MSA Game of the Week preview: No. 7 Damascus vs. No. 8 Quince Orchard

Graphic made by Kyle McFadden. Photos are from Google Commons.

For the second straight year, these two Montgomery County powerhouses clash from the get-go.

Though both belong under different classifications, with No. 8 Quince Orchard being Class 4A and No. 7 Damascus being Class 3A, this Week 1 heavyweight bout will have significant ramifications on each other’s respected playoff regions. It should also supply for an extra jolt of confidence for whoever comes out on top.

Behind recent graduate and Gatorade Maryland high school football Player of Year, Jake Funk (276 yards and four touchdowns), the Swarmin’ Hornets pummeled the Cougars a year ago, 39-17. The 22-point throttling sparked a Damascus record-breaking 2015 campaign, which was capped in a perfect 14-0 record and dominating performance in the Class 3A state championship.

Tonight, Quince Orchard will host the reigning Class 3A state champions, and force them to play amidst the buzzing noises of “The Red Army” — the Cougars rambunctious student section.

After coming off their third straight loss in the Class 4A West regional championship to Northwest, head coach John Kelley and returning seniors are eager to put their trumped past in the rearview mirror and set out for another championship run in 2016.

“You’re happy to win 10 games, that’s not something you take for granted, because you never know what could happen,” Kelley said. “But at the same time, we have high standards, high expectations. And the expectation is to, you know, be playing Week 13 every year, win the region. The last three years we’ve come up short, and that’s definitely in the back of our minds.”

To come better prepared for Friday night’s contest, the Cougars scrimmaged nationally renowned Good Counsel from Olney and powerhouse Westfield, the No. 2 team in Virginia. Kelley said he found out what his teams weaknesses were during the high-powered exhibition slates, something he didn’t figure out until after the 22-point loss to Damascus last year.

“Those scrimmages don’t make you look good, but you learn from them, though,” Kelley said. “You find out where your weaknesses are instead of playing a team you should beat, run them to the ground, and pat yourself on the back like you did something good.”

Though Quince Orchard graduated two of their three leading rushers and top four receivers, the Cougars retain blue chip quarterback Doc Bonner, running back and Temple commit Marvin Beander and Maryland commit Fofie Bazzie.

Up front, the Cougars return three offensive linemen with extensive experience — Mike Joseph, who started every game the past two years; Joe Hodges, who started six games last year; and Anthony Ramel, who started four games a year ago.

Beander, senior Titus Johnson and sophomore Gerald Wade will spear-head the Cougars ground-attack.

Defensively, leading tackler Noah Pagley returns along with ball-hawk defensive back Bazzie, who snagged five interceptions in 2015.

“I like what we have,” Kelley said. “We have a group of guys who have stepped up a lot this offseason.”

Per Damon Anderson from mocofb.com, Quince Orchard will be without leading rusher Beander and defensive backbone Bazzie in tonight’s opening contest for an undisclosed reason.

Kelley had no comment on the report, saying he “can’t say who is or isn’t going to play.”

If Beander and Bazzie are sidelined, expect Johnson to get majority of the workload out of the backfield and for Bonner to get the green light to make plays on offense, both through the air and with his legs.

Over the offseason, Bonner has improved his arm strength and leadership ability. With one full varsity year under his belt, he’s developed a knack for breaking down defense on the fly, adding to his value as a duel-threat quarterback.

Bonner currently holds one offer from Towson University and is primed to carry a possible hefty workload on Friday night.

“He’s had a great, great offseason,” Kelley said of Bonner. “To be honest with you, my opinion, I think he is the best quarterback in the state. I think he’s going to show people that this year.”

For Damascus, they graduated hallmark leaders Da’Quan Grimes, Funk, and Jake Bradshaw, but preserve three of their five starting offensive linemen and versatile playmaker Markus Vinson.

The Swarmin’ Hornets also received Urbana’s leading rusher from 2015, senior transfer Elijah Atkins. Like Vinson, Atkins gives the Hornets another elusive, home-run playmaker to accent a man-sized offensive line led by Michael Jurgens (6-foot-4) and Jordan Funk (6-foot-3).

