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SENTINELS DEFEAT MOUNTAIN RIDGE 62-0 AT GREENWAY
CUMBERLAND — After back-to-back losses against quality competition, No. 2 Fort Hill looked like its old self on Friday at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
The Sentinels (3-3) won the most lopsided game against Mountain Ridge in the series’ history with a 62-0 shutout victory.
“Really happy with our guys’ performance, they showed a lot of intensity,” Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire said. “The focus all week long has been to show more intensity throughout the week, show more excitement and they did a really good job with that. It started on Monday, it was a really fiery practice and that led into Tuesday and the rest of the week.”
It only took the Sentinels two plays to find the end zone. Noah House found Jameson Powell-Morris wide open over the middle for a 46-yard touchdown on Fort Hill’s second play from scrimmage.
A quick three-and-out and a 26-yard punt return from Channing Logsdon set up Braelyn Younger for a one-play, 32-yard touchdown on the following play.
The ensuing Miners (2-4) drive stalled on a fumble recovered by Landen Richardson, setting up a one-yard score from Younger to extend the Sentinel lead to 20-0 after one quarter.
“Not a whole lot of things went our way,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “We talked about consistency and that’s something we need to continue to work on. Consistency, compete and then getting our confidence back.”
Younger recorded 11 carries for 90 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and finished with 12 carries for 111 and four scores.
Last week against Bridgeport, the Indians led 14-0 early and won 49-14.
“Not making the key mistakes,” Alkire said of the difference in the start last week compared to Friday. “I thought we played well, especially in the first half against Bridgeport. But we made mistakes at crucial times. We didn’t make as many of those tonight.”
Fort Hill had three penalties early in the second quarter on kickoffs, two on one play that led to a quick punt.
The third was a blindside block on a punt that took away a return inside Mountain Ridge’s 10, but the Sentinels drove down and Carson Bender scored from 32-yards out.
Another quick Miner drive and a 19-yard punt return from Logsdon set up Younger for a five-yard score.
“I think we’re all just trying to find that play or series of plays that work for us,” Shipe said. “Carter (Clites) ran the ball well tonight, and I think that’s something we can continue to build on is the quarterback run. But when we’re behind the sticks, I think there was a lot of that. Whether it was pressure on the quarterback or negative plays, being behind the sticks is a big problem for us. I think a lot of that has to do with confidence.”
Powell-Morris caught a 68-yard touchdown on a deep ball from House late in the first half.
Powell-Morris caught all four of House’s completions in the first half for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
“It starts up front, we’re doing a great job protecting Noah,” Alkire said of the passing game’s success. “Allowing him to do what he does. He does a great job keeping his eyes downfield and finding open receivers.”
Fort Hill led 41-0 at halftime and had 296 total yards with 165 passing and 131 rushing.
Against Bridgeport, the Sentinels were held to 72 yards on 31 carries.
Mountain Ridge had 17 yards of offense in the first half with minus 10 rushing, mostly off of sacks and fumbles.
Powell-Morris returned the opening kickoff of the second half 57 yards to the Miners 21, setting up a Younger touchdown on the next play.
“He’s brought a lot of excitement, it was a little slow start with our passing game the first couple games,” Alkire said of Powell-Morris. “We’ve really come alive and Jameson’s been a big part of it. Expectations are that he’s gonna continue to be a big part of it.”
Chase Lamb broke off on an 82-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter down the left sideline. Lamb finished with 97 yards on two carries.
Owen Walker’s only carry went for a 78-yard, untouched touchdown late in the fourth quarter for the Sentinels. Fort Hill combined for 475 yards on only 28 plays with 344 on the ground.
Mountain Ridge finished with 97 yards on 41 plays. No one had more than 24 yards from scrimmage for the Miners.
“I think the biggest key is our preparation,” Shipe said of turning the season around. “Coming back tomorrow morning and then Monday at practice, being able to prepare in a way that sets us up to compete and win three football games. That’s going to be the key, how we prepare and how the coaches can pull the kids back in and prepare for Northern.”
