THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 d
Page B-3
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HOW THEY RANK The 10 best football teams in Montgomery County this week as ranked by The Gazette’s sports staff.
Rank
School
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Good Counsel Falcons Quince Orchard Cougars Seneca Valley Screaming Eagles Damascus Swarmin’ Hornets Gaithersburg Trojans Northwest Jaguars Bullis Bulldogs Walt Whitman Vikings Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons Wootton Patriots
Record Points
2-1 60 1-0 54 1-0 48 1-0 42 1-0 34 1-0 29 0-1 24 1-0 20 1-0 11 1-0 6
Also receiving votes: Winston Churchill Bulldogs 2.
Northwest’s Gills a threat all over n
Senior aiming for first scholarship offer BY DAN FELDMAN STAFF WRITER
Joshua Gills spent three quarters not being a star. One of his Northwest High School football teammates spent four years in a lesser role, and Gills admired him all the more for it. In the fourth quarter of his first varsity game and first game ever at receiver, Gills, as a sophomore,caughttwotouchdowns and scored a two-point conversion — “The Josh Gills Show,” Northwest offensive coordinator Justin Sickeri called it. Gills went on to set the program’s single-season record for receptions (55). Along the way, Gills, now a senior, befriended an older player who rarely played. “He was my favorite player on the team because he was
persistent,” Gills said. “Even though he never played, he was always ... everywhere the team went.” Gills noticed the team’s upperclassmen often ignored the player, so Gills made even more of a point to talk to him. “Some guys don’t do what I do,” Gills said, “And they’re just sort of left out, coming to practices, not talking to anyone, not participating. I like to get everyone involved.” Few do what Gill does. He’ll play quarterback for about two-thirds of Northwest’s snaps this season and running back and receiver for the other third. Defensively, he’ll line up at cornerback a third of the time — plus on any key plays. Which is his best position? “Um, that’s a good question. That’s a really good question. Um, he seems to gravitate toward the offense,” Northwest coach Mike Neubeiser said, breaking into a laugh. “I think, I don’t [know] if I can answer that
question.” Sickeri handles the question similarly. “Well, I don’t know if he has a best position,” Sickeri said. “... He’s good everywhere. Asked the same question, Gills punts, too. (By the way, he also does that. He’s the backup punter and obviously a threat on fakes). “You’d have to tell me that,” Gills said. “I like playing everywhere.” Prior to high school, he played offensive guard, tight end and defensive end. As he got more athletic, he figured he’d play running back and receiver in high school, which he did for the practice of a twosession day. By the afternoon practice, he was a quarterback and on a fast track to starting at his new position on the junior varsity team. When he reached varsity as a sophomore, Gills moved to receiver and running back next
to quarterback Matty Callahan. With Callahan graduated, Gills is again using his impressive burst mostly behind center, but he’s also working at running back and receiver. With a 28-yard catch in Northwest’s61-0opening-week win over Magruder, Gills is just 110 yards shy of the program record for career receiving yards. Gills hasn’t stopped watching out for players who don’t possess as much talent, though that has taken a different tone now. Despite receiving interest from Monmouth, Bucknell, Towson, Morgan State and New Hampshire, Gills doesn’t have a scholarship offer. So, he’s especially motivated for a few matchups this fall. “Whenever I see someone at my talent or below it, I feel the need to show my superiority,” Gills said. “Especially if they’re getting attention that I’m not from colleges.”
