Quince Orchard

GAITHERSBURG -- For Western, trying to return the Quince Orchard serves proved tough, coping with its speed difficult and trying to do something at the net nearly impossible.In short, it was a long night.Quince Orchard relied on its speed, power and teamwork to dominate from start to finish and roll to a 15-5, 15-6, 15-0 victory over Western in the Class 4A state semifinal last night at Watkins Mill High School.Quince Orchard (18-1), which advances to the state final on Saturday at Catonsville Community College, needed only 54 minutes to defeat Western (18-1)

Isaiah Black threw a go-ahead 24-yard touchdown pass to Micah Till with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left, and Wise's defense held off a furious late drive by Quince Orchard to capture its first Class 4A football state championship with a 12-7 victory Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium. Black did not attempt a pass in the first half as the Pumas (13-0) from Upper Marlboro stuck to their run-heavy offensive script, but the junior took over at just the right time in a game controlled by two dominant defenses.

In a season where everything had gone right, the Westminster football team had put itself in position to win its biggest game in years. If the Owls could make a field goal on the game's last play, they would defeat perennial power Quince Orchard and advance to their first state title game since 2005.  But after 48 minutes of football, a missed field goal signaled the end of Westminster's dream season.  Justin Cohen's 37-yard field goal...

FRIDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS M. bask. Morgan State@Liberty (T) MASN10 a.m. Tennessee@Georgetown ESPN6:30 Georgia@South Florida ESPNU7 Syracuse@Arkansas ESPN8:30 DePaul@Auburn ESPNU9 W. bask. California@Old Dominion CSNP, TCN7 NBA San Antonio@Miami (T) NBA11:45 a.m. Minnesota@Clippers (T) NBA2 Washington@New York CSN7:30 Denver@Lakers ESPN10:30 H.S. foot.

Isaiah Black threw a go-ahead 24-yard touchdown pass to Micah Till with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left, and Wise's defense held off a furious late drive by Quince Orchard to capture its first Class 4A football state championship with a 12-7 victory Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium. Black did not attempt a pass in the first half as the Pumas (13-0) from Upper Marlboro stuck to their run-heavy offensive script, but the junior took over at just the right time in a game controlled by two dominant defenses.

COLLEGE PARK -- Running back Ray Gray had 158 yards of total offense and scored three touchdowns to pace Quince Orchard of Montgomery County to a 34-13 win over High Point of Prince George's County last night in the state Class 4A title game before an estimated crowd of 7,500 at Byrd Stadium.Gray had touchdown runs of 4 and 5 yards, and also caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Larry Hurd in the third quarter.Quince Orchard (12-1) out-ained High Point, 338-115, and held the Eagles to 48 yards rushing.

The Westminster Owls have been going through some tough times this season and things didn't get any better last night against visiting Quince Orchard.The Owls (0-5) squandered an early double-digit lead and then saw their comeback bid fall short in losing 45-41 to the Cougars.It all unraveled midway through the third quarter.With their once 14-point lead down to six at 27-21 with 3:25 left in the quarter, the Owls had possession of the ball when guard Eric Moreau was called for a dead-ball foul -- an automatic technical foul on coach Dave Byers and a loss of possession.

Fifth seed Westminster Owls couldn't make it two in a row against fourth seed Quince Orchard, falling to the host Cougars, 60-40, in an opening-round Class 4A, Region I contest last night in Montgomery County.After scoring the game's opening basket, the Owls had to play catch-up all night long and couldn't overcome the strong inside playof Cougars forwards Tony Mensah (game-high 20 points) and Jamail Pritchett (15).The loss ended a seven-game winning streak for the Owls -- including a 57-55 overtime win at home against the Cougars Saturday to clinch the fifth spot -- and finished their season at 14-9.

GAITHERSBURG -- For Western, trying to return the Quince Orchard serves proved tough, coping with its speed difficult and trying to do something at the net nearly impossible.In short, it was a long night.Quince Orchard relied on its speed, power and teamwork to dominate from start to finish and roll to a 15-5, 15-6, 15-0 victory over Western in the Class 4A state semifinal last night at Watkins Mill High School.Quince Orchard (18-1), which advances to the state final on Saturday at Catonsville Community College, needed only 54 minutes to defeat Western (18-1)

With both C. Milton Wright and Quince Orchard unwilling to give ground on defense, the deciding factor in last night's Class 4A girls soccer championship was which team had the poise to put home penalty kicks. Quince Orchard proved one better. With goals from Kayla Clarke, Emily D'Italia and the decider from Maureen McMeekin, the Cougars from Montgomery County came away with the state title. It's the first time the Maryland public schools have gone to penalty kicks to decide a state crown.

