baltimoresun.com

« June 2009 | Main | September 2009 »

August 31, 2009

Calvert Hall wrestlers do meaningful summer service

Sometimes when students return to the classroom after the summer, a teacher will ask for an essay on "What I did on my summer vacation." Calvert Hall students are just returning this week, but when Calvert Hall's assistant principal Chuck Stembler heard about the wrestling team's summer service project, he didn't wait for school to start to ask for a story.

Varsity wrestling coach Roy Lobdell, who saw 17 wrestlers -- a little more than half of his roster -- take part in the program, he knew exactly who to put to work on the assignment.

Junior Forrest Rutledge, who received a letter Friday saying he had made the National Honor Society and is the expected starter at the 160-pound weight class, got the call and wrote about the experience.

"I thought it was a cool project," Rutledge said. "And I was sort of surprised that so many of my teammates took part. You'd have thought there would have only been five or six of us given it was summer vacation time."

Doug Heidrick, director of communications/coordinator of alumni reunions at Calvert Hall passed Rutledge's composition along to The Sun:

By Forrest Rutledge

While other high school students across the country were enjoying a relaxing, lazy summer, the Calvert Hall wrestling team decided to sacrifice some of their own time to help those who are often forgotten.

Unlike other service projects in the past, this summer the wrestling team chose to do something that would not only fulfill their service hour requirements, but also be part of something rewarding and challenging.

Under the leadership of Coach Roy Lobdell, the team took part in a four-day service project in which they spent five hours a day interacting with autistic children. This took place at Camp Koski, which is run by the family of Calvert Hall wrestler Luke Koski.

During this four day journey, each camper was assigned either one or two wrestlers (counselors) for the week. Each day the campers participated in activities such as horseback riding, hay rides/nature walks, musical sponge, building goat playgrounds, scavenger hunts, shaving cream fights, kayaking, frog/snake hunting, and in the case of camper Jake C., a little wrestling too- it is a wrestling service project isn't it?

While there was fun had by all, there were moments when the counselors had to deal with issues such as mediating arguments or working to encourage their campers to push beyond their self-imposed limits and step outside of their comfort zones. A goal of Camp Koski is to provide children with special needs the recourses and environment where they can face their challenges or barriers and sometimes smash them while having fun at the same time.

As a counselor, I can tell you that it was very rewarding to see my camper face his fear and go out to the middle of the pond on the last day, when only three days earlier he was terrified of even going ten yards out from the dock. Every counselor at Camp Koski could tell you a similar story and everybody came back rewarded from the experience.

By the end of the fourth day everybody at the camp, either as a camper or counselor, felt like they had given a lot of themselves and were eager to celebrate the end of a very successful week. After all the good byes and thank yous were exchanged between the counselors, the campers and their parents, all the counselors were eager for the celebratory cookout. After plenty of good food and some intense kayak wars in the pond, it was finally time to reflect on the epic four-day journey.

As we received our rewards of Hershey bars and Jolly Ranchers, we reflected on how much it really meant to these kids to have role models to spend time with and look up to. Hopefully everybody who took part in this service project took away more from it than they had planned on and will continue to do so in whatever they pursue.

It should also be noted that without the generosity of the Koski family, none of this would have been possible; so really they are the ones responsible for making the camp the great success it was.

Posted by Sandra McKee at 11:50 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Wrestling
        

Broadneck’s Tomchik commits to Penn

In deciding where to play college lacrosse, Broadneck senior Courtney Tomchik opted for a path few Baltimore-area girls have chosen. She verbally committed to the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn has ranked among NCAA Division I’s most successful programs in the past few years, reaching three straight final fours, but it hasn’t drawn a lot of recruits from this area. The Quakers’ roster for next spring includes just two Baltimore-area players: senior Barb Seamon (Roland Park) and sophomore Jen Hardesty (Westminster).

Tomchik is thrilled to follow them.

“When I went up there, I was talking to a few of the girls, and one of the girls, Katie Mazer – she just graduated -- she was excited to hear that I was from the Annapolis or Baltimore area,” said Tomchik, of the Bryn Mawr graduate. “She was excited that I was from her hometown, sort of, because they don’t have a lot girls from this area. They get a lot of girls from Philly and New York it seems like. I thought about that, because a lot girls around here look at the ACC schools. I don’t know anyone who’s going to Penn for lacrosse.”

