Brunswick

When the 1990 census figures arrived, Mayor Richard Goodrich realized that Brunswick had 117 citizens more than the requisite 5,000 to become a city under the rules of the Maryland Municipal League. Brunswick is now advertising a charter change. If there is no opposition, the town on the banks of the Potomac soon will turn into a city."City has a nice ring to it," muses Mayor Goodrich. "Brunswick is growing. We ought to be very proud that we are a growing community and now, after umpteen years, we are one of two cities in Frederick County."

Jonylah Watkins died on a Tuesday. She was with her father, who was sitting in a minivan in Chicago on the night of March 11 when someone opened fire. Doctors worked 17 hours trying to repair what a bullet had done to her body, but to no avail. She died the next morning. Her funeral was about two weeks ago. She was 6 months old. Antonio Santiago was 7 months older when his mother put him in a stroller and took him for a walk in their Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood. Sherry West says they were accosted by two teenagers demanding money.

Hope, faith and maybe some embarrassment.Those are the feelings many of us might have upon learning that a high school student in a small town in Frederick County revealed that she has AIDS and that the community reacted mostly with support and compassion.Cindy Gibson last month disclosed that she contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome through a blood transfusion several years ago. She said she could no longer handle the stress of hiding the illness. The community's response was humane and sane-minded.

Defensively, the New Town boys basketball team came ready to play in Friday's Class 1A state semifinal against Brunswick. When the offense caught up in the third quarter, the No. 9 Titans had the necessary mix to secure a return visit to Saturday's state championship game. Senior Justin Brown scored 23 points and junior Danny Shand finished with 16 as New Town earned a 52-44 win over Brunswick at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center. The duo combined for 15 points in the pivotal third quarter.

Havre de Grace running back Michael Kelly put on a show that Brunswick would have rather missed. Kelly ran for 289 yards and three touchdowns to help host Havre de Grace break open a close game and roll to a 34-14 victory over Brunswick in a Class 1A state semifinal Friday night. Havre de Grace (11-2) will meet the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between No. 12 Dunbar and Fort Hill in the state title game at noon Dec. 4 at M&T Bank Stadium, the Warriors' first appearance in a state championship game since 1988.

BRUNSWICK -- Andy Griffiths' short turnaround jumper with three seconds left gave the third-seeded Brunswick Railroaders a 46-45 win over visiting Francis Scott Key last night in a Class 1A South region game.It wasn't without controversy. After the sixth-seeded Eagles (8-13) took their first lead of the game on a Mike Crawmer runner with 59 seconds left, Brunswick's Cory Brawner tried to answer with a three-pointer with 23 seconds left, but missed the mark.The long rebound came to Key's Kyle Stephenson, who wrapped the ball up with two Brunswick players draped over him. The referees called a jump ball, giving Brunswick another chance and setting the stage for Griffiths' game-winning basket.

A fall train ride is a perfect way to experience the change of seasons. On Saturday and next Sunday you can travel roundtrip from Brunswick through Harpers Ferry to Millville, W. Va. The rides are planned as part of Railroad Days, a weekend heritage celebration in the turn-of-the-century railroad town of Brunswick. The fare is $7 for adults, $4 for children and seniors.In addition to the four train rides each day there will be a round of free activities at Railroad Square from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., including live music, crafts, train displays, children's activities and food.

Curt Ludwig and Tony Dorsey bowl at Brunswick recreation centers in Howard County, and now they have another thing in common. Each owns a perfect game.Ludwig started bowling in 1958 with duckpins, as did so many of the Baltimore-born bowlers, before switching to tenpins. Still residing in Baltimore with his wife, Donna, he bowls in two leagues at Brunswick Normandy, the Wednesday Anytime Funtime and the Friday Friendship.If you bowl at Normandy lanes you know Curt and Donna; Curt works there as a mechanic and in the pro shop and Donna works the control counter.

Dunbar's football team likes to celebrate its own special family tradition around this time every year and for the Poets, that means a trip to M&T Bank Stadium. The No. 6 Poets used a relentless running game and an intimidating defense to overpower Brunswick's record-setting aerial offense en route to a 40-8 state semifinal victory Saturday, earning the two-time defending Class 1A champions another berth in the state finals. "This was our goal - and that's everybody's goal going in - but we set up our offense and defense to get back to the championship, to keep going back," Poets All-Metro defensive end Marvin Gross said.

