Fort Hill, Mountain Ridge renew rivalry tonight in battle of undefeateds

Oct. 6—CUMBERLAND — Fort Hill and Mountain Ridge meet in a rematch of the last two Class 1A state championship games tonight, and both coaches highlighted similar keys to the game.

For Zack Alkire's Sentinels, they need to match Mountain Ridge's intensity. Ryan Patterson said the Miners have to match Fort Hill's physicality. Those cliches evince another: The game will be won up front.

Can Fort Hill dominate in the trenches to neutralize Player of the Year candidate Will Patterson? Can Mountain Ridge find an answer for Carter Hess and the Sentinels' interior line to get its athletes involved? Can the Miners overcome a series of injuries along their front?

All will be revealed tonight when No. 2 Mountain Ridge (5-0) and No. 1 Fort Hill (5-0) kick off at 7 p.m. at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

"They've done a great job, especially last year, of shutting down the things that we do best," Alkire said. "They have great kids that listen to their coaches.

"I've seen a lot of similarities to last year's team, especially defensively. They're very aggressive. They cause problems for Wing-T-oriented teams. If you don't match their intensity and effort they're going to make you pay."

Fort Hill leads the all-time series 18-2 and won 25 of 27 meetings with Beall. However, last year tells a different story.

Mountain Ridge surprised and humbled Fort Hill with a 30-8 drubbing in Frostburg, ending the Sentinels' 18-game winning streak en route to its first unbeaten regular season in school history.

The Sentinels won the rematch in Annapolis, edging the Miners, 16-14, on a Quinn Cohen field goal for their ninth state championship.

Both teams lost a lot from their respective squads, but both enter the Week 6 meeting with spotless 5-0 records for the third consecutive season.

"We're going to have our hands full up front," Patterson said. "I was feeling OK, and then I turned on the film Saturday morning and it's been giving me nightmares ever since. It's going to be a very daunting challenge for us."

Mountain Ridge survived a scare at Frankfort, 24-14, last Friday night, but, while the Miners left with the win, they didn't return home unscathed.

Senior center Cooper Lindeman (6-foot, 280 pounds) suffered a knee injury and will be out for a few weeks. The Miners wanted to bring up their junior varsity center for depth, but he broke his ankle. Another sophomore call-up along the line, Chris Baker, suffered a broken foot in practice this week.

Junior Payton Hamilton (5-10, 250) will get the nod at center.

"We have a new center we're breaking in. He snaps the ball well, but your reward is the best interior offensive lineman in the state of Maryland," Patterson said.

The aforementioned lineman is Hess (6-1, 285), the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year and 2021 Lineman of the Year who has recorded 45 tackles, nine for loss, 20 quarterback hurries and three sacks through four games.

Fort Hill has outscored its four opponents 126-21 with a forfeit win over Southern. Mountain Ridge has scored 159 and allowed 45.

The Sentinels have pitched three shutouts, and, to stop Mountain Ridge, the key is containing Will Patterson.

The senior has completed 52 of 76 passes for 483 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. However, his best attribute is his running ability, racking up 594 yards and 10 touchdowns — both area-best totals — on 70 carries.

"He throws a good ball but he's really dangerous with his feet," Alkire said. "If we are able to contain him, keep him in the pocket and not rip off huge chunk runs, we should come out pretty successful."

Mountain Ridge's defense has done better than anyone in the state of Maryland at slowing down Fort Hill's Wing-T offense.

The Sentinels' dominance was on display last week, as Briar Woods, a previously unbeaten school with nearly 1,800 students in Northern Virginia, wanted no part of Fort Hill's ground-and-pound offense.

Junior fullback Jabril Daniels bullied the Falcons with 190 yards and three touchdowns on 27 bruising carries to push his season total to 477 yards and seven scores.

Fort Hill is averaging 254.8 rushing yards per game and has gained 7.5 yards a carry.

Yet, despite a dynamic 2022 Sentinel backfield that sported the likes of Mikey Allen, Tavin Willis and Tanner Wertz, Mountain Ridge held Fort Hill to just 24 points over two contests.

Alkire highlighted the Miners' 19-6 win over the Sentinels in junior varsity earlier this week as further evidence of Mountain Ridge's program-wide commitment to understanding and stopping Fort Hill and the Wing-T.

"It's a chess match. Both teams come into the game with a lot of strengths, but they've also added wrinkles here and there," Alkire said. "I think it's a matter of trying to be out in front of it. You see what you see on tape, but you always know there's going to be something else.

"Our job is to try to identify what those things may be and prepare for it."

One key difference between last year and this season is the venue, as Mountain Ridge will be tasked with invading Greenway Avenue Stadium.

The last time the Miners made the trip to Cumberland to play the Sentinels, they left with a 37-7 defeat.

Ryan Patterson doesn't believe Friday will be much different than any other road game.

"It used to be an issue, but I think we've played there so much between Allegany, the COVID year and JV that we'll be fine," he said. "It's a difficult situation like any other away game, but I feel like it's just an away game.

"I think they have confidence when they step on the field that they can beat these guys. They know it's a daunting task, but they won't be intimidated."

In that game two seasons ago at Greenway, the contest drew nearly 5,000 fans in the best-attended area game in nearly a decade. Some light rain in the forecast may prevent that atmosphere Friday, but Alkire believes the friendly confines will be favorable to his Sentinels.

"I think it's a huge deal," he said of playing at home. "Not that those kids aren't aware of what Greenway might present to them. They've played in that stadium before so it's not a culture shock to them.

"Greenway is a very intimidating place to play between 52 steps, the crowds, the team itself. A lot of teams are defeated before the game starts.

"I don't think Mountain Ridge's team will do that, but being at home is a place you can be comfortable. You don't have the bus ride. There's more of a routine being home."

Mountain Ridge enters the game in sole possession of not only the No. 1 spot in the Class 1A West Region points standings but also the most points in all of Class 1A.

Fort Hill, tied for second in the state with Patterson Mill, could be in jeopardy of falling with a loss to the Miners and with a difficult slate of games against Wadsworth, Ohio; New Oxford, Pennsylvania; and Allegany — which have a combined three losses — to close out the campaign.

The game also has state poll implications.

For the first time since Homecoming 2016, two Western Maryland teams will meet during the regular season both ranked in the state media poll: Fort Hill is No. 19 and Mountain Ridge is No. 23.

The Miners landed in the poll last season after beating Fort Hill and remained there through the playoffs, but it's the earliest they've entered the state rankings.

With a 28-3 record over the past two-and-a-half seasons, Mountain Ridge is finally getting the Fort Hill treatment across the state.

"I had a long conversation with my staff yesterday and my team after practice about being ranked in the state poll and what it means and how far we've come over the past five years," Patterson said. "It's incredible to get recognition downstate. I don't take that lightly."

Fort Hill is 30-1 over that span, and the only team to beat either team since 2019 is the other.

"I think that they've done a great job since right before COVID of building the culture," Alkire said. "That culture has allowed them to replace a lot of quality kids. This year is another great example of them replacing quality kids with kids that will step up to the plate and give us a great game."

There's a good chance the Miners will have two cracks at the Sentinels for the fourth straight year (including the COVID season).

For Mountain Ridge, however, just being in the conversation with Fort Hill isn't good enough.

"I feel we've made it a closer draw, but I'm a little bitfrustrated in that I feel like we've played some good ball and have little to show for it," Patterson said.

"I think about the state game two years ago when we were up 11 and ended up on the losing end. We had a lead last year and ended up losing. There isn't a moral victory to be found. We don't have anything to show for it."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.