Named one of Lacrosse Magazine's top rising seniors nationwide, Tomchik narrowed her college choices to Penn and Duke from a list that included Georgetown, Yale, North Carolina and Vanderbilt.

But lacrosse wasn’t the most important factor in Tomchik’s decision to attend Penn. She has applied to the university’s prestigious Wharton school of business. With a 4.26 weighted grade-point average, she ranks in the Top 20 in her Bruins class of 530 students.

“Going to an Ivy League school will be rewarding and I’ll graduate with an excellent education,” said Tomchik. “Wharton is the No. 1 business school in the world and I hope to get a degree in marketing or communications, because I’m interested in advertising and how businesses market themselves.”

In the meantime, Tomchik, an All-Anne Arundel County lacrosse player, should be one of the key contributors on the Bruins field hockey team this fall.

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 6:00 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Girls lacrosse
        

August 28, 2009

Brooks Webster named preseason All-SEC

brooks_webster.jpg Brooks Webster, a former All-Metro volleyball player at the Institute of Notre Dame, was named to the Preseason All-Southeastern Conference volleyball team.

A senior at Alabama, Webster led the SEC with 4.04 kills per game a year ago. She also had 287 digs and 45 blocks last season. The Crimson Tide kicks off its season Friday night in St. Louis at the SLU Active Ankle Challenge.

In 2005, Webster led the Indians to the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference title and a 20-0 record with a hitting percentage of .502. She is the older sister of Texas freshman Bailey Webster, last season's No. 1 recruit in the nation while at St. Paul's.

Baltimore Sun photo of Brooks Webster by Chiaki Kawajiri / Sept. 28, 2004

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 2:30 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Volleyball
        

Parkville to name field after county's first African-American football coach

Before Parkville’s football team kicks off its first home game Sept. 12 against Lansdowne, the Knights will rename their football field Yates Field in honor of Joseph Anthony Yates, Sr., Baltimore County’s first African-American football coach.

Yates, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 83, was the Knights' head football coach from 1971-1981, but he had a lasting impact on the community and the young people he taught and coached. The dedication will take place Saturday, Sept. 12 at 12:30 p.m.

joseph_yates.jpg

The legacy of Yates is not about coaching but character, said Ron Belinko, coordinator of athletics for Baltimore County, who coached football at Overlea at the time.

"The significance of Joe Yates in the community is the impact that he made on an almost totally white school. Color was overlooked when it came to Joe Yates. They looked and saw the character of the man and what he was teaching young people and how they responded to him," said Belinko, who coached against Yates in one of the county's biggest rivalries.

Yates came to Baltimore County in 1952 to teach at the Banneker School in Catonsville, according to his obituary that appeared in The Baltimore Sun on Jan. 27, 2006. He also taught at Sollers Point Junior-Senior High School and at Catonsville High before moving to Parkville High.

"That was at a time when he was one of maybe two African Americans in the whole building," Belinko said. "In the early 70s when Joe coached and the respect that he got from the Parkville community, you have to understand the demographics at the time. Probably for many of the students at Parkville, it was the first experience that they had with an African-American male that they all responded to and respected and looked to as a father figure."

Sun reporter Frederick Rasmussen, who wrote The Sun obituary, included a quote from Yates that appeared in the Parkville Reporter during the 1980s, stating that only four blacks were teaching physical education in the county at that time.

Rasmussen also included this quote from former Parkville assistant football coach Bob McCubbin: "Joe knew no color differential. He didn't want to be regarded as a black coach but rather as a person and a human being. He never made color an issue and never discussed it. He was very well accepted at Parkville and there were never any overt actions against him in classes or during games."

Belinko said Yates did not have great success as a football coach at Parkville, but that the honor of having the field named for him shows that his impact transcended football.

"At Parkville, they never had an outstanding record," Belinko said. "It wasn’t that he was coach of the year, it wasn’t that he won championships, it’s the fact that this stadium is being named after him for the character that he showed and for the role model he was for young people that he taught and coached. That’s a tremendous testament. That community and the graduates who still live in that community had that much respect for the man."

Yates certainly personified what coaching high school sports should be all about.

Handout photo of Joseph Anthony Yates Sr.

