CUMBERLAND — Come playoff time, all you need to do is find a way. On Friday night, Fort Hill found a way.
The Sentinels (10-0) won a defensive slugfest and took down crosstown rival Allegany (6-5) for the second time in three weeks, 10-0, to advance to the state quarterfinals.
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“It was one of those old-school classic Fort Hill-Allegany games,” said Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire.
“I asked our kids to give us a chance in a four-quarter game, and they did that,” said Allegany head coach Bryan Hansel. “Defensively, we played lights out. Offensively, I thought we had some glimpses. We hit some big shots, but we just couldn’t take that next step.
“When you go into the fourth quarter in a tight game, you just want a chance to win it in the fourth. To not get that chance, to not have that drive to win it or stop to win it, is rough. But I’m proud of these kids.”
Fort Hill struck first on a patented Sentinel drive, spanning 12 plays and lasting just over five minutes, with Bobby Brauer booting a 39-yard field goal at 6:54 in the first.
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The Sentinels converted a pair of fourth downs on the opening drive, with Neek Taylor gaining nine on fourth-and-3 on the fourth play of the game and Levi House rushing two yards past the sticks on fourth-and-five.
Allegany responded with a run for 27 yards by Maddox Hensel on the ensuing play from scrimmage.
Then, with Khiante Bible returning after hand surgery kept him out the last two weeks, Bible darted 24 yards up the right side to reach the Fort Hill 29.
The Campers punted four plays later after losing four yards on first down and three on third down.
Taking a 3-0 lead into the second, the Sentinels finally got some offense going with a 10-yard run by Taylor preceding 10- and 14-yard gains by Carson Bender.
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Three plays later, on third-and-8, Allegany’s Wade Cunningham came up with the first of his two interceptions, diving for the ball at the Alco 9 with 6:02 remaining in the half.
Allegany needed to pick up a pair of third-down conversions on the ensuing drive to try to pick up points before the break, with Kyran Freeman hauling in a pass for 29 yards on third-and-10 to bring the blue side of Greenway to life.
Alco quarterback Dylan Blank delivered another strike five plays later on a 35-yard pass over the top to Trevin Cox to the Fort Hill 18.
The Campers were forced to try a field goal with 14 ticks before halftime, but the kick was low.
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Allegany fumbled the ball on the second play of the second half, with Fort Hill’s Christian Riley recovering at the Campers’ 47.
Four plays later, following a 41-yard pass from Levi House to Taylor to move the chains, Bender cruised in from seven yards out and a 10-0 lead after Brauer’s point-after try at 9:25.
The Sentinels forced a three-and-out on Allegany’s ensuing drive, but Cunningham came up with another interception two plays later.
The Campers grabbed momentum by the horns on their second play from scrimmage when Alex Spriggs dove to catch a pass for a gain of 28 at the Fort Hill 39.
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Allegany moved down to the 17 for a third-and-2, but two players went in motion at the same time and the Campers were moved back five yards.
Following an incomplete pass, a 39-yard field goal went wide right with 2:01 to go in the third.
Fort Hill took the sting out of the game with a drive that lasted six minutes and three seconds but only went 29 yards on a series where five flags were thrown — the Sentinels were penalized three times for 40 yards and Allegany had two for 28 yards.
Taylor intercepted an Allegany pass three plays later and Fort Hill kneeled out the clock after a 22-yard run by Bender to move the chains.
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“I thought we did a great job of filling the gaps,” Hansel said of his defense. “We flew to the football tonight. It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from one of our defenses. They committed to the game plan and they executed.”
Bender led the rushing attack with 14 carries for 95 yards.
Taylor added 18 rushes for 74 yards. House went 5 of 9 through the air for 66 yards.
The Sentinel defense held Allegany to only 82 yards rushing — outside of Allegany’s first two offensive plays, the Campers rushed for 31 yards.
“I feel like we were better, more sound this week on defense,” said Alkire. “We flew to the football a lot. We made some big plays.”
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Hensel led with seven carries for 46 yards and Bible had 13 carries for 43 yards.
Fort Hill, the top overall seed in Class 1A, will face a state title game rematch next week when it hosts Patuxent, who took down the Sentinels, 35-28, in Annapolis a year ago.
“This is the nature of the beast with the playoffs,” Alkire said. “If you don’t show up, you’re going to go home. We have to have a good week at practice.
“We’ll go back and watch film and come out ready to play. We know Patuxent is going to have a good game plan coming out here and we need to play our best game to be able to beat them.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