Francis Scott Key opened the fourth quarter with nine straight points to break open a close contest and pull away from visiting Brunswick, 60-49, last night in Uniontown.Four Eagles reached double figures, led by senior guard Erin Murphey's 16 as they all but guaranteed themselves a berth in the Class 1A, Region II playoffs. It will be the first time in three years the Eagles (9-9) have qualified for postseason play.It was solid defense in the fourth that was the difference for the Eagles.

It wasn't an easy road this fall for the Manchester Valley High School girls' soccer team. After winning the school's first-ever state championship last fall, the Mavericks endured graduation losses at several key spots, and with a 4-3-2 record at midseason, coach Joe Miller's team was far from a lock to repeat as Class 1A state champions. At that point, the coach made some lineup changes and watched his charges take off. A season-ending nine-game winning streak was more than enough to propel the team to a second straight Manchester Valley state championship.

Dunbar's football team likes to celebrate its own special family tradition around this time every year and for the Poets, that means a trip to M&T Bank Stadium. The No. 6 Poets used a relentless running game and an intimidating defense to overpower Brunswick's record-setting aerial offense en route to a 40-8 state semifinal victory Saturday, earning the two-time defending Class 1A champions another berth in the state finals. "This was our goal - and that's everybody's goal going in - but we set up our offense and defense to get back to the championship, to keep going back," Poets All-Metro defensive end Marvin Gross said.

Fall behind a goal, don't panic, score two goals before the half and successfully go from there. For the Manchester Valley girls soccer team, it proved to be a winning pattern against Brunswick in two meetings this season. The latest, coming Saturday at UMBC Stadium, gave the Mustangs their second straight Class 1A state championship. Senior Karlyn Warzinski and junior Jamie Rickabaugh scored goals less than two minutes apart near the end of the first half, and Rickabaugh added a goal after halftime to complete a 3-1 win over the Railroaders from Frederick County.

As of 9 a.m., traffic was slow on I-95 southbound near Montgomery Road in Howard County, due to an accident involving three vehicles. An accident was slowing traffic at Burke Avenue and Towsontown Boulevard in Towson. The Maryland Transit Administration is warning patrons that MARC Brunswick Line trains are experiencing 10 to 20 minute delays due to speed restrictions in place for scheduled track work.

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Bowling The Brunswick Columbia Lanes, in cooperation with the Howard County Autism Society, is offering a four-week long Family and Friends League for those with special needs. The league starts Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. (an organizational meeting will be held at 2:30). There are two divisions, 6-11 years old and 12 and older.

A combination of problems have MARC trains on the Brunswick line running 15 to 20 minutes late, according to the Maryland Transit Administration. The system is experiencing a switch problem at the Brunswick station and a track problem near Monocacy station. MARC riders will be able to use their tickets on Metro from Shady Grove into Washington, according to the MTA. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Not including its 1 1/2 -hour bus ride in the rain, Brunswick of Frederick County had a lot to overcome in its regional final against top seed Milford Mill last night.Thrown into the mix, the third-seeded Railroaders had 27 turnovers and a nearly disastrous second quarter.Lucky for them they also had Shelley McLane. The 6-foot-2 senior, who played center, forward and even point guard, had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead Brunswick to a 64-49 win at Owings Mills High School."We knew she was trouble," said Milford Mill coach Ken Witts, who saw McLane put on a similar performance against the Millers in last year's regional final.

FREDERICK -- Joppatowne relied on timely hitting to win its first Harford County baseball championship in 12 years. But the 13th-ranked Mariners couldn't get those hits yesterday and lost to Brunswick, 5-1, in the state Class 1A championship game at McCurdy Field.The top-seeded Mariners (18-4) managed five hits but only one with runners in scoring position against Brunswick ace Scott Frye. They stranded 10 runners, including the bases loaded in the seventh inning.Frye's complete-game, nine-strikeout performance led his Frederick County squad to its third straight Class 1A state baseball title.