HAGERSTOWN, Md. – Historically, football players have had many tools to gauge success – game films, stat sheets and even newspaper clippings, in the old days.
But after a 42-6 loss to Fort Hill on Friday, the North Hagerstown Hubs will be asked to use another source.
Their reflection.
North coach Nathan Butts called on his team to start looking in the mirror to figure out how things went awry against the Sentinels, a traditional Class 1A powerhouse from Cumberland, Md.
It’s a matter of the Hubs controlling what they can control.
“We just got to focus on us. I know that’s coach talk, but I’ve been saying that all year,” Butts said. “I just told them, when we had our win streak, we had great practices … great weeks of practices. And (this week), we didn’t have a great week of practice.
“We need some leadership, and we got to get back to execute and practice Monday through Thursday. And then we’ll see the results we want.”
It was a lesson Fort Hill taught North the hard way.
The Sentinels employed a relentless running package out of their version of the Wing-T offense, using groups of inside and sweeping running plays behind a front line that dominates at the point of attack.
“I was just more focused on us,” Butts said. “I told the guys, especially defensively, they make it 11, one-on-one matchups every play.
“And I thought we won some of them in the first half. We had opportunities. You can play the ‘what if’ game, but we got to clean that little stuff up and execute when the opportunities present themselves.”
Over time, Fort Hill powered on offense and stifled on defense to take control.
Fort Hill threw just one incomplete pass in the game, but ran 40 times for 387 yards. Carson Bender led with 127 yards and three touchdowns, and Neek Taylor had 137 yards and a score.
The Sentinels broke open the game by scoring the final 35 points of the game, starting the running clock for the final five minutes. They found holes and exploded through them for big yardage and touchdowns.
Fort Hill (7-0) took the opening kickoff and marched 61 yards in seven plays for the first score of the game.
The Sentinels put themselves in a hole – seemingly stalling drive – with a pair of penalties that moved them from the North 29 back to midfield. But in two plays – a pair of 25-yard runs – they had the touchdown. Isaiah Welsh got the first 25 and Bender rambled through for the final 25 for the score.
Bobby Brauer kicked his first of six extra points for the 7-0 lead with 8:12 to go in the quarter.
North countered with its first possession, using a 52-yard pass from Ronnie Savage to Michael Stewart to get to the Fort Hill 8. Two plays later, Stewart scored from the 1.
The Hubs failed on the two-point conversion to trail 7-6 at the 6:00 mark of the quarter.
“(The Sentinels) execute well. They do what they do really well,” Butts said. “So, it’s how they play the game, It’s physical and it’s in your face every play.
“You have to play it, and you got to match it. That’s what we preached all week. I felt we kind of did it for a half, but then the second half, we just didn’t have that same intensity.”
Fort Hill countered quickly, scoring less than two minutes later.
The four-play, 47-yard drive culminated with a 2-yard plunge up the middle by Bender for a 14-6 lead to end the first quarter.
From there, Fort Hill methodically worked its offense to control the clock and the game.
The Sentinels took a 21-6 halftime lead on Bender’s third touchdown on a 14-yard run with 5:42 left before intermission after a short punt by the Hubs.
The lead moved to 28-6 in the third quarter when Channing Logsdon sprinted around right end for a 17-yard score at the 7:57 mark.
Fort Hill closed out the game with two scores in the fourth quarter.
The first was a 5-yard run by Taylor with 7:01 remaining. Then, Levi House intercepted a Savage pass and returned it 45 yards for the last score with 5:05 remaining.
North managed 158 yards of offense for the game and struggled to match Fort Hill’s production. Stewart led with 45 yards on 17 carries rushing to go with his touchdown. Savage threw for 99 yards and rushed for 13.
The Hubs (3-4) have lost two straight since their three-game midseason win streak. They lost the first two games of the season. They close the regular season by hosting Boonsboro next week and traveling to South Hagerstown on Oct. 30.
“We got to get better reading our keys. You got to read the guards. It’s a Wing-T (offense),” Butts said. “We set the edge decently, but we just didn’t have anything coming from the inside to make the play.
“We’re going to see it again next week (against Boonsboro), so we need to work on cleaning it up.”
