First of all, I'd like to say congratulations to the Fort Hill Sentinels. They were the better team tonight and it showed. Not only that, with a few exceptions, their fans provided for a fantastic Friday night atmosphere.
This was a game of two halves. In the first half, penalties aside, Fort Hill couldn't do anything against Sherando on offense or defense. The Warriors marched up and down the field at will with long drives, two of which resulted in touchdowns. When they went up 14-0, I got to thinking that maybe Sherando really could be considered to be a 4A West favorite. It seemed like they were in total control of the game.
In the second half, the Sentinels proved me wrong in a big way. Their 23 point comeback started off with a touchdown scored in under 22 seconds, the Fort Hill faithful went crazy. I clapped, realizing that the Warriors had laid an egg to start off the second half in two earlier season games, the first being against Eastern View and the second against James Wood.
The Sentinel kickoff resulted in the Warriors getting the ball on their own one yard line, and the defense showed up big to sack them back in their own end zone for the safety. It was 14-9 Sentinels. The mood of the game had clearly changed.
In the next few minutes, the Sentinels pushed it into the end zone yet again, taking the lead 16-14.
Later on in the game, it looked like Fort Hill had handed the game back to the Warriors after throwing a costly pick in Warrior territory. On the next play, Sherando missed the blitz and Pat Minteer went down hard, moving it to 2nd and 19. With the situation dire, the Warriors fumbled the handoff and it looked like another play was going to result in negative yardage, but somehow they pushed through and ran it up near the first down. When being taken down, the runner fumbled the ball away and the Sentinels recovered.
From then on out, the Sentinels controlled the tempo of the game as they had for most of the second half. Right at the end of a long drive, they scored again to move the score to 23-14, which was also the final score.
Watching Fort Hill in the second half it was obvious to me why they'd won two consecutive state championships. They're a great team with a fantastic coaching staff, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them hang up another banner this year.
If the Warriors are going to be competitive in the 4A West, they'll need to learn a lot from this game moving forward, or they'll be knocked out in the first round. They might even lose again before the regular season is over given how cross county rival Millbrook demolished a Tyler Bishop-less James Wood squad that Sherando barely escaped a couple weeks ago. I wouldn't want to be the team paired off against Millbrook in the first round, that's for sure. They're above and beyond the most improved team in 4A this year, and maybe even the whole state.
Before I conclude, I want to touch a bit on the calls made in the first half by the refs. Each of the big calls against the Sentinels appeared to be to be pretty obvious, not calls that were very questionable. Blaming the refs for the closeness of the game is taking away from a fantastic coaching staff and team that came out in the second half with adjustments that blew the Warriors off the field. It wasn't because of the lack of calls, it was because the Sentinels looked like a different team in the second half.
I have nothing but respect for Fort Hill. Like I said earlier, it was a great game night even as a Sherando fan. My only complaints were some fans trash talking Sherando as a facility, claiming they paid off the refs, and other petty insults that did nothing but understate how good their team really is.
Best of luck to Fort Hill heading forward. I hope you guys can hang up another banner this year.
This was a game of two halves. In the first half, penalties aside, Fort Hill couldn't do anything against Sherando on offense or defense. The Warriors marched up and down the field at will with long drives, two of which resulted in touchdowns. When they went up 14-0, I got to thinking that maybe Sherando really could be considered to be a 4A West favorite. It seemed like they were in total control of the game.
In the second half, the Sentinels proved me wrong in a big way. Their 23 point comeback started off with a touchdown scored in under 22 seconds, the Fort Hill faithful went crazy. I clapped, realizing that the Warriors had laid an egg to start off the second half in two earlier season games, the first being against Eastern View and the second against James Wood.
The Sentinel kickoff resulted in the Warriors getting the ball on their own one yard line, and the defense showed up big to sack them back in their own end zone for the safety. It was 14-9 Sentinels. The mood of the game had clearly changed.
In the next few minutes, the Sentinels pushed it into the end zone yet again, taking the lead 16-14.
Later on in the game, it looked like Fort Hill had handed the game back to the Warriors after throwing a costly pick in Warrior territory. On the next play, Sherando missed the blitz and Pat Minteer went down hard, moving it to 2nd and 19. With the situation dire, the Warriors fumbled the handoff and it looked like another play was going to result in negative yardage, but somehow they pushed through and ran it up near the first down. When being taken down, the runner fumbled the ball away and the Sentinels recovered.
From then on out, the Sentinels controlled the tempo of the game as they had for most of the second half. Right at the end of a long drive, they scored again to move the score to 23-14, which was also the final score.
Watching Fort Hill in the second half it was obvious to me why they'd won two consecutive state championships. They're a great team with a fantastic coaching staff, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them hang up another banner this year.
If the Warriors are going to be competitive in the 4A West, they'll need to learn a lot from this game moving forward, or they'll be knocked out in the first round. They might even lose again before the regular season is over given how cross county rival Millbrook demolished a Tyler Bishop-less James Wood squad that Sherando barely escaped a couple weeks ago. I wouldn't want to be the team paired off against Millbrook in the first round, that's for sure. They're above and beyond the most improved team in 4A this year, and maybe even the whole state.
Before I conclude, I want to touch a bit on the calls made in the first half by the refs. Each of the big calls against the Sentinels appeared to be to be pretty obvious, not calls that were very questionable. Blaming the refs for the closeness of the game is taking away from a fantastic coaching staff and team that came out in the second half with adjustments that blew the Warriors off the field. It wasn't because of the lack of calls, it was because the Sentinels looked like a different team in the second half.
I have nothing but respect for Fort Hill. Like I said earlier, it was a great game night even as a Sherando fan. My only complaints were some fans trash talking Sherando as a facility, claiming they paid off the refs, and other petty insults that did nothing but understate how good their team really is.
Best of luck to Fort Hill heading forward. I hope you guys can hang up another banner this year.
