Over the summer and through the first three weeks of the season, the Tuscarora football team has sculpted a selfless demeanor with efforts in translating it to success on the field.
“The big motto we have is ‘play selfless and not selfish’,” said senior slotback Rodney Dorsey. “We all take that to heart. Every game we go into, we don’t worry about who’s getting into the end zone and making plays. We just want to say, at the end of the day, we all played together and we all got the W.”
So far, the motto has worked. The Titans stand undefeated, 3-0, for the first time since 2013 and fourth time since the school opened in 2004. After coming off their first win against Linganore in school history (18-7) and sizeable victories against North Hagerstown (47 points) and Frederick (56 points), Tuscarora rolls into Week 4 with a Frederick City rivalry against Thomas Johnson (2-1).
“Everybody is excited to be 3-0, but none of us are satisfied,” Dorsey said. “That’s the feeling right now, not to settle for anything and to keep taking it game by game.”
Since the two teams started playing each other in 2005, Thomas Johnson holds a 7-4 series lead, but Tuscarora has claimed the previous three contests.
Friday night’s slate will mark the second of three games in The Frederick Spires Football Championship series comprised of games between the Patriots, Titans, along with Frederick High. Tuscarora routed Frederick a week ago, 68-12, in the first game of the Frederick City series.
A trophy also goes to the winner of the series, which is sponsored by the Willard Kirby Automotive Group. The three-team series is inspired by the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy settled between Air Force, Army and Navy in college football.
Tuscarora has taken the series in its first two seasons, and can make it three with a win on Friday night.
“That’s pretty big for us,” Dorsey said of the intracity series. “Nine times out of 10, it’s always coming down to us against (Thomas Johnson). It’s a rivalry game.”
Though the Titans have won their first three games by an average of 38.7 points, Dorsey, a Towson commit, still isn’t pleased with how his team has executed up to date. The senior said they have yet to string together a game with four solid quarters of play.
“It hasn’t been the best,” said Dorsey, who leads the Titans in receiving with 216 yards and two touchdowns on 15 receptions. “We have better games in us.”
Friday night’s contest pits two of the pass-happier teams in Frederick County and a match-up between dynamic playmakers. Tuscarora quarterback Christian Edwards leads the county in passing yards (640) and touchdowns (nine). Edwards also sports a 64.6 percent completion percentage on 48 pass attempts.
Eric Cox of Thomas Johnson has the county’s most pass attempts (58) and sits second behind Edwards with 444 passing yards. Cox has a respectable 55.1 completion percentage and three passing touchdowns.
At the skill position, each team has its playmakers. For Tuscarora, Dorsey is the horse and is accompanied by running back Marcus Wadey, wide receiver Cortae Williams (274 yards and five touchdowns on nine receptions), Dex Prue (143 yards and one touchdown on six receptions), wide receiver Nate Monroe and 6-foot-6 tight end Kyle Lepkowski.
Thomas Johnson, on the other hand, will ride the backfield duo of Nicolas Bishop (272 yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries) and Daon Thomas (152 yards on 34 carries). Patriots wide receiver Shamon Gennes (214 yards and one touchdown on 10 receptions) is a threat out wide.
Defensively, linebacker Steven Cook anchors Tuscarora while linebacker Cameron O’Brien solidifies Thomas Johnson.
According to USA Today high school sports, the Titans are 14-point favorites over the Patriots on Friday.
“We want to go into this game knowing it’s going to be a battle,” Dorsey said. “Every play we want to make (Thomas Johnson) feel that we’re coming. We want them to know we want this game bad. When the four quarters are over and the clock says 0:00, we want to look at the clock and say, we played all four quarters and that’s why we won the game.”
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