Top rushers
Carries Dage Davis, Geo. Prep 39 Chris Dawson, G. Counsel 39 Perry Stefanelli, G. Counsel 43 Solomon Vault, G’burg 18 Nino Scalia, G. Prep 12 Zac Morton, Whitman 19 Kevin Joppy, Q. Orchard 16
Top passers Chuck Reese, Rockville Sam Ellis, Wootton Mike Murtaugh, Q. Orch. B. Strittmatter, G. Counsel Evan Smith, Whitman S. Strittmatter, Churchill G. Cooper, Paint Branch
Yards 354 207 204 155 128 112 106
Cmp-Att. 35-45 15-27 13-19 14-30 12-20 13-21 14-34
Top receivers
Catches Myles Robinson, G. Counsel 4 Zac Morton, Whitman 6 Malcolm Brown, Q. Orchard 4 Louison Biama, Rockville 6 Elliott Davis, Q. Orchard 4 Jesse Locke, Churchill 6 Joey Cornwell, Rockville 10
Avg. TDs 9.1 6 5.3 4 4.7 2 8.6 4 10.7 0 5.9 1 6.6 1
Yards 295 260 247 228 187 155 153
Yards 113 107 105 101 92 91 84
Int. TDs 1 6 1 4 0 4 2 6 1 1 3 1 1 0
Avg. TDs 28.3 2 17.8 1 26.3 2 16.8 0 23.0 2 15.2 1 8.4 2
The Gazette sports staff picks the winners for this week’s games involving Montgomery football teams. Here are this week’s selections:
Montgomery County record All games
Magruder at Wheaton North Harford at Einstein Gaithersburg at Watkins Mill Seneca Valley at Rockville Damascus at Northwood Quince Orchard at Whitman Walter Johnson at Churchill Wootton at B-CC R. Montgomery at Northwest Springbrook at Clarksburg Blair at Sherwood Blake at Paint Branch Poolesville at Kennedy Bullis at St. Mary’s Annapolis Avalon at MSD Good Counsel at Calvert Hall Georgtown Prep at Gonzaga Mount St. Joseph at Landon
Whitman running back accounts for over 200 allpurpose yards; B-CC shocks Churchill FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK BY DAN FELDMAN Before his team’s season opener against Sherwood High School on Saturday night, Gaithersburg senior running back Solomon Vault didn’t feel right. Queasy and nervous, Vault vomited in the locker room at Richard Montgomery High — playing host to the Trojans while their home field undergoes renovations — and later threw up fluids before joining his team on the sideline. While most coaches would view their star player expelling his dinner minutes prior to kickoff with a concerned eye, Gaithersburg coach Kreg Kephart was — perhaps — relieved? “I felt good because I saw him throwing up,” Kephart said. “Usually, when he throws up he has a good game, so I thought to myself, ‘It’s going to be a good night out there.’” Kephart’s intuition was spot on as Vault rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns and Gaithersburg dominated Sherwood, 32-7, to earn its first win against the Warriors since 2011 and spoil Chris Grier’s coaching debut. “The pregame jitters kind of got me and I was throwing up a little bit,” Vault said. “But we came out and we handled business, so I’m proud of my guys.” Morton stars: To rush for 100 yards in one game is impressive. To rush for 100 yards and tally another 100 yards receiving is pretty remarkable.Toachievebothwhile an entire opposing defense’s priority is to shut you down is a rarity in high school football. That’s precisely what Walt
Whitman High School senior Zac Morton did Friday in leading the Vikings to a 28-0 season-opening win at James H. Blake. Morton rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown and caught seven passes for 100 yards and a touchdown to account for 50 percent of the Vikings’ scoring. Whitman coach Jim Kuhn said Friday’s win, and an overall strong team performance, was just what the Vikings needed as they look to move forward in 2013 from two mediocre seasons, including opening last season with back-toback losses. “That was a fabulous start,” Kuhn said. “The kids played a great game.” Fast start: Just 2 minutes, 45 seconds into Damascus’ opening game, junior standout Jalen Christian returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown. A Jake Funk touchdown run, a Chase Williams touchdown pass to Stephon Jacob, another Funk touchdown run and a Kevin Proctor touchdown run later, Damascus led 35-0 on its way to a 49-22 win over Einstein on Friday “We had a bad taste in our mouths from losing in the first round of the playoffs last season,” Damascus coach Eric Wallich said. “We were preaching to them, ‘Don’t be complacent. Just because the Damascus teams of the past have been successful, this team hasn’t done anything yet. “If you want something you have to work hard for it.’ Tonight was a step in that direction. A lot of things seemed to click tonight.” Opening statement: The Bethesda-Chevy Chase football team made a statement on Friday with a season-opening 25-15 victory over Winston Churchill, the defending Montgomery County 4A South Division champions. The Barons’ defense shut out the Bulldogs in the second half, as the opportunistic unit came up with four interceptions over the final two quarters. Jordan Miller
Team
B-Chevy Chase Wootton Whitman Kennedy Churchill Walter Johnson
All Div.