State semifinals Class 4A Quince Orchard 21, No. 3 Westminster 19 Henry A. Wise 40, No. 5 Meade 0 Class 3A No. 2 River Hill 29, Urbana 7 Huntingtown 34, No. 7 Milford Mill 6 Class 2A Douglass-PG 34, No. 11 Edmondson 20 Middletown 45, Elkton 0 Class 1A New Town 28, Perryville 27 No. 6 Dunbar 40, Brunswick 8

In a season where everything had gone right, the Westminster football team had put itself in position to win its biggest game in years. If the Owls could make a field goal on the game's last play, they would defeat perennial power Quince Orchard and advance to their first state title game since 2005.  But after 48 minutes of football, a missed field goal signaled the end of Westminster's dream season.  Justin Cohen's 37-yard field goal...

The power, size and speed of the Henry A. Wise football team ended Meade's dream season with a nightmare. After two surprising road playoff victories over then-No. 4 Arundel and then-No. 6 Old Mill, No. 5 Meade hoped to keep rolling in the Class 4A state semifinal Saturday afternoon. But Wise used its bulk to take control early and steamroll the visiting Mustangs, 40-0. Wise (13-0) advances to the Class 4A state final Friday at M&T Bank Stadium against Quince Orchard, who edged No. 3 Westminster, 21-19, in the other state semifinal Friday night.

No. 3 Westminster finally ran into a team that could stifle its prolific passing offense. The Owls' struggled against a Quince Orchard defense that was more athletic, better able to cover their stellar corps of receivers than the previous teams they had met in the playoffs and put a lot of pressure on senior quarterback Deryk Kern, who was sacked four times. The Cougars used that defense and good special teams play to power their 21-19 win in Friday night's Class 4A state semifinal football game before a standing-room only crowd at Westminster.

State semifinals Quince Orchard (11-1) at No. 3 Westminster (12-0) When: Friday, 7 p.m. Class: 4A Coaches: Dave Mencarini, Quince Orchard; Brad Wilson, Westminster Outlook: The Owls' high-flying offense, led by QB Deryk Kern and his state-record 61 touchdown and near state-record 3,612 yards passing, will try to take down a third straight Montgomery County team when they face last year's state runner-up....

State football semifinals Class 4A Quince Orchard (11-1) at Westminster (12-0), Friday, 7 p.m. Meade (10-2) at Wise (12-0), Saturday, 1 p.m. Class 3A Urbana (9-3) at River Hill (12-0), Friday, 7 p.m. Huntingtown (11-1) at Milford Mill (11-1), Saturday, 1 p.m. Class 2A Douglass-PG (11-1) vs. Edmondson (11-1) at Poly, Friday, 7 p.m. Elkton (11-1) at Middletown (11-1), Friday, 7 p.m. Class 1A New Town (10-2) at Perryville (12-0)

Westminster didn't exactly charge down the stretch toward the state 4A regional field hockey playoffs, losing two of its last five games after a 7-0 start.But the seventh-ranked Owls were in playoff form yesterday on a blustery, cold day and turned back visiting Quince Orchard, 2-1, in the state 4A North Regional semifinals.Second-seeded Westminster (11-2) will meet the winner of today's semifinal between top-seeded Perry Hall (9-0) and fourth-seeded Gaithersburg.The less-than-impressive finish by the Owls cost them the top seed in the regionals, meaning they will have to travel to Perry Hall tomorrow for the regional championship game if the Gators get past Gaithersburg.

It was a split decision for Carroll's two remaining teams on Friday night in the state high school football playoffs. The top-seeded Westminster High School Owls rode the arm and legs of quarterback Deryk Kern to a resounding 62-28 win over second seed Sherwood High in the Class 4A North Region championship game at Ruby Field.  Yet after defeating Reginald Lewis in the first playoff game in school history last Saturday, Manchester Valley closed...

Baltimore area teams showed little movement in this week's Maryland High School Football Media State Poll as last week's No. 16 Seneca Valley produced the only big change with its upset of then-No. 3 Quince Orchard. Gilman remained at No. 2, while Calvert Hall moved up to No. 4 from No. 5 and River Hill rose from No. 8 to No. 7 when Quince Orchard dropped to No. 11. Seneca Valley's rise to No. 10 cost No. 12 Arundel, No. 15 Westminster and No. 16 Old Mill one spot each. No. 19 Dunbar rose one spot while No. 20 Franklin made the biggest leap of any local team, up from No. 23. Mount Hebron, Hereford and Edmondson all received votes but were just out of the Top 25. Good Counsel remains No. 1. To see the full poll, click here .