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 1:23 PM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Football
        

August 27, 2009

Stetka named baseball coach at John Carroll

John Carroll named Joe Stetka, The Baltimore Sun’s 2008 All-Metro Coach of the Year, the school’s varsity baseball coach.

Stetka coached at C. Milton Wright the past six years. stetka.JPG

As the Mustangs’ interim head coach in 2008, he took the varsity team to the Class 4A North regional title and the 4A state championship game, in which they lost to Sherwood, 7-6, in extra innings.

Stetka is also an associate scout for the Orioles and an instructor for Ripken Baseball.

Posted by Steve Gould at 6:28 PM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Baseball
        

Spalding, McDonogh girls soccer receive preseason accolades

The ESPN RISE national girls soccer rankings are out, and defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champ Archbishop Spalding and league runner-up McDonogh both placed in the top 20. Spalding, with a dominating defense and plenty of depth everywhere, comes in ranked sixth, while the Eagles, under first-year coach Harry Cannellakis, are No. 19.

Posted by Glenn Graham at 11:08 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Girls soccer
        

August 25, 2009

A look ahead at football polls

The Baltimore Sun's Varsity fall-season preview comes out Wednesday, Sept. 2, featuring players to watch, polls and more for football, boys and girls soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and boys and girls cross country.

But while you wait, high school sports Web site MDVarsity.com released its state football preseason media poll Tuesday. Powerhouse DeMatha heads up the Top 25, garnering 11 of 12 first-place votes from reporters state-wide. Local schools in the top 10 include Gilman (No. 4), Arundel (No. 5) and Loyola (No. 10), the defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champion.

Two of last year's state champions, River Hill (Class 2A) and Dunbar (Class 1A), follow at Nos. 11 and 12, respectively. Old Mill, Mount St. Joseph and Hereford are 18th, 19th and 20th. Class 2A state runner-up Eastern Tech is ranked 23rd.

For the full poll, go here.

Posted by Steve Gould at 12:23 PM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Football
        

August 20, 2009

Fallston's Harlee to have surgery to repair ACL

Fallston's Jess Harlee knew exactly what happened when she felt the pop in her left knee three weeks ago at a basketball tournament in Georgia.

She tore the anterior cruciate ligament -- a major stabilizing force in the knee and an injury that usually requires surgery and about six months of rehabilitation. Harlee will have surgery Friday.

That means she will miss at least some of her senior season -- a terrible blow for the Cougars, who went 28-0 last season and won their first state girls basketball championship in an improbable 65-62 victory over defending champion Paint Branch. A driven player known for diving for balls and sometimes crashing into the stands, Harlee scored 28 points -- 19 in the fourth quarter -- and hit two clutch free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining to lead the Cougars to the Class 3A title.

The injury, she said, apparently happened in two parts while she was playing with her Fairfax Stars Amateur Athletic Union team at the Nike Nationals. The pop came on the simplest of moves when she was off the ball.

“I actually jumped and tried to grab a steal and I twisted my knee, but I ended up going back in and playing that game. I hit a three-pointer with like 40 seconds left to go and that’s what won the game.

“I played in the next game and I was good the whole first half and in the first minute of the second half, I just took a step back and it popped. That’s when I was out. I thought it was [a torn ACL],” added Harlee, who was able to walk off the court although the knee hurt badly.

Three days later, a doctor confirmed her fears.

Harlee, who also played volleyball for the Cougars, has been helping out at volleyball practice this week, but she doesn’t relish the role of watching.

“I try to keep a positive outlook. That’s all I can do, but it’s going to be really hard to watch,” she said.

Harlee made an oral commitment to West Virginia last spring and the coaches were on hand watching her play when she got hurt. They told her, she said, that the injury would not affect her scholarship.

She does plan to get back on the court with the Cougars as soon as she can. She doesn’t want to sit out the whole year.

“I think West Virginia was hoping I would do that, but I really don’t want to. I played with one eye, so I don’t want to sit out when I know I could go back in,” said Harlee, who missed five games as a sophomore with a scratched retina.

Harlee plans to throw the same determination into her rehab that she throws into all of her games, including that state final, which few outside the No. 4 Cougars bench believed they could win.

Fallston coach Mike McTeague has most of the players back, but Harlee was certainly the centerpiece. The Cougars improved their schedule to include Archbishop Spalding and Roland Park with Harlee’s leadership in mind.

