Daniels breaks Turkey Day/Homecoming touchdown record with 5

Oct. 29—CUMBERLAND — Two years to the day was one of the worst days of Jabril Daniels' life. Saturday was one of the best.

Two years ago, Daniels was just getting his feet wet at the high school football level as a freshman on Fort Hill's junior varsity team. Two days prior to Homecoming that year, his brother, Saiquan Jenkins, was fatally stabbed near Fort Hill High School.

On Saturday, Daniels broke the Turkey Day/Homecoming single-game touchdown record, scoring five times on the ground to break the previous record of four, held by Dalton Hillegas at Turkey Day in 1957.

"First off, I just want to thank God and my offensive line," Daniels said after Fort Hill's 47-21 victory. "I'm going 20, 25 yards without getting touched. All thanks to them."

Roughly six months after his brother's passing in 2021, Daniels' father died.

Daniels' story, which is far from being finished writing, is one that could have turned out drastically different.

"This kid could've went the other way," said Mike Allen, father of 2022 Offensive Player of the Year Mikey Allen, who is currently playing football at Southern Utah under former Frostburg State head coach DeLane Fitzgerald.

Since his father's passing, the Allens have taken Daniels under their wing and allowed him to live with them while attending Fort Hill.

"He could've quit on life," Mike Allen continued. "He chose to stay up here. Mikey put his arm around him as his little brother before leaving for school. Jabril stayed here and stuck it out.

"The growth I've seen in him over the last year has been phenomenal. Last year he was a sophomore and frustrated because he wasn't getting reps at first, but me and the coaching staff told him just to wait it out and be patient because his time will come.

"Although it was frustrating, look at what happened. He came in at fullback last year and helped carry that team to a state title. This year, he's one of the best players in the area on either side of the ball."

Saturday was the first time Daniels' family — much of whom live near Baltimore — has been able to make it to one of his games this season, and he put on a performance that he and his family won't soon forget.

"It feels good to play like this in front of my family," Daniels said. "It's the first game they've been able to make it to all season and I scored five touchdowns. It feels so, so good."

"With Saturday being the two-year anniversary of Saiquan's passing, it makes it real special for Jabril," Allen added. "It makes me tear up because Jabril isn't a kid that shows emotion, but I can tell like when his mother comes up to visit him, how much these things mean to him even if he won't show it.

"I knew today was going to be his day. It's a breath of fresh air to see a story like his and it needs to be told."

Daniels scored the game's first four touchdowns, reaching the end zone on runs of 36 and 6 yards in the opening frame.

"I'm very proud of him," said Tristan Ross, who was the game's second-leading rusher with 135 yards on 12 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. "He's come a really long way with everything that he's had to deal with, so I'm really proud of him."

Daniels, a junior tailback, gave the Sentinels a 27-0 halftime lead after touchdown runs of 16 and 8 in the second quarter.

"It's a real big deal," said Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire. "Today's the two-year anniversary of Quan's death. Jabril never said anything about it but I know that it was weighing on his mind. To be able to have a performance like this is a huge deal for Jabril and his family. I'm really happy to see it."

Following his third touchdown of the afternoon, Daniels held up three fingers in honor of his brother, who wore No. 3, and then pointed to the sky.

Daniels honors his brother in both his football performances and this year wearing the No. 3 jersey that has now become synonymous with Fort Hill football.

"It's been a real pleasure to have him in our home," Allen said. "He does everything he has to do and has had to grow up fast due to his circumstances. You couldn't ask for a better kid."

Daniels capped off his performance with a 2-yard touchdown run at 4:58 in the third quarter, giving the Sentinels a 34-7 lead and breaking Hillegas' record.

The talent of Daniels speaks for itself, and he described the Sentinels' line play Saturday perhaps better than anyone else could: "Dominant."

"I love to brag about this because I think our backs are the most improved part of our team since early in the season," said Carter Hess, the Sentinels' starting right tackle and a commit to Division I Fordham. "They're really reading our blocks.

"Up front we have this thing we've been doing this season where we're trying to get as many pancakes as we can. We were trying to get to 100 today. I don't know if we got it, but they're really reading those big holes.

"You can see it when some plays we get 15 yards, then another play with five, and the next one with 10. They're doing really good."

Behind an offensive line that terrorized Allegany defenders downfield all afternoon, Daniels finished a big run away from breaking the Turkey Day/Homecoming rushing yards record of 187, set by Fort Hill's Tyreke Powell in 2017. Daniels ended the game as the top ball carrier with 146 yards on a game-high 19 carries.

"He gets right behind you and he'll cut off you left or right, he'll throw you at guys if he sees something that you don't see," said Brayden Sines, the Sentinels' starting left tackle, of Daniels. "It's great having a guy that has great vision like that in the backfield."

"He's just doing what he likes to do — running hard and trying to find people to run over," Hess said. "That's what gets him all his yardage and touchdowns. He just loves it."

Daniels' performance was capped off by being voted by media members the game's Offensive Player of the Game.

"It's easy to call plays when we have the line that we do, but it's even easier to call plays when Bril can break tackles as much as he does," said Fort Hill offensive coordinator Richie Shook.

"The vision that he has, it's very nice as an offensive coordinator to call those plays. Sometimes it makes you look good, sometimes it makes you look bad. But for the most part, he makes you look good."

The record that Daniels broke was set in front of about 6,000 fans — only about 1,500 more than attended Saturday's game — in the 22nd installment of Turkey Day in 1957.

"Dashing Dalton," as Hillegas was described in the Nov. 29, 1957, edition of the Cumberland Evening Times, accounted for all four Fort Hill touchdowns in a 28-6 win over its crosstown rival.

The victory capped off an undefeated season for the Sentinels and gave then-head coach Bill Hahn his 100th win in his 13th season holding the reigns of Fort Hill football.

It also marked the first time a city football team won double-digit games in an undefeated season. Herman Ball's Campers in 1936 finished 9-0-1 and Bob Pence's 1948 Allegany squad also went 9-0-1.

"It'll be a long time before Allegany High football fans forget a halfback from Fort Hill by the name of Dalton Hillegas," described Jim Day, who covered the 1957 Turkey Day game for the Cumberland Evening Times.

It's fair to say the same can be said about Daniels following his record-breaking performance on Saturday.