Jordan Metzger and Josh Brown are no longer trivia answers.
On Oct. 29, 2005, Metzger caught a touchdown for Long Reach High in the final minute of its homecoming game against River Hill. Brown followed with a two-point conversion run, lifting the Lightning past the Hawks, 15-14.
It was the last time River Hill lost to a Howard County foe until last Friday when Atholton shut down the Clarksville power, 10-0. It ended the Hawks’ 48-game win streak against Howard County competition including playoffs.
Here’s some numbers from the streak…
46: Regular season victories against Howard County teams (River Hill defeated Long Reach in 2005 regionals and Atholton in 2009 regionals)
22: Points scored by the Hawks in a 22-7 decision Nov. 4, 2005 which started River Hill’s streak.
63: Largest margin of victory overall and road (63-0 vs. Mount Hebron, 2008)
15: Closest margin on road (22-7 vs. Mount Hebron, 2005)
57: Largest margin of victory at home (57-0 vs. Hammond, 2007)
4: Closest margin of victory at home (13-9 vs. Glenelg, 2006)
35.1: Average margin of victory
20: Shutouts
1025-150: Points scored/allowed in home games
First half review
Here’s some tidbits from the opening weeks of the season…
11: Number of unbeaten teams with Annapolis Area Christian, Arundel, Baltimore Lutheran, Boys’ Latin, Calvert Hall College, Fallston, Forest Park, Franklin, North Harford, South Carroll and Western Tech.
15: Number of winless teams. Chesapeake-Anne Arundel has the area’s longest streak at 18 games.
23: Consecutive regular season wins by Arundel in Anne Arundel County play.
276: Yards rushing by Darius Jennings in Gilman School’s 35-10 rout of DeMatha Catholic Sept. 17. It’s the top individual rushing performance of the season so far.
340: Yards passing by Century’s Ryan Thorndset against Tuscarora in a 35-34 overtime victory Sept. 10. Thorndset passed for 290 yards and three touchdowns over the last 1 ½ quarter of regulation.
220: Yards receiving by Havre de Grace’s Monty Werts Oct. 1 against Elkton. Werts also caught three touchdown passes in the Warriors’ 35-8 victory.
3: Points Arundel’s high-octane offense produced against Broadneck. The Wildcats won, 10-6, thanks to returning the game’s opening kickoff. The Bruins, who’ve allowed two offensive touchdowns in 20 quarters, may be the area’s best defensive unit.
94: Combined points by St. John’s Catholic Prep and John Carroll Sept. 17. The Patriots rushed for a school-record 438 yards while St. John’s quarterback Nick Pfeiffer threw for 426 yards and six touchdowns.
69: Points scored by Westminster in its victory over F. Scott Key, setting a Carroll County record and, also, the highest single game output by an area team this season. Garrett Bean and Romy Cheese combined for 210 yards receiving and Tyler Codd threw four touchdowns in the first half.
Bean, Cheese and Codd. Anyone hungry?
Looking ahead
Several storylines will develop over the final six weeks of the season. Here’s a league-by-league overview.
Anne Arundel County: With Old Mill and Broadneck in the rearview, Arundel should cruise to the league title and the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A East Region. Broadneck and Old Mill meet in the regular season finale with the winner gaining the No. 2 seed. Though 4-1 South River is outside looking in the region race and will have to beat either Old Mill or Broadneck to have a shot at qualifying.
Baltimore City: Poly is the lone unbeaten in Division I with Dunbar, City College, Patterson and Edmondson with one loss. There’s a good chance of another tie for the title. Defending champ Forest Park and Douglass appear to be the class of Division II. They’re set to meet Oct. 29 at Douglass.
Baltimore County: Western Tech is 5-0 overall, and tied with three teams, Dundalk, Owings Mills and Sparrows Point atop the 1A league standings. They’ll play each other over the final five weeks. Defending Class 2A state champ Eastern Tech is the early favorite in 2A/3A but has co-leaders Catonsville and Towson back-to-back weeks.
Franklin and Perry Hall are unbeaten in 3A/4A behind some offensive firepower while Hereford was given new life after a thrilling come-from-behind win over Eastern Tech in week two. Franklin has Perry Hall (Oct. 15) and Hereford (Oct. 22) and Perry Hall closes the regular season at Hereford.
Howard County: The chase is on. River Hill’s loss to Atholton last week left four teams (River Hill, Hammond, Howard and Wilde Lake; 4-1) tied at the top with rejuvenated Atholton (3-2) a game out. At the preseason meeting back in August, several coaches thought the league would be balanced. They were right.
MIAA A: Gilman was off last week after bashing Georgetown Prep in its A Conference debut a couple weeks ago. The Greyhounds can’t afford to be sluggish Friday against red hot Calvert Hall. The defending champs still have improved Loyola and Mount St. Joseph and unbeaten McDonogh left.
MIAA B: Defending champ Spalding and last year’s finalist Boys’ Latin have steamrolled through the league in the early weeks, but Archbishop Curley and St. Paul’s School are on the cusp. The Friars can put themselves right in the middle of the title game hunt with a win at home over the Cavaliers Friday. St. Paul’s finishes the season with Spalding and Boys’ Latin. The Lakers and Spalding meet next weekend in Severn in a finals’ rematch.
MIAA C: It’s a two-team race with unbeaten Annapolis Area Christian and Baltimore Lutheran. The Eagles host the Saints at Arundel Friday evening with the rematch for the division crown Oct. 30 in Towson.
UCBAC: Unbeaten North Harford and Fallston meet in the first key meeting in the Chesapeake race. Joppatowne has rolled off three straight impressive decisions since a season-opening loss at Perry Hall. Other than a blowout loss at Calvert Hall, Havre de Grace has looked strong.
In the Susquehanna, Edgewood and Rising Sun meet Friday for sole possession of first. Bohemia Manor, Patterson Mill and Perryville all have one loss as the winner won’t likely be decided before the final week of regular season.