“Obviously -- and I hate to use the word kill -- but it’s going to kill us,” McTeague said. “She was leading scorer, leading rebounder, leading assist. She led in every category. She was the most talented player on the floor every time, every game. The kids looked to her and she had the leadership role.

“That being said, I think she made a huge contribution in the fact that the kids now see what can be done, they see how far they can go. There’s no replacing Jess, but last year, a couple people stepped up. We’re not going to be as good without her, but hopefully, she showed them something and they accomplished something with her that they can work on. I’m hoping she’ll be around and working with them.”

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 4:15 PM | | Comments (1)
        

St. Frances guard Hawkes commits to Xavier

Shatyra Hawkes, the 5-foot-3 dynamo who sparked St. Frances to the IAAM A Conference championship as a sophomore and led them to the runner-up spot last season as a junior, has made an oral commitment to play for Xavier.

Hawkes, who averaged 17 points and five assists last season for the No. 2 Panthers (26-3), said Xavier actively recruited her for a year and that she felt they wanted her on their roster more than any other team. She also liked their schedule.

“They play a lot more competition than the other schools I was looking at,” said Hawkes, who also considered Loyola, Towson, Radford, American and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. “I wanted to go somewhere competitive. I did see that they did good. They made the tournament and I thought it would be a good experience for me.”

Xavier, in Cincinnati, won the Atlantic-10 Conference regular-season title last season and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Division I tournament. The Musketeers (25-7), however, fell in the first round to Gonzaga.

Hawkes, who is considering a career in nursing, played Amateur Athletic Union basketball over the summer with the Maryland Lady Comets. She said she worked a lot on her passing and wants to continue to improve her passing game with the Panthers this winter.

“Xavier said they would play me at the 1 and the 2 (point guard and shooting guard positions), so I’m focusing on my passing, because most games, I looked to score. This year, I’ll look to pass more and if they need me to I’ll get my points.”

Unlike most players, Hawkes said she does not feel that the pressure is off just because she made a commitment. It's just in her nature to meet every challenge head on.

“It’s like I’ve just got to work harder and not let up,” she said, “because it’s going to get harder from now on.”

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 12:03 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Girls basketball
        

August 19, 2009

Big shake-up for Mount St. Joseph wrestling

Two of Mount St. Joseph's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and Maryland Independent Schools wrestling champions, Frankie and Tyler Goodwin, will be moving to Arundel High this fall.

Their Gaels teammate, Alex Rice, who was a runner-up in the MIAA and private schools state tournaments as a freshman in 2007 but sat out most of last season with a knee injury, is also leaving. He is expected to attend Chesapeake High, another Anne Arundel County public school.

"We've lost a couple studs," said Mount St. Joseph coach Kirk Salvo, who said he is also stepping down from MSJ's head coaching position. "It will bring us back to the pack a little. I think we would have been unstoppable this coming year if everyone had come back."

Salvo, who coached the Gaels to the MIAA championship last season, said his decision to step out of the head coaching job was based partly on economics and partly on family issues. He has children in high, middle and elementary schools, "and 17 weekends away from home is a little too much to put entirely on my wife," he said. "And financially on my end, again, it is a sign of the times. Economically, $5,000 for what is basically a full-time job for four months is asking a lot.

"I feel I've given to the program. The team, a large part of the team, will be seniors. I've coached them for three years, and they've heard my message. Now Paul [Triplett, former wrestling coach and current Mount St. Joseph athletic director] will step back in, and I think it is a good thing. They can't do better than having Paul Triplett."

Triplett led the Gaels to the Maryland Independent Schools Championship in 1995 and the MIAA title in each of his 11 years as head coach.

Meanwhile, at Arundel, Jim Rubush, who will be in his second year as the Wildcats' coach, said his timetable for winning a state public school title just got "bumped up."

"It's exciting news," Rubush said. "Two kids aren't going to win you a state championship. We need a few more of our kids to step up. But there is no question they'll put you up there in contention.

Senior Frankie Goodwin won the 119-pound MIAA and MIS state titles last season and was second in the National Preps competition. He finished with a 34-5 record and was a first-team Baltimore Sun All-Metro selection.