FRANKFORT USES BIG PLAYS TO DEFEAT MOUNTAIN RIDGE, 41-6
SHORT GAP, W.Va. — Gunnar Bradshaw was the star for Frankfort, scoring four touchdowns in the first half and leading the No. 1 Falcons (6-0) to a 41-6 win over Mountain Ridge on Friday.
“Nice win for us, we started off a little slow,” Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman said. “But once we started getting into a rhythm, I thought the kids played hard, we played physical and did a nice job.”
Bradshaw scored four touchdowns in the first half, catching a pair of touchdowns from Blake Jacobs.
The first was from 15 yards out in the first quarter, while the second came from 19 yards away on the opening play of the second quarter.
The second passing touchdown was set up by an interception from Bradyn Tyler to stall the Miners’ (2-3) opening drive.
“We knew that coming into the game, we had to win the mental battle, win the turnover battle and limit explosive plays,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “In the penalty category, we got beat 5-0, in the turnover battle, we got beat 5-0 and in the explosive play battle we got beat 5-0. So that was our big takeaway, it was just plays that were very, very costly.”
In the second quarter, the Falcons returned fumbles on back-to-back Mountain Ridge possessions for touchdowns.
Bradshaw scooped and scored the first off a strip sack from Knox Kimble.
Two plays into the following drive, Cole Shanholtz picked up a fumbled snap and took it to the house.
"Anytime you get something like that, the first one really got the life into our team," Whiteman said. "Got us fired up and going, and then we got another one. When you get that momentum going, it's hard to stop it."
On the ensuing Miner drive, Bradshaw intercepted a pass and returned it 37 yards to the 40.
Four plays later, he caught a 44-yard pass from Jacobs down to the one, setting Bradshaw up for a one-yard touchdown on the next play.
Bradshaw caught three of the four completions from Jacobs for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
"Gunnar just does a phenomenal job," Whiteman said. "You can play him anywhere on the field and he's gonna do a wonderful job. He's a smart kid, he's very athletic and just does a wonderful job."
Mountain Ridge entered Friday with the area’s fourth-best passing offense with 549 yards through four games.
Frankfort held the Miners to 19 passing yards in the first half.
"Our game plan at the beginning of the game was to possess the football, use the clock, keep Frankfort's offense off the field," Shipe said. "Gain some momentum that way by using the clock and using that to our advantage. So that was our plan at the beginning and we had to go away from it relatively quickly."
On the other side, the Falcon passing attack was ranked eighth in the area with 256 yards through five games.
Jacobs had 89 yards in the first half, completing four of five passes with two scores.
"We did expect the passing game, our game plan was to stop the run first," Shipe said of Frankfort's passing success. "I still think they're a run-first team. But a little of the motion confused our defensive secondary. We weren't able to adjust to the man-to-man switches that we needed to make, and it left receivers running wide open."
Just before the Miners’ second drive was about to begin, the stadium lights went out, resulting in a 16-minute delay. Neither coach felt it impacted their team.
Leading 35-0 at halftime, Bradyn Tyler added to the Falcon lead with a 48-yard scamper midway through the third quarter.
Tyler led Frankfort with 81 rushing yards on six carries.
Levi Clise found Nathan Miller wide open for a four-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout for the Miners.
Carter Clites led Mountain Ridge with 52 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Frankfort's leading rusher Carder Shanholtz did not play on Friday, but Whiteman expects him to return next week.
Shanholtz entered Friday leading the area with eight rushing touchdowns and was fourth with 431 rushing yards.
The Falcons' second-leading rusher Kaiden McKenzie left Friday's game on a stretcher, and Whiteman said it could be a season-ending leg injury.
McKenzie entered Friday with 249 rushing yards and five touchdowns and had three carries for 22 yards against Mountain Ridge.
