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Fall 2009 Archives
Eastern Tech  = Football State Champions

The third time was the charm as Eastern Tech finally won the 2A State Title on Saturday with a 16-8 win over Queen Anne's at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. It was the first state football title in the school’s history. The Mavericks lost the past two years to River Hill and had one other appearance in the state finals in 1998. Eastern Tech becomes the first area team to win a state title in football. According to the MPSSAA website, Overlea (1988) and Perry Hall (1974) were the only other schools to make it to the title game before losing.

 Eastern Tech Gets Revenge on Chesapeake, Advances to State Semifinals

The Eastern Tech Mavericks are back in the 2A Football State Semifinals for the third straight year after defeating their Essex rival Chesapeake Bayhawks 20-6 at CCBC-Dundalk last Friday night. Eastern Tech was led by their defense and quarterback Zach Burkhardt, who had 133 yards rushing and a touchdown.
  The Bayhawks handed Eastern Tech its first regular season loss in three years 15-13 back on Sept. 26, but the Mavericks were too much for Chesapeake in the rematch.
“When you get beat by a good team, it motivates you to get a second bite at the apple,” said Eastern Tech coach Marc Mesaros. “The whole thing was about getting another chance at some redemption. We knew that they are a great team.”

Chesapeake Beats Dundalk 14-12 in Playoffs

Chesapeake Head Coach Mark Junker has led his team to the playoffs since he took over as coach in 2007, but had never won a playoff game until last Friday. Junker and his Bayhawks defeated Dundalk 14-12 in the first round of the 2A North Regional Semifinal at CCBC-Dundalk. Junker was happy to get the win, but disappointed on how sloppy his team played.
"Yeah, it was good to get the win, but we have some room for improvement. We need to play more fundamentally sound," Junker said.
Dundalk actually grabbed an early 6-0 after a Tavon Henley 23-yard touchdown run. Henley had 80 yards rushing and both Owl touchdowns. Juwan Lipscomb also contributed to the Owl ground game with 71 yards. On defense, the Owls were playing great too as Manuel Harris, Jr. got a sack when Chesapeake went for it on fourth down. Dundalk looked to add more points on their next two drives.


Middle River's Rallo Responsible for Historic MMA Event in Baltimore

John Rallo began his fighting career in 1998 making an instant impact in local and regional tournaments. Under the tutelage of world-renowned fighter Renzo Gracie, Rallo trained with a number of top-notch competitors from the Renzo Gracie dynasty, including Sean Alvarez, Matt Serra, Ricardo Almedia, Rodrigo Gracie and Roger Gracie. Rallo was promoted to the rank of Black Belt on Nov. 22, 2006. He is the only person in the tri-state area to be personally promoted by legendary Renzo Gracie.
Rallo has competed or trained fighters in events such as UC, WEC, Elite XC, Bodog Fight, Ring of Combat, King of the Cage, Reality Fighting and the UWC. Rallo finished his career as the WEC's #2 Heavyweight in the World. Today, John is the founder and head instructor of Ground Control Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Baltimore. Taking control of the Academy in 2001, the school currently enrolls over 200 students with 15 fighters in the group. In 2009, Rallo added two new academy locations. There are now three Ground Control academies located in Owings Mills, Columbia and Baltimore.
In addition to the academics, Rallo has spent the last 11 years mastering the “business of the sport.”


Dundalk Upsets Sparrows Point 24-12

It might have been Homecoming at Sparrows Point, but that didn’t stop the Dundalk Owls from upseting the Pointers in a 24-12 win. After trailing 12-6 at the half, Dundalk quarterback Alvin Thomas threw a 95-yardpass to Jonathan Bynaker and came back with an 80-yard touchdown pass to Ndidi Ibe to help lift the Owls over the Pointers. The loss drops Sparrows Point to 5-3, but they are still in third place in the 1A North Region.

Perry Hall Holds on for 28-17 Win Over Kenwood

Perry Hall came into their home game with Kenwood with a record of 2-2 and was on the verge of dropping to 2-3 as they were trailing Kenwood 17-14 in the third quarter. That was until Davonta Farrell broke off a 48 yard-touchdown run that gave Perry Hall a 21-17 lead. Later, Farrell added his third touchdown run as the Gators held off Kenwood 28-17. The Gator victory avenges a 21-17 loss to Kenwood in ’08.
This game had the makings of a blowout as Perry Hall marched downfield 77 yards on its first possession and scored on a Robin Paguia 1-yard touchdown run. Then Gators got the ball back after a Rodney Spears interception, his first of two on the night, and went all the way to the Bluebird 3-yard line. But Kenwood’s defense stepped-up and Bluebird linebacker Mike Quirk forced an intentional grounding call on Farrell. Quirk forced two intentional grounding calls and had one sack throughout the game. The Gators were forced back to the Kenwood 29-yard-line and were stopped on fourth down.