Tyler Goodwin will be a sophomore. Last season he placed first in the MIAA 112-pound class, compiling a 39-8 record. He was second-team All-Metro.

Rice recovered from his knee injury and this summer finished fifth at 130 pounds in the National Preps competition and sixth at 125 pounds in the world tournament in Reno, Nev.

"They're going to make us more competitive on more than one level," Rubush said. "Just as important as their winning matches will be the fact that they will bring our practice level up. I can assure you, everyone is ecstatic about the prospects."

Posted by Sandra McKee at 10:57 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Wrestling
        

Maryland wrestlers capture record number of All-American awards

A group of 54 Maryland high school wrestlers from 30 schools brought home 15 individual All-American awards from the Cadet and Junior National competition at USA Wrestling's National Championships in Fargo, N.D.

It is the highest number of All-Americans in state history, with the previous mark being 12.

Maryland's attack was led by double All-Americans Tyler Goodwin (119) and Frank Goodwin (125), who both attended Mt. St. Joseph last season, Bubba Scheffel (152) of Southern-Garrett, and Karl Green (285) of Mt. St. Joseph.

Also earning All-American honors were: David Mohler (84), Loyola; Cole Gallagher (98), Archbishop Spalding; Nathan Kraisser (112), Centennial; Eric Friedman (112), St. Paul's; Pat Prada (119), DeMatha; Eric Hoffman (135), Northern-Calvert; and Brady Massaro (140), Severna Park.

Maryland wrestlers won a total of 196 matches with 34 pins during the week-long event at North Dakota State University in mid-July. The competition, which drew more than 3,000 competitors from across the country, is considered the toughest tournament in the world for its age group, according to team leader Neil Adleberg and head coach Cary Kolat, a two-time NCAA champion and former Olympian and world silver medalist.

Posted by Sandra McKee at 9:11 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Wrestling
        

August 18, 2009

Arundel's Watson opts for UMass

When Arundel guard Talen Watson started looking at colleges, she looked well beyond just basketball. Planning to major in sports management and business with thoughts of becoming an ESPN anchor, Watson looked for the perfect blend of basketball and academics.

The 5-foot-7 All-Anne Arundel County guard found it at Massachusetts and has made an oral commitment to play for the Minutewomen of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Watson chose UMass over Seton Hall, Quinnipiac and Long Island.

“I just had a great time up there,” said Watson, of her official visit. “They showed me around campus and it was a blast. I had a lot of fun. What put it over the top was my major, sports management, is at that school and it’s No. 1 in the country. Whatever my major is, that’s what I needed to suit me, because I’m going to stay there for four years. I can’t play basketball forever.”

Watson had a breakout season last winter averaging 7.1 points and 3.9 assists as a point guard for the No. 7 Wildcats, who reached the state Class 4A semifinals.

During the summer, Watson played for Team Unique and she said she is looking forward to the high school season now that she has made her college decision.

“It feels great. The pressures is gone. I’m happy for me and my family. It’s right for everyone. I’m in a good situation,” Watson said.

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 4:31 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Girls basketball
        

Epps is Wilde Lake Players Club's first winner

The newly formed Wilde Lake Players Club has made Jarrel Epps the recipient of its first annual Wilde Lake Players Club scholarship of $1,500. Epps was a first team all-county player for the Wildecats. The 5-6, 150-pound running back compiled 919 yards on 106 carries and caught eight passes for 117 yards. He also scored 21 touchdowns.

Posted by Sandra McKee at 2:01 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Football
        

Arundel's Vails headed to Louisville

Two-time All-Metro forward Sheronne Vails, who helped the Arundel girls basketball team to two straight Class 4A final fours, has orally committed to play for Louisville.

Vails, 6 feet 5, averaged 11.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.8 blocks last season for the No. 7 Wildcats (22-5), who fell in the state semifinal after reaching the title game in 2007. Over the summer, she helped her Amateur Athletic Union team, the Fairfax Stars, reach the semifinals of the Nike Nationals.

Louisville coaches saw a lot of her this summer.

“I felt like they went after me the hardest,” Vails said. “They were at all of my AAU games that they could be. And I really enjoyed my official visit. I like the athletic program. They’re all one team. All the sports combine to one, and I like the atmosphere. I feel like I’m at home when I’m there.”

Vails opted for the Cardinals, who reached the national championship game for the first time last spring, over Duke, South Carolina and Wake Forest.