Both teams are on the road Friday. Mountain Ridge faces No. 2 Fort Hill at 6:30 p.m. while Frankfort plays Brooke at 7 p.m.
The Sentinels (2-3) fell 49-14 at Bridgeport on Friday.
"Our focus is on when we make a mistake, being able to move on to the next play," Shipe said. "Not allowing one bad play, one mistake to turn into two, three, four in a row. So that's gonna be our focus, being able to turn the page and play the next play.
MOUNTAIN RIDGE DOMINATES AGAINST BLAZERS, EARN 42-0 VICTORY
FROSTBURG — Carter Clites garnered four total touchdowns, and Mountain Ridge routed Clear Spring, 42-0, on Friday.
The Miners (2-2), who ended a two-game losing streak, led 13-0 after the first quarter, 35-0 at the half and 42-0 entering the fourth.
Clites had his most-efficient performance of the season, completing 11 of 12 passes for 112 yards, two touchdowns with no interceptions.
He completed a 29-yard pass to Levi Clise for a touchdown with 3:20 left in the first quarter, and he connected with Daniel Swindle for a 24-yard aerial score with 28 seconds on the clock in the first half.
Clites also ran for a one-yard score with 8:26 remaining in the first, and he capped the scoring with an 11-yard scamper with 1:52 left in the third.
Kaiden Lissau had rushing touchdowns of six and eight yards at the 7:31 and 1:48 marks of the second quarter, respectively.
Mountain Ridge rushed for 169 yards on 30 carries, led by Lissau’s 95 yards on 11 totes. Clites added 49 yards, and Jasper Crissman had four totes for 33 yards.
Clise caught six passes for 66 yards to lead the Miners’ receivers.
Mountain Ridge out-gained Clear Spring, 308-102, and Noah Kenner and Nathan Miller intercepted Blazers’ passes.
Mountain Ridge is at No. 1 Frankfort (5-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. The Falcons have won a school record 19 games in a row.
ALLEGANY LEAVES FROSTBURG WITH HARD EARNED 21-13 OVER MINERS'
FROSTBURG — Allegany and Mountain Ridge waged war for four quarters, and the Campers did just enough to come out on top in a must-win game.
The Campers, trying to end a 10-game skid in the series, fumbled at the Miners’ two-yard line with 58 seconds remaining, giving Mountain Ridge one final chance to drive the length of the field down eight points.
Allegany’s defense held up, stopping the Miners at their own 38-yard line as time expired, and the Campers rushed the field in celebration of the 21-13 victory over their Allegany County rivals on Friday.
It was a sloppy game that featured seven combined turnovers and a series of procedural penalties, but both teams’ heart was on full display. In the end, Allegany did just enough to knock off Mountain Ridge for the first time since 2017.
“(Eight) years I think it’s been,” Allegany head coach Bryan Hansel said. “And these seniors stayed and worked hard and they deserve a win like this and deserve to go out their senior year, and I’m just ecstatic and happy for all our guys.”
The contest was an important one for both teams who were looking to springboard their seasons after an uneven opening two weeks.
For Allegany, the Campers avoid a second straight 0-3 start by improving to 1-2. Mountain Ridge’s loss drops it to 1-2.
Mountain Ridge led 13-7 at the half but was shutout in the second half. The Allegany defense held the Miners to just 71 yards after the break with three first downs, converting 1 of 5 third downs.
“It was an absolute war, and we just came out on the wrong side of it,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “Both teams played extremely hard, and really I’m proud of the kids’ effort. A couple plays here and there.”
“Allegany was able to grind out some yards there in the second half, and we were stuck in the mud.”
Amanni Blowe led the way for Allegany with 16 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown. Khiante Bible added 12 carries for 47 yards, making his presence felt with a series of strong blocks and hard tackles over the course of the night.
Allegany’s Dylan Blank completed 2 of 7 passes for 70 yards, both 35-yard connections to Sebastian Stewart, and an interception.
