Duvall

HBO lost its Joseph Stalin halfway between the script and the screen.The ambitious, meticulously photographed film has its moments, but in the end, it drowns in a mass of rubber-face, glue and cosmetics.This big-name, skillion-dollar production, lavishly photographed on location in some of the very places Stalin lived and ruled from 1924 to 1953, gets lost in pounds of Silly Putty applied too heavily to actor Robert Duvall's face.There are other problems with HBO's "Stalin," which premieres tomorrow night.

Wilde Lake football coach Doug DuVall, who reached his 200th victory milestone with Saturday's 35-13 triumph over Long Reach, is full of funny stories.In the coaches' room after Saturday's game he told the story of how he first came to Wilde Lake.He played high school football as a lineman at Howard High School under coach Bob Marshall. After earning degrees at Catonsville Community College and West Chester (Pa.) State, where he played football, he was hoping in 1972 to earn a master's degree at Maryland and be a football coaching assistant.

Wilde Lake football coach Doug DuVall said this, his 36th season, would be his last one coaching the Wildecats. "I remember, when I started coaching, I just wanted to win my first game," he said yesterday, between classes at the school where he began his career in 1972. "Then I wanted to win 100, then 200, now 300. But you should never spend your whole career in one place." That thought and others first came to him when his friend, the late Dunbar coach Ben Eaton, died suddenly in August 2007.

R. Benson DuVall, a former member of the Rock Hall Town Council and retired lumberyard manager, died of a heart attack Jan. 18 at Chester River Hospital Center in Chestertown. He was 86. He was born and raised in Anne Arundel County's Elvaton and graduated from Glen Burnie High School. He earned a certificate in architectural design from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1941, and served as an Army technician from 1944 to 1946.

John Brooke Duvall Jr., a retired Baltimore transit official who spearheaded the conversion of streetcar lines to buses in the 1940s and 1950s, died of complications from a broken leg Wednesday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 91. The longtime Timonium resident was born and raised in Baltimore, the son of John B. Duvall Sr., whose career as an executive with United Railways & Electric Co. and later the Baltimore Transit Co., spanned 48 years. His father died in 1946. After graduating from City College in 1930, Mr. Duvall went to work for Provident Savings Bank, where he eventually was promoted to branch manager.

When Doug DuVall came to Wilde Lake High School to coach football in 1973, he set the ambitious goal of winning 150 games.Eighteen years, two state championships and many sweet memories later, he reached his goal.And with a bang.DuVall's visiting and second-ranked Wildecats dominated almost every facet of yesterday's game against Centennial, routing the Eagles, 42-0."It's a real big mark," said DuVall, whose team won its 18th straight game to improve his career record to 150-34, including state championship wins in 1985 and 1990.

Doug DuVall faced several challenges at Wilde Lake this year, besides upholding the usual high standard of football in the county's strongest program.First, the Wildecats lost numerous standout players to graduation after their state championship last year. The defensivesecondary and offensive line had several question marks. On paper, the team didn't figure to replace the departed talent."The big challenge was to try to come back and repeat as state champs," said DuVall, the Howard County Sun's Coach of the Year.

An article in Friday's Anne Arundel edition of The Sun incorrectly reported the number of cars that traveled on a segment of Duvall Highway in Pasadena. As many as 10,230 motorists a day used that portion of the road from Stoney Creek Drive to Fort Smallwood Road in 1995.The Sun regrets the error.To Mike Cadogan, Duvall Highway is Pasadena's very own raceway."It's the Indianapolis 500 out there," said Cadogan, who has a front-row seat at his house at the corner of Stoney Creek Drive and Duvall.

Wilde Lake's Jerrel Epps wasted almost no time taking control of last night's Class 3A state semifinal against No. 7 Hereford. The diminutive running back, 5 feet 6, 150 pounds, scored two touchdowns in the game's opening 1:56, and one more four minutes later, that set the tone for the No. 6 Wildecats. Wilde Lake was never threatened by visiting Hereford in the 42-16 win and plays Westlake on Thursday at M&T Bank Stadium for the state championship. Wilde Lake will not only try to win its sixth state title and first since 1997, but also give coach Doug DuVall a storybook ending to his career.

Wilde Lake football coach Doug DuVall needed nearly two decades to achieve his ultimate goal.That seems hard to believe, since DuVall has been producing championship-caliber teams at Wilde Lake for most of his 17-year tenure.Coming into the 1990 season, the Wildecats had won or shared seven of the last 10 county championships, and had won a state title in 1985.But DuVall and the Wildecats outdid themselves this year by winning their second state championship, and by doing it with a touch of perfection.