For the past three years, Parker Mellott has not batted an eye to the seemingly everlasting hourglass that dropped each grain of sand, one by one, that represented the timetable of his high school football career. Just yesterday, he could vividly remember strapping on the pads as a youthful sophomore and soaking in the words of wisdom from his fellow seniors.
In a blink of an eye, Mellott’s hourglass has trickled down to a few grains of sand as he sits mere hours away from lacing up for one final time under the lights to vie for the I-70 Trophy and compete in one of Maryland’s most fiercest rivalries – Linganore and Urbana.
“I’ve enjoyed so much of it,” Mellott said, a three-year varsity starter for Urbana at the strong safety position and has taken on the roll of slot back this season for the Hawks. “I remember like it was yesterday, Week 7 of my sophomore year, Coach Hines sat us down and said, ‘You seniors only have three games left, get the most out of it. You juniors have 13 games and Parker, you have 23 games left. You might think that’s a lot, but in a blink of an eye it will all be over.’ And now I’m sitting here with (hours) left of my high school football career.”
For the first time since 2011, Urbana (5-4) will not be joining the playoff party. And though this is not the senior year Mellott has envisioned, being barely above the .500 mark and well out of the 3A West playoff race, the fire that’s driven him throughout his entire football career has not dwindled.
“This year has been unlike any other year,” Mellott said, who has 40.5 tackles and a team leading 10 passes defended in his senior campaign. “In years past, you would expect to win. This year, you appreciate what goes into winning because the difference between winning and losing is so small.”
It’s difficult to not ponder about the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s for the Hawks this season. That an onside-kick recovery would have prevented a Westminster 30-yard last-second field goal. Or one favorable bounce off the crossbar would have disallowed the football to squeak through the uprights on the Clarksburg 45-yard game-winning field goal. Ponder, just keep pondering – that the 5-4 record could just as easily be 7-2.
For head coach Dave Mencarini, it’s certainly a rather tough pill to swallow. But it’s the beauty of the game of football that outweighs the infinite misfortunes.
“The kids have refused to allow the scoreboard define what you need to do to build and carry on a winning tradition,” Mencarini said, who is in his second year at Urbana after an illustrious career at Quince Orchard in which he went 117-18.
Since the Week 6 heart-breaker to Clarksburg (9-7), Mencarini hurled a challenge to his Hawks unit – treat every game from Week 7 on out like its a playoff game and if they took care of business they would find themselves in the championship, this week, against Linganore. Sure enough, one win led to another and are in that exact position tonight.
“This is our state championship,” Mencarini said. “Week 7 was the first round of our playoffs. Week 8 was the second and Week 9 was the third. Now it’s the fourth and final week, Week 10. We know we’re huge underdogs. We know Linganore is undefeated, but you have to believe. The mind is very powerful. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we have faith in our kids.”
Urbana looks to ride the running ability of Elijah Atkins (667 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns) and Gage Dickens (520 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns) if they want to compete on Friday night.
As for Linganore (9-0), they will host Urbana for the first time since throttling the Hawks, 51-13 in the 2013 3A West region championship. Three players from that team have returned this year – Army commit, lineman Tyler Fleagle, safety Wade Stieren and running back Dante Butler, though listed as “doubtful” due to a collarbone injury.
Despite somewhat of a sputtering start, Linganore has thumped their opposition the past three weeks, outscoring opponents 157 to 20 over that span and look to continue that dominance tonight against rival Urbana.
“The kids are working harder than ever,” Linganore head coach Rick Conner said. “They go through the normal routine and take nothing for granted.”
With leading rusher, Dante Butler (1,226 total yards, 23 total touchdowns), most likely not seeing a single touch Friday night, senior quarterback Nathaniel Musselman will look to take on more of a play-making roll to fill the much needed void.
“It (sucks) seeing Dante hurt, but the next guy needs to step up,” Musselman said, who has completed 60% of his passes for 1,287 yards and 11 touchdowns this year. “It’s a huge rivalry and we can’t wait.”
Ironically, the next running back in line would be the little brother of Dante Butler, freshman Davon Butler, that has picked up 528 total yards and five total touchdowns this year. And though the lack of experience is eminent, Conner is more than willing to break open his freshman prodigy.
“Can’t replace Dante, but we believe in Davon,” Conner said. “He’ll get a good workload.”
Usually by this time in the season, both programs have seven plus wins and are jockeying for seeding rights in the ever so wild 3A West. This year, however, will not have 3A West ramifications, but just a 48-minute bout for the famed Interstate 70 Trophy. So while some hourglasses will run dry, everlasting memories will be reminisced for years and years to come.
“We know they’re going to bring everything they have,” Musselman said. “They don’t have anything to lose. It’s a huge game with packed stands and memories. If we play Linganore football, the result should be in our favor.”
“I’m going to give it everything I got,” Mellott said. “This is it. One last ride, man. I just want to shock the world.”
Prediction: Linganore 35, Urbana 14
You can follow me on Twitter at @k_fadd and Maryland Sports Access at @MDSportsAccess for coverage of the Linganore and Urbana game on Friday night.
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