She said she communicated with former Louisville All-American Angel McCoughtry via the Internet and that McCoughtry, “told me it’s a good school.”

McCoughtry, an All-Metro forward at St. Frances before she played for the Cardinals and was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream, played a small part in Vails’ decision. Vails had seen her play when she was younger while McCoughtry played AAU basketball with Vails’ sister LaTavia, who went on to play at Robert Morris.

“She did [play a small part in the decision], because I’ve seen how she developed her game and became a better player there,” Vails said.

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 12:00 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Girls basketball
        

August 14, 2009

Maryland Futures baseball team undefeated

The "first ever" Maryland Futures baseball team sponsored by the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches, the state high school baseball coaches association, rallied from a four-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning of its final game to beat Illinois, 9-8, on Aug. 1, in the team's final game of the Midwest Classic Baseball Tournament in Plainfield, Ill.

The win allowed the Maryland team to finish undefeated with a 5-0 record.

Earlier in the day, Maryland knocked off previously unbeaten Indiana, 9-3. The Maryland Futures is made up of 18 of the top rising high school seniors in the state, as selected by the MSABC.

Among area players on the team are: Zach Andrews (Arundel), Michael Marsh (Chesapeake), Kyle Convissar (Severna Park), Travis Clark (Hammond), Dominic Fratantuono (Cardinal Gibbons), Travis Steele (Reservoir), Andrew Jenkins (Arundel), Zach Fitzpatrick (McDonogh), Zach Nadolny (Bel Air) and Jason Seitler (Chesapeake).

Posted by Sandra McKee at 5:35 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Baseball
        

Clark, Poets to open bid for state title No. 4

Devin Clark won’t be getting much sleep Friday night.

The Dunbar senior is much too eager to get on the football field Saturday morning when the three-time defending state Class 1A champion Poets kick off their season on the official first day of fall practice for Maryland public school teams.

"Wow, it’s a lot of excitement," said Clark, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end/right tackle. "Basically, this year is like everything to me, because ... I want to make a big impact. This is my last year and I’ve got to let people know who I am on and off the field."

A lot of people already know who Clark is. He didn’t start playing football until the eighth grade, but he has scholarship offers from UNLV, Towson and Morgan State. Set to be a four-year starter, he could become the Poets’ first four-time state champion.

Clark is always looking to improve his game. He went to several camps over the summer, including those at West Virginia, Lafayette and Temple, but, he said, the Poets’ summer training regimen was tough.

"The offseason workouts? It was crazy. I thought practice had started," he said with a laugh. "Oh my goodness. I think we’re in shape now.

"The first day of practice, I think is going to be a little different compared to other years. In other years, we would just run, do push-ups all day, all the drills. This year, I think it’ll be a little different, because everybody they want to play is in shape. We’ll probably jump right into it and start breaking apart people like who can do this and who can do that. I feel relieved that [the conditioning] is off my shoulders and now I’ve just got to get through the season."

The Poets will have a new look this fall. Gone is the big-play offensive ability of running back Tavon Austin, who took his collection of state records and headed off to West Virginia. Now the Poets have an exceptionally strong linebacking corps, which coach Lawrence Smith said some college coaches have pegged as the best in the country, at the heart of their title hopes.

But even with 22 seniors gone from last year’s squad and only five returning seniors, Clark said, the team is certainly aiming for a fourth straight title. Six transfers and a group of guys up from a JV team that went 11-0 and allowed only six points all of last season should help.

For Clark, winning state title No.4 would be the perfect end to his Dunbar years.

"That would be a God’s gift," Clark said. "That’s what I would call it, because just winning two alone shocked me. And then for the third time? That was amazing. That was a whole other planet. Just getting the fourth one, I would cherish it a lot. Even if we don’t make it, I’m still going to cherish my year, because I know how far I came and how far the program came. But it would make me real happy in the future to look back and think, 'I won four state championships.'"

Maybe he’ll dream about that Friday night -- if he ever gets to sleep.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 6:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Football
        
Keep reading
Recent entries
Archives
Categories
Most Recent Comments
-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Baltimore Sun coverage
Photo galleries

Blog updates
Recent updates to baltimoresun.com sports blogs  Subscribe to this feed
Stay connected