The two linked up for the go-ahead score. Blank hit Stewart on a slant route, and the Mountain Ridge cornerback tried to jump it in vain, resulting in a 35-yard touchdown.
Stewart kicked in the point after for a 14-13 edge with 11:51 to play.
After a three-and-out forced by its defense, Allegany then called the number of freshman Maddox Hensel.
Hensel gave Blowe a blow at fullback and took a handoff, broke through the line and ran 38 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-13 Allegany with 6:40 left.
“He has fresh legs at that point,” Hansel said. “I could see Amanni was dragging, but he’s not going to tell you. So we just took him out like, ‘Hey we’ll give you one blow, come to the sideline.’ And then Maddox hits it and bursts it.”
Both teams lost fumbles late — recovered by Allegany’s Sully Watkins and Mountain Ridge’s Noah Hartlaub — but neither team turned them into points.
Mountain Ridge’s Carter Clites completed 17 of 30 passes for 163 yards, two first-half touchdowns and an interception.
Daniel Swindle caught seven passes for 94 yards, Levi Clise had four catches for 50 yards and a TD, and Nathan Miller had five grabs for 48 yards and a score.
Allegany out-gained the Miners, 289-199, and held Mountain Ridge to only 14 yards rushing on 21 carries.
The Campers had four turnovers to the Miners’ three. Mountain Ridge was penalized eight times for 40 yards, and Alco had 10 penalties for 60 yards.
Allegany ran for 219 yards on 40 carries.
Mountain Ridge and Allegany combined for five turnovers in a wild first half, including three straight during the second quarter.
The Miners, who led 13-7 at the break, began the zany sequence with an onside kick recovery following their first score, a 12-yard touchdown pass from Clites to Clise with 8:54 left in the second quarter.
Mountain Ridge recovered the onside kick on the Allegany 42, and two plays later it fumbled, recovered by the Campers’ Daulton Harper.
Allegany fumbled on the next snap and Mountain Ridge’s Kaiden Lissau pounced on it.
Mountain Ridge then took a shot to the end zone on the ensuing play, and Allegany’s Trevin Cox intercepted it.
Allegany finally broke the streak with a three-and-out, and Mountain Ridge drove 40 yards on seven plays for the lead, capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass from Clites to Miller on third down.
Grayson Cummings drilled the extra point, and the Miners led 13-7 with 3:29 left in the quarter. His 41-yard field goal attempt at the halftime buzzer came up short.
Miller intercepted an Allegany pass later in the half, and Lissau came down with his second fumble recovery — which was forced by Brayden Whetzel.
Whetzel missed last week at Boonsboro and shined early, recording a third-down sack on Allegany’s second drive to force a punt.
Allegany scored on its first drive when Blowe shook off an arm tackle and had nobody in front of him. He scored 50 yards later, capping a six-play, 77-yard drive, to give the Campers a 7-0 lead with 9:07 remaining in the first quarter.
Allegany followed its opening drive with three punts, two fumbles and an interception.
But the Campers pieced it together after halftime, outscoring the Miners, 14-0, after intermission to end their 10-game losing streak in the series.
“When you have four turnovers and you make them in places you shouldn’t make them, and you miss plays we could have made and we didn’t make, and these kids just kept flying, fighting, it has to give you momentum,” Hansel said.
Mountain Ridge will hope to get back on track when it faces Clear Spring next week.
“We’ll come in tomorrow, watch the film today, and then kind of clear that out of our system by noon tomorrow and look to Clear Spring,” Shipe said.
“They were a quality team last year. They returned some good athletes, especially on the outside, so we’ll expect a good fight and we’ll get ready for next week.”
WARRIORS DOMINATE MOUNTAIN RIDGE, EN ROUTE TO 40-14 VICTORY
Blake Main threw for two TDs and ran for another, Jadon King also scored twice, and the Warriors (1-1) bounced back from an opening loss at Middletown with an impressive performance at home to beat the Miners (1-1).
