "team has committed to the classroom and the weight room for the 2009 season," Hicks said. "The goal at Long Reach is to get back to winning football, tough dominating defense and a solid running game ... although this season was disappointing, the future looks very bright at Long Reach High for JV and varsity."

Marriotts Ridge was 2-8 this year. The defensive leaders were Wesley Wyatt, Dan Cho, Hyeon Kim and Michael Roche (top tacklers). Adam Suarez paced the offense with 15 rushing touchdowns. He had two games with four TDs. Ian Hamilton anchored the offensive and defensive lines.

"The start of the season was not as strong as (we) would have liked it to be but with consistent improvement (we) were able to finish the season strong," said Mt. Hebron coach Tommy Tittsworth, whose team went 4-6.

Contributing offensively were Donnell Smith and Nevin John at running back, Justin Garber at center, and Brian Comisky and Ryan Fetzer at receiver. Some of the defensive contributors were Steven Schultz at middle linebacker, Chandler Hoffman at outside linebacker and Kris Leach at nose. Much of the team's improvement had to do with the strong leadership qualities displayed by Teddy Trapuzzano and Malique Smith, both of whom contributed on offense and defense.

The biggest accomplishment this year, according to Tittsworth, had nothing to do with winning but rather the consistent improvement of everyone on the team and the unified belief that the players had of "big team, little me."

Oakland Mills had its best season in a number of years, going 8-2. The team had come together long before the season with lifting and running. That rolled into the season with a lot of momentum. Each of the 47 team members was empowered in his specific assignments. Each player taught his job to the man below him so that every player was able to play.

"That provided us with 47 team leaders all willing and all capable to be successful. That mindset allowed for second- and third-string players to see action in six of our 10 games, which will prove beneficial in the years to come. The kids really enjoyed being around one another and working for one another. They tutored one another in classes as well as helping a teammate complete his Eagle project for Boy Scouts," coach Jim Di Pietro said.

The offense was led by sophomore QB Jarrod Montoya, whose passes to Greg Whittington, Terrence Drew and Troy Schofield were feared throughout the county. Equally effective was the running game led by sophomore Chris Childers and freshman Terrence Childs.

Two offensive attacks could not have happened without strong line play led by sophomore center Joey Yarn and Luke Schurman. The Scorpion defense was also a force. The team only allowed 98 points on the season. Sophomores Anthony Hughes, Tenard Childs and Zach Hughes led the defense.

First-year sophomore kicker Jon Scheer recorded three touchbacks.

The athletes benefited from the coaching of the whole staff as Oakland Mills did not have a traditional JV or varsity football staff but instead used a program-wide offensive and defensive staff.

"The future is bright for football at the Mill as we look forward to keeping this core group of young men together," Di Pietro said.

River Hill was led by a strong offensive line with Danny Gibbs (LT), Corey Schwab (LG), Breaon Hebron (C), Nate Shapiro (RG), and Adam Berman (RT) all starting. They led a three pronged rushing attack, quarterbacked by Harry McLaughlin. The offense scored a total of 366 points, a school record for JV. The defense was led by C.J.Kempler on the defensive line and an outstanding linebacker group of Emmett Brew, Riley Davis and Max Williams. The secondary featured Nate Norwood, Nick Clay and Raamah Vaughn. The defense gave up a total of 88 points for an average of only 8.8 per game.
John McMichael was the offensive player of the year, Max Williams was defensive player of the year and Jordan Griffin was the teams most valuable player.

Updated Dec. 3, 2008.

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