Smithsburg football earns bragging rights at Ravens High School Combine
Neither the Baltimore Ravens nor the Houston Texans scored the first touchdown at M&T Bank Stadium last Saturday.
That honor went to the Smithsburg Leopards.
Eleven days before last weekend's NFL divisional playoff game, the Ravens invited the Leopards to compete in their High School Combine contest.
"The first email I got was Jan. 9," said Smithsburg head coach David Miller. "We had done this in a preseason game in 2022, and that was a lot of fun, so when we got the opportunity to do it again, and this time before a playoff game, I was excited, and we decided we were going to make it happen no matter what."
A quintet of juniors — Vinny Roncone, Tyler Ward, Ayden Weakfall, Alex Bachtell and Carter Nesbitt — participated in the contest, going head to head against Century High School for bragging rights.
"The guys we took are all rising seniors," Miller said. "We wanted to reward them."
Ward opened the contest by flipping a tire forward 10 yards before tagging Roncone, who weaved his way through a series of agility poles before sprinting to the sideline to tag Weakfall.
Weakfall backpedaled his way to the middle of the field to tag Nesbitt, who threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Bachtell to stop the clock well ahead of Century in 30.023 seconds. The victory brought with it a $500 donation to the Leopards' athletic department.
Smithsburg's time is the best by a high school this season. If it remains the top time through this weekend's AFC championship game, the Leopards will be awarded new jerseys by the Ravens for the 2024 season.
"Those guys are extremely, extremely competitive," Miller said. "They are all multi-sport athletes who like to get after it and finish first. The competitive juices were there. … Just watching, I could tell it was smooth. I had no idea it was going to be the fastest time. Southern-Anne Arundel had been first at 31 seconds, and I thought we'd have a chance to get that."
That was just part of the afternoon's festivities.
"We got to see the FOX and ESPN pregame shows. The kids got a photo with RG3 (Robert Griffin III) and got close to Troy Aikman," Miller said. "They saw the players and were pretty much in awe at how big all of them are."
They also got to meet Texans receiver John Metchie III, a former high school standout at Saint James when Miller was an assistant for the Saints.
"When the Texans came out of the tunnel, he came over, shook my hand and introduced himself to the players," Miller said. "The kids just enjoyed the atmosphere and had a blast."
The players and their parents, along with Miller and athletic director Ryan Myers, took in the playoff game to cap the experience.
"We have to thank the Ravens for extending this offer to us," Miller said. "We appreciate their generosity to us, and not just to us, but high school football in the state of Maryland."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Baltimore Ravens invite Smithsburg football to high school combine
