(Enlarge) Wilde Lake High School coach Doug DuVall talks with his players during practice Dec. 2 on the turf field at Cedar Lane Park, in Columbia. DuVall will coach his final game for the Wildecats tonight in the Class 3A state championship at M&T Bank Stadium, in Baltimore. (Staff photo by Todd Spoth)

Since 1972, Doug DuVall has notched more than 300 wins and led five Wilde Lake squads to state championships. Tonight, in his final game as head coach, he'll have the chance to earn one more.

In order to do so, DuVall and the Wildecats (12-1) will have to hold off a hot Westlake Wolverine team searching for its first state title. Westlake (11-2) is coming off a 24-21 overtime win over top-seeded Seneca Valley in the other state semifinal Nov. 28.

DuVall said he has had trouble answering questions about how he feels about coaching his last game.

"I've been sidestepping them a lot, trying to keep the emotional side out of it. It's the last game of my career, but I'm trying not to make this about Doug DuVall," he said. "I'm trying to treat this like any other state championship game," he said, with a chuckle at the prospect of a state championship game being a regular occurrence, "Because this group of kids has been so great."

Wilde Lake has hardly stumbled into the final itself. The Wildecats enter the Class 3A championship game at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium at 7 p.m. after averaging 40 points per game in their past two outings, including a 42-16 rout of perennial contender Hereford (10-3) Nov. 28 in its state semifinal.

To go along with a running attack that has been churning out yards, the defense has been stout, allowing just 15.2 points per game. In the win over Hereford, the Wildecats picked off two passes and recovered four fumbles, including two in the first six minutes that helped them build a 21-0 lead.

Knocking the ball away from runners is something that Wilde Lake has focused on in practice, DuVall said.

"Stripping the ball, you got to do it in the playoffs because everybody does it. You could see them trying to rip that baby out, too. When you get to the end, and you do little stuff like that it makes all the difference. You got to get that ball when you can," he said.

The Wildecats' run may have surprised some observers, but there is plenty of motivation to take the next step for the returning players who know the pain of last season's 35-6 loss at Damascus in the state semifinals, said senior Danny March.

"Every day, that's all we talked about. We fell short last year and we weren't going to let that happen again. We have playmakers on our team this year and we were just ready to play," said March, the team's quarterback and leading tackler on defense.

Of course, the fact that it is DuVall's last season also provided a spark.

"We definitely wanted to get this one for coach DuVall," senior running back and safety Jarrel Epps said after the Hereford win, which was the coach's final home game.

Epps had a large role in the win. He returned the opening kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, his first of three scores in the opening quarter. In the fourth quarter, he darted to the outside and broke away for a 52-yard touchdown run that helped stifle a Hereford comeback bid.

In a Nostradamus-like turn, Epps said after the game he actually predicted the four-TD performance.

"I told my team and my cousin (senior defensive end Chaz Cousins-Lee) that I was going to (score four touchdowns) and he was like, 'You got to do it then,' and I did it," said Epps, who also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter.

Despite the lopsided score, Hereford was able to move the ball at times in the second half.

The Baltimore County team drove the ball 56 yards on the first drive of the second half before failing to convert on a fourth-and-goal from the Wilde Lake 10. After a 61-yard touchdown drive on their ensuing possession, they again drove the ball to the Wilde Lake 4-yard line before again being stopped on fourth down.

"(Wilde Lake) played a great game and took advantage of our mistakes," Hereford quarterback David Wood said. "We just got behind early and it just hurts. It gets you down and it's hard to come back."

Meanwhile, Hereford could not find an answer for the Wilde Lake running attack. March, Epps, junior Christian Hough and senior Mike Fields combined for more than 250 yards on the ground.

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