Chesapeake Shocks Eastern Tech  

Chesapeake sent shockwaves throughout the county as they upset Eastern Tech 15-13 last Saturday. Both teams came into the game with perfect 3-0 records, but Eastern Tech was heavily favored since they haven't lost a regular season game since 2006 and made it to the 2A state championship the past two seasons.
“We have so much respect for Eastern Tech. They have been to the state finals and we knew we had a daunting task ahead of us,” said Bayhawk coach Mark Junker. “I told them not to worry about who they are playing, but focus on the same fundamentals that we focus on each and every week.”
Chesapeake's defense has shut down opponents all year long, but they haven't played an offense like Eastern Tech's. On the opening drive, the Mavericks appeared they would dominate the Bayhawks as they moved the ball down to the Bayhawk 6-yard line, but the drive was stopped after Chesapeake's TeAndre Gamble caused and recovered a fumble.
                   
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Eastern Tech Pounds Rival Kenwood 35-13

Kenwood and Eastern Tech renewed a long-time rival at CCBC-Essex. Kenwood came into the game with a 2-0 record, but found out why many consider the Mavericks to be the best in the county.
Tech pounded the football all game in a 35-13 win over Kenwood. The Mavericks ran the ball on its first two possessions and found themselves with a 14-0 lead. The running back combination of Marquiese Bannister, Criszon Brown and Emmanuel Gbor ran all over the Bluebird defense. Bannister and Brown scored the first two touchdowns, but Kenwood did not go away.
After being sacked by Tech's Dan McManus and trailing 14-0, Bluebird quarterback James Brittingham threw a short screen pass to running back Corey Johnson, who ran the ball 60 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. The only problem was Kenwood's defense couldn't stop quarterback Zach Burkhardt and Tech's high powered offense. Burkhardt broke free for a 45-yard run and that set-up a Gbor 3-yard touchdown.
Kenwood's defense forced two turnovers, including a Mike Quirk interception, but they were trailing at the half 21-6. Tech put the game away in the early third quarter with another touchdown run by Gbor and Martin Iaconi forced a Kenwood turnover on a kickoff. That led to another Brown touchdown run.

Bayhawks Gets 20-7 Win Over Dundalk

When Chesapeake moved up from 1A classification to 2A this year, they were supposed to slow down and struggle against better teams. Of course the Bayhawks didn't get the memo as they improve to their second 3-0 start in the past three years after beating Dundalk 20-7 last week.
The Owls also came into the game with a 2-0 record with wins over Dulaney and Patapsco under the improvement of Coach Mike Downes. Dundalk was able to create havoc and force three turnovers in the first half. The Owls actually caused three fumbles on Chesapeake's first drive. The Bayhawks recovered the first two fumbles, but the Owls finally stopped the drive with a Manuel Harris fumble recovery at the Dundalk 10-yard line.
The Owls continued to get turnovers as Niddi Ibe intercepted a pass and should have scored a touchdown, but the play was called back after a penalty. Dundalk also forced a fumble after a sack, but the Owls couldn't get any points off turnovers. The Bayhawks defense, led by Chris Brown and TeAndre Gamble's two sacks, keep Dundalk off the scoreboard.
The Bayhawks finally scored when quarterback Delvonta Cole threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to running back Pascal Tshiams in the first quarter. Cole came back with another touchdown pass to running back James Bedgood right before the half.


Gators Rebound By Defeating Falcons 26-8
A pair of 0-1 football teams faced off in Overlea as the Perry Hall Gators traveled down Belair Road to face the Overlea Falcons. The Gators started off the season with a 33-7 loss to Joppatowne and the Falcons lost to City College High School 20-6 in their opening game.
The Gators wasted no time and grabbed a quick 26-0 lead before the half by scoring on their first three possessions. Since it rained and the field was muddy, Perry Hall went to their ground game in their first possession as running backs Rodney Lawson and Michael Thompson broke some key runs and set up quarterback Davonta Farrell's three-yard touchdown run. On the next possession the Gators used the big play to extend the lead to 20-0. Farrell came back with another touchdown run, but this time it was an impressive 35-yard run as he dragged a few Falcon defenders down the field. Then Farrell showed off his passing skills as he converted a fourth down pass to Robin Paguia for 30 yards. Paguia took the ball to the goal line and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run.


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2007 & 2008 Sports Archives