River Hill and Loyola state cases for No. 1
No. 1 River Hill won again Friday night, crushing No. 12 Marriotts Ridge, 41-0, to improve its record to 7-0.
No. 2-ranked Loyola won Saturday afternoon, 20-7, over No. 6 Mount St. Joseph. The Dons' starting quarterback Leon Kinnard put his team up 7-0 on a 7-yard run before leaving the game with a broken leg.
It will be interesting to see what happens now with Loyola. Will the Dons continue to win by dominating their opposition? And, if they do, will the debate over who is really the best team in the area -- River Hill or Loyola -- intensify?
The debate has raged for two seasons now.
A year ago, it was River Hill No. 1 and Dunbar No. 2, but Dunbar was often said to have a tougher schedule than River Hill. Both teams finished undefeated.
This season, with River Hill ranked No. 1 and Loyola No. 2, it's the same argument.
Loyola plays in the very well-respected Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association, while River Hill competes in Howard County, which is deemed not to be as competitive from top to bottom as the MIAA.
But River Hill just keeps winning -- and winning big. The Hawks have lost just one game in their last 35. And at River Hill, the Hawks work just as hard in their practices as any other team and put up big numbers to back up their claims. The 41 points they scored against The Baltimore Sun's No. 12-ranked team was their smallest score this season, but the game wasn't close.
At practice, the day before playing Marriotts Ridge, junior right tackle Max Coale admitted the debate and the seeming lack of respect for the Hawks is getting to be a little frustrating.
"We can only play as hard as we can play," Coale said. "If people don't believe in us, OK. We do. We'd love to play Loyola."
Last season, the only close game River Hill had, the only game in which it did not lead from start to finish, was the state championship game it won by seven points against Eastern Tech, currently ranked No. 5.
"That win felt so good," Coale said. "We got behind and even our fans wondered if we had enough spirit to get back up on the horse."
The Hawks had the spirit and if Coale is any example, they haven't lost any of it this season.
"We work our tails off," he said. "We deserve respect because we work our tails off to get it."
Loyola does, too. The debate will continue.
-- Sandra McKee
Comments
They maybe #1 for the Baltimore area but none of theese two teams are State #1. They would get crushed by the likes of Good Counsel,Quince Orchard or Roosevelt. Good Baltimore Teams though but not Tops in the State.
Posted by: Steve | October 20, 2008 12:41 PM
There is no real debate. Loyola is the better team, and by a healthy margin. That's not to say that River Hill is not a very good team. I am sure that they play as hard as they can, and that they work their tails off, as the young man said. That hard work, and their record, entitles them to respect but not to the No 1 ranking.
Putting the Hawks above Loyola is the equivalent of saying that they would beat the Dons. In a year when Delmarva won the championship of the South Atlantic League and the Orioles won the World Series, would you say the Shorebirds would beat the O's?
Posted by: Harvey Wilcox | October 20, 2008 12:42 PM
As a Don myself, there was the same debate between Us and Hereford. Fact: The winner of the MIAA is typically as good as any team in the state, Dons Dominance over some regional powerhouses ( last year over nationally ranked Fork Union) drives the point home. Year in and year out most Loyola and Gilman teams are among the best in the state.
Maybe the Sun and Creig Northop could sponsor a game between the winner of the MIAA the Top Public school team in the state.
Posted by: T Mays | October 23, 2008 11:19 PM
Gilman can beat any team in montgomery county.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 24, 2008 9:15 AM
Gilman can beat any team in Montgomery County, Gilman plays and beats teams like DeMatha and Bergen Catholic. Both Loyola and Gilman are year in and year out some of the best teams in Maryland.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 24, 2008 5:26 PM
Gilman COULD NOT beat most teams in MC or PG for that matter. Baltimore area football is normally not as strong as DC area FB.
Posted by: Sandor | October 26, 2008 9:00 AM
Well my son plays for river hill and he also played for gilman from 7th grade through the 10th grade. He says the only difference is the O and D- lines are a little bigger in the MIAA but he said its' not overly significant. He played for Biff and made varsity as a soph. He says having played for both he thinks it would be a close game but that River hill would win. Having said that, to Steve riverhill had early scrimmages with Arundel, Quince Orchard, and Sherwood. They blanked QO 21-0 and beat Arundel and sherwood in solid fashion. It was only a scrimmage but when you line it up everyone wants to win or at least look good. Im surprised no one has mentioned this before
Posted by: kevin | October 27, 2008 12:45 PM
The only way anybody will know how good River Hill is if they schedule an MIAA team or Good Counsel or Dematha. Easter Tech squesked by Calvert Hall by 1 point this year and thy are in last place in the MIAA.
If Eastern Tech can schedule a private school why can't River Hill. I'm sure there pretty good but doubt they could play with Loyola who has played much better competition or Good Counsel.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 2, 2008 6:15 PM
I've lived here for 22 years now, and have always wondered why all the teams don't play each other in the state tournament? Why have a Catholic school and public school separation? Have leagues for regular season play, maybe some teams play out of league, but mix them all in the tournament. Then we'd know who's best. That's the way the do all sports in Ohio, where I grew up.
Posted by: randy | November 4, 2008 8:21 PM
Guys,
I am sorry. But there isnt a snowballs' chance in %^&* that a Baltimore team could beat Good Counsel out of MC. The Montgomery/ DC/ VA teams are losing by 40+ per game to GC (early 3Q score). Their coach has 7 or 8 MD state titles to his credit - he knows what he is doing and has been doing it since the early 70's. Now he is pounding the WCAC teams as the head coach at GC for the past 6 years. They actually let up on DeMatha in the ESPN game. It was a total beat down. Generally, it can be said that DC has better teams - because there are probably twice as many to choose from. However, this year they are just an overwhelming squad and there isnt a team in DC they couldn't throw around by half time. I am not knocking Baltimore. It's that nobody can touch GC this year. I agree - while it would be hard to schedule - they should all play annually to settle this after their respective league championships.
Posted by: DOKSTER | November 11, 2008 4:05 PM
Century's passing game will crush river hill. # 1 will lose by 24+
Posted by: matt hart | November 22, 2008 7:04 PM
OOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKK ! maybe the other way around should be a good game though.
Posted by: kmoore | November 27, 2008 9:19 AM
So River Hill didn't get crushed????
:)
Posted by: EC | November 28, 2008 10:11 PM
Randy,
Loyola outscored their 11 opponents 436-76; an average score of 40-7 this year, including victories against Gonzaga (42-0) and Georgetown Prep(35-7).; both of Montgomery County. Don't tell me no Balt. Co. team could beat Good Counsel. Heck, they beat Gilman 31-20! They had 4 shutouts, and were ranked by Max Preps as # 1 above River Hill with 2 weeks left in the season. Then, they won their last 2 games 35-7 and 35-0 and finished number three!!?? I guess the sportswiters are mostly from DC area (biased).
Posted by: Brendan | December 23, 2008 10:30 AM