Maryland High School Football Kicks Off 2014 Season

Middletown High School vs. Westminster High School 9/5/14. Credit: Wayne Lee Dutrow

The top four teams from last year’s four divisions of Maryland State competition are all to be found in the MaxPreps overall top 10 rankings as the new year begins. Each was ranked (as of 9/2) #1 in their own division.  2013 division 3A champ Franklin High School of Reisterstown was #3 overall (behind two private schools), 4A champion Northwest was #4, the powerful multiple-year 2A champion Middletown Knights were #7, and 1A powerhouse Fort Hill was at #10.

Let’s look at how each of last year’s four state champions began the 2014 Maryland high school football season …

2A Middletown

Middletown High School vs. Westminster High School 9/5/14. Credit: Wayne Lee Dutrow

The longest winning streak in Maryland belonged to Middletown with 36 consecutive wins including three straight state championships. But the 2014 season got off to an immediately bad start. New starting quarterback Will Davis was injured on the first snap of the game and was unable to return.

Trailing the Westminster Owls 21-13, the Knights closed to 21-19 with 4:36 remaining in the game. But a sack on the two-point conversion prevented a tie and there was no further scoring.

Middletown graduated 25 seniors including the state defensive player of the year in Rick Leonard—now at Florida State. But the Knights under Coach Kevin Lynott will likely bounce back from this and be a factor in the state playoffs again.

4A Northwest

The Jaguars of Northwest High School were overachievers in 2013 and caught people by surprise with their late-season run to the state title. That won’t be possible this year, as they have re-tooled and look poised to play at the highest level.

The Jags opened the 2014 season with a 43-0 victory over Colonel Zadok Magruder High School.

3A Franklin

Franklin HS out of Reisterstown suffered a 35-24 loss to a very good Calvert Hall squad to open their 2014 season. Franklin gave up 15 point in the final seven minutes on a pair of TDs and a safety.

The Indians also lost to Calvert Hall last year in the opening game. The Cardinals, a private school out of Towson, had already played one game this season against a California team.

1A Fort Hill

Fort Hill High School in Cumberland defeated the Chestnut Ridge Lions of New Paris, PA by the score of 33-7. Ty Johnson of the Sentinels ran for 145 yards on 12 carries in the victory. The win is the 15^th consecutive one for the always powerful Western Maryland high school with a stadium built in 1937 that is larger than many college facilities.