Main's scoring throws went for 45 yards to King and 46 yards to Landen Sallerson. Main also ran in a 3-yard TD for Boonsboro.
King opened the Warriors' scoring with a 1-yard TD run.
DeBaugh had a 15-yard scoring run and a conversion run, and Nate Bosnick returned an interception 21 yards for a TD for Boonsboro.
MINERS' OPEN 2025 CAMPAIGN WITH 34-0 VICTORY OVER RIVAL SOUTHERN
OAKLAND — Southern came to play in the first half, but costly turnovers prevented a potential upset as No. 3 Mountain Ridge opened the season with a 34-0 road win on Saturday.
“It’s always good to start the season with a win,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “Southern was able to control the football in the first half, we were kind of lucky to go into halftime with a lead. I feel like that needs to be our worst game. We need to continue getting better every week because it was very sloppy.”
Kaden Lissau blocked a punt on Southern’s opening drive, and Brayden Whetzel recovered at the Rams’ 25.
“Thought we were aggressive, thought we were physical,” Southern head coach Dave McLaughlin said. “Thought we played well first half. Did some things, created some problems for them. We got the ball down at the two and run a play that’s worked for us all night. Ball bounces away from us and sometimes you can’t get away from that bug at times.”
Five plays later, Carter Clites found Nathan Miller on a three-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring for the Miners.
On Southern’s second drive, the Rams went for it on fourth-and-2 at their own 28.
Jacob Brown escaped a wave of defenders and broke off a 41-yard run to the Mountain Ridge 31.
“We finally started running some things that maybe our line was comfortable with,” McLaughlin said. “I got a sophomore starting center, I got a starting guard that’s three years removed from football and a junior in his second year of football. A little shell-shocked at the beginning, but we settled down.”
The drive stalled on a fumble, but the Ram defense forced a pair of interceptions from Brown and Hayden Williams in the second quarter.
The Miner defense answered by turning both ensuing drives into interceptions by Levi Clise and Noah Kenner.
“The defense did a good job holding their ground,” Shipe said. “A couple times they were put into a difficult situation by turnovers. Southern did a good job being aggressive and kind of forcing the issue. They threatened several times to punch the ball in, but our defense was able to hold strong.”
Clise’s interception set up a nine-play, 91-yard drive highlighted by a 30-yard pass from Clites to Nathan Miller.
With 12 seconds left in the first half, Clites found Kris Washington for a five-yard touchdown pass to push Mountain Ridge’s halftime lead to 13-0.
Williams blocked the extra point for the Rams.
“Our kids were very happy at halftime, it was nice to see that look in their eyes finally,” McLaughlin said. “Realizing it’s halftime, we’re in a ball game.”
The Miners were held to a 144-123 lead in yardage, but Southern’s defense limited them to only nine rushing yards.
“We’re so close tonight getting over a hump,” McLaughlin said. “If we put that in, it’s a 7-7 ball game early in the second quarter. Now, I think our kids start believing more. Not saying we would’ve won the ballgame, not saying Mountain Ridge wouldn’t have scored the points they scored. At that point, it’s a different outlook.”
Clise opened the scoring in the third quarter on an 11-yard direct snap after converting a third down for 40 yards earlier in the drive.
On third-and-25 at the Rams’ 30, Clites set up a screen from Jasper Crissman for another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
“Carter getting better at his reads, there were a couple long pass plays that were called back,” Shipe said of what changed to get the offense going. “He was able to see what the defense was giving him and getting the ball to the right spot.”
Clites concluded the scoring late in the fourth on a 10-yard touchdown run.
In the previous four meetings, Mountain Ridge won by a combined margin of 251-13 and scored at least 49 points each time.
“I don’t think the score is indicative of the game,” McLaughlin said. “I’m not taking anything away from Mountain Ridge, they’re a good football team. I’m never pleased with a loss, but there’s a lot more positives than negatives. That’s something to build on.”