1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1
Team
Paint Branch Blair Blake Sherwood Springbrook
Travis Mewhirter
Ken Sain
Jennifer Beekman
Kent Zakour
Dan Feldman
15-7 21-8
14-8 21-8
14-8 20-9
14-8 20-9
14-8 20-9
13-9 19-10
Wheaton North Harford Gaithersburg Seneca Valley Damascus Q. Orchard Churchill Wootton Northwest Clarksburg Sherwood Paint Branch Poolesville Bullis Avalon Good Counsel Gonzaga Mt. St. Joseph
Wheaton Einstein Gaithersburg Seneca Valley Damascus Q. Orchard Churchill B-CC Northwest Clarksburg Sherwood Paint Branch Poolesville Bullis Avalon Good Counsel Gonzaga Landon
Wheaton North Harford Gaithersburg Seneca Valley Damascus Q. Orchard Churchill B-CC Northwest Springbrook Sherwood Paint Branch Poolesville Bullis Avalon Good Counsel Gonzaga Mt. St. Joseph
Wheaton North Harford Gaithersburg Seneca Valley Damascus Q. Orchard Churchill Wootton Northwest Springbrook Sherwood Paint Branch Poolesville Bullis Avalon Good Counsel Gonzaga Mt. St. Joseph
Wheaton North Harford Gaithersburg Seneca Valley Damascus Q. Orchard Churchill B-CC Northwest Springbrook Sherwood Paint Branch Poolesville Bullis MSD Good Counsel Gonzaga Mt. St. Joseph
Wheaton North Harford Gaithersburg Seneca Valley Damascus Q. Orchard Churchill Wootton Northwest Springbrook Sherwood Paint Branch Poolesville Bullis MSD Good Counsel Gonzaga Mt. St. Joseph
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Gaithersburg High’s Solomon Vault runs against Sherwood on Saturday.
recorded a pair of interceptions in the contest and Marcellus Powell’s 47-yard interception return for a touchdown with just under seven minutes to play sealed the deal for B-CC. The Barons, who defeated the Bulldogs for the first time since 2009, will look to carry the momentum from this victory into their next contest against Wootton on Thursday. “You look at the [paper] and nobody picked us to win this, which we are kind of used to by now,” Powell said. “This sets the tone for the season that we are a good team, and we can beat a team that we normally haven’t beat. I think it sends the message that we are not that doormat team anymore. ... You’ve got to fear us now.” Extra home games: Wheaton planned to play Thursday’s game against Col. Zadok Magruder and its Sept. 28 contest against Rockville at Montgomery Blair, but construction to Wheaton has been delayed, so both games will be played at Wheaton. Kyle Russell, Nick Cammarota, John Harris III and Jennifer Beekman contributed.
25 41 28 0 15 0
All Div.
1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1
`15 0 0 25 25 41
PF PA
1-0 21 13 0-0 25 0 0-0 0 28 0-0 7 32 0-1 13 21
Montgomery 4A West Division Team
Northwest Quince Orchard Gaithersburg R. Montgomery Clarksburg Magruder
All Div.
1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1
PF PA
1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1
61 0 35 7 32 7 38 40 7 35 0 61
Montgomery 3A Division Team
Damascus Seneca Valley Northwood Rockville Watkins Mill Einstein Wheaton
All Div.
1-0 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1
PF PA
1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1
Montgomery 2A Independent Team
All
Poolesville
1-0
Good Counsel Georgetown Prep Landon Bullis Avalon
Nick Cammarota
PF PA
1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1
Montgomery 4A East Division
Team
Overcoming nerves: Vault’s big day n
Montgomery 4A South Division
Private schools
FEARLESS FORECASTS LEADERS
STANDINGS
All
2-1 1-1 0-1 0-1 0-2
49 42 6 40 29 22 7
22 7 43 38 20 49 42
PF
PA
43
PF
89 66 0 0 12
6
PA
26 58 10 42 72
Last week’s scores
Poolesville 43, Northwood 6 Seneca Valley 42, Wheaton 7 Damascus 49, Einstein 22 Rockville 40, R. Montgomery 38 B-CC 25, Churchill 15 Quince Orchard 35, Clarksburg 7 Northwest 61, Magruder 0 Paint Branch 21, Springbrook 13 Blair 25, Kennedy 0 Whitman 28, Blake 0 McNamara 34, G. Prep 9 Watkins Mill 29, Frederick 20 Good Counsel 42, St. Frances 6 Wootton 41, Walter Johnson 0 Boys Latin 10, Landon 0 Gaithersburg 32, Sherwood 7 St. Mary’s Ryken 48, Avalon 12
BEST BET No. 2 Quince Orchard at No. 8 Walt Whitman, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday
Since moving up a class in 2011, Quince Orchard has
won both 4A West Region titles and has 19-0 record against region opponents, winning by an average score of 41-7. Whitman, which shut out James H. Blake last week, is the latest challenger.