Atkins will join Vinson, Ben Lokos and Cedric Cole in the backfield.

“We don’t rebuild, we always reload,” Vinson said, who averaged 10.6 yards per carry in 2015.

Defensively, Vinson heads a secondary patrolled by Collin Gallagher, Javier Smith, Emile Pitt and Colby Starheim.

Sajed Abdelmonin, Mikey Bradshawk and Funk will wreak havoc on the defensive line, while Cole, Aiden Beall, Sean Jenkins and Lokos complete the front seven.

“I’m 100% confident with them,” Vinson said of his new-look defense. “I see how much they communicate, and they know where to go, so I’m not worried about them at all.”

Last year, the Damascus offense was straight-forward – a smash-mouth, gashing ground attack with minimal passing plays and wrinkles of trickery. On Friday night, don’t be surprised if the Hornets open things up through the air.

Also, expect the playmaking Vinson to have a Swiss-Army-knife-like role in the backfield, slot, out wide, and even some possible reps at quarterback.

“I’ve always had a lot of different positions,” Vinson said. “It’s really nothing new to me.”

Wade Rippeon is set to succeed Julian Kinard under center. Timmy Jackson (6-foot-5), Starheim and Vinson make up the receiving corps.

Despite losing vital senior playmakers and leaders, Damascus appears restocked and primed for a push at repeating as Class 3A state champions.

“I think they’re the best public school football team in the state in this year,” Kelley said of Damascus, up-playing his underdog role.

Damascus will head into Quince Orchard tonight as the favorites and eyes set to gain an advantage from the onset in the grueling 3A West. The Cougars, meanwhile, are ready to put the devilish past behind them and rise atop the 4A West.

Tonight, at 6:30 pm in Cougarville, another chapter for these two powerhouses begins.

“There’s a sense of urgency,” Kelley said. “Is it disappointing to lose three regional championships in a row? Hell yeah it is. But at the same time, you just have to keep pushing and pushing and pushing.”

 

NEXT: Damascus 2015 statistics | Page 3: Quince Orchard 2015 statistics | Page 4: Damascus 2016 roster | Page 5: Quince Orchard 2016 roster

Profile photo of Kyle McFadden
About Kyle McFadden 270 Articles
Kyle McFadden is a graduate from Linganore High's Class of 2014 and is a sports enthusiast. He got his start as a sports writer in January 2014 for LHS's student newspaper The Lance where he wrote 13 articles. McFadden then launched his own blog in October 2014 called The Beltway Dispatch covering collegiate, local high school, and professional sports. Formally known as The Beltway Dispatch, McFadden and Evan Engelhard merged each other's respective platforms in June 2015 to make what is now Maryland Sports Access. He brings plenty of sports knowledge to the helm of MSA as he has baseball, basketball and golf experience. McFadden covers a wide variety of sports in football, baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and specializes in the collegiate and high school level's. McFadden is volunteers his time at Damascus Road Community Church -- serving as a mentor to the youth, basketball coach at the varsity and junior varsity levels, and leads a small group of high school sophomores every Wednesday night. Although he has only been around journalism since January 2014, his work has appeared in Maryland newspapers such as The Daily Times (Delmarva Now), The Hometown Observer, Germantown Pulse, and regularly in the The Frederick News-Post. He's also won two Frederick News-Post Mike Powell Excellence in Journalism awards and has appeared on The Best of SNO, which showcases top student work of high school and college journalists. McFadden also holds positions at The Frederick News-Post as a freelance sports journalist, DMVelite as a high school basketball writer and analyst, MocoFootball.com as a Maryland high school football analyst, and as a staff writer for Maryland's Yahoo! Rivals. McFadden currently studies at Frederick Community College and plans to transfer to the University of Maryland in the fall of 2017 to work on a bachelor's degree in business and journalism as he has aspirations to be a columnist for ESPN.
Contact: Twitter

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*