High school football: Fort Hill launches one final drive to beat Wadsworth

Maryland powerhouse Fort Hill appeared physically and emotionally finished Saturday afternoon after never-say-die Wadsworth stunningly scored four unanswered touchdowns to take its first lead midway through the fourth quarter. However, the defending 1A state champions once again proved why they're one of the most respected programs in the state. With the Sentinels embarking on a 92-yard drive that look fewer than 4 minutes, Jabril Daniels scored a touchdown over left tackle and was successful on a two-point conversion sweep to the right as Fort Hill won a 36-35 instant classic that both schools will remember for years. Wadsworth (7-2) had taken a 35-28 lead on a 27-yard Will Stack fade pass to Drew Jones with 4:40 remaining. The Sentinels (7-0) then botched the kickoff return to start from their own 8-yard line but converted a fourth-and-5 reverse from their 13 and hit a 50-yard wheel route to set up Daniels' heroics after being largely lifeless for most of the second half. Freshman Carson Bender took a trap for 7 yards on third down — the Sentinels had been 0-of-9 to that point — on the play before Daniels' touchdown out of a stack-I formation. Fort Hill immediately lined up in its base wing-T formation for the two-point conversion attempt but changed strategy coming out of a Wadsworth timeout, due largely to Daniels' insistence to give him the ball instead of passing. Going back to the stack-I and moving left tackle Brayden Sines to the right to create an unbalanced line next to Fordham recruit Carter Hess, upman Hess motioned out and Daniels took a pitch to the strong side. Blocking was nearly perfect, allowing Daniels to cut up field, miss diving a Grizzlies linebacker and score standing up. Wadsworth's desperation bid for a field goal came up well short on the next possession, as a Stack pass over the middle to an open, leaping receiver went through the receiver's hands and into the arms of Daniels. Daniels added a 74-yard touchdown run and finished with 177 yards on 20 carries. Bender had 14 attempts for 66 yards, while Deshaun Brown completed 5-of-8 passes for 116 yards, including a 48-yard score to speedy Tristan Ross (3 catches, 101 yards). The Sentinels entered play having completed only 10-of-13 passes for 215 yards and three TDs in five games. Wadsworth countered with another virtuoso performance from Stack, who played much bigger than his stat line of 13 carries for 48 yards and 9-of-16 passing for 181 yards. Gavin Madigan also was gigantic with seven carries for 84 yards and a desperately-needed 58-yard TD reception in the second quarter, while Kyle Figuray posted 15 carries for 71 yards. The Grizzlies were reeling badly at halftime after Ross scored on a 94-yard kickoff return and 48-yard reception to put Fort Hill ahead 28-7. The latter was particularly brutal, as it came on a simple deep wheel route out of the backfield with 11.1 seconds left in the half. Wadsworth got to 28-14 on a Nathan Metzger 1-yard run just 1:21 into the third quarter. Madigan scored from 6 yards late in the period, while Stack scurried in from 3 yards with 7:39 remaining to tie the game at 28. Fort Hill then elected to go for it on fourth-and-inches from their own 38, but Daniels was stonewalled by Grizzlies linemen Sean Payn and Nathan Garcia with 5:12 left. Wadsworth wasted little time taking advantage, as Stack's fade pass to Jones came just 32 seconds later. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, they gave up a 20-yard reverse to Gavin Carney on fourth-and-5 from the Fort Hill 13 and allowed Ross to get behind the defense on another deep wheel route out of the backfield for a 50-yard gain to the Grizzlies 17. The game couldn't have started much worse for Wadsworth, whose season-long struggles with penalties contributed to two consecutive failed drives to start the afternoon. The Grizzlies' defense kept things from getting out of hand, however, as Fort Hill could only manage 23- and 33-yard Cooper Silber field goals on its first two possessions. Daniels' 74-yard TD was a thing of beauty, beginning with a devastating point-of-attack block by Hess. Daniels juked a defender in the box and another near the sideline to gain separation, then outran the last line of defense to put the Sentinels up 13-0 with 6:02 left in the first half. Wadsworth came right back with Madigan's 58-yard pop pass from Stack, but momentum was lost instantly on Ross' 94-yard kickoff return. The sequence was surprising, as the kickoff coverage team has been a Grizzlies strength all season. Everything changed after halftime, but Fort Hill just enough fuel left in the tank for a game-winning drive. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Fort Hill (Md.) 36, Wadsworth 35 WADSWORTH 0 7 14 14 — 35 FORT HILL &emsp;&emsp;3 25 0 8 — 36 First F — Cooper Silber 23 field goal, 3:30. Second F — Silber 33 field goal, 9:09. F — Jabril Daniels 74 run (Silber kick), 6:02. W — Gavin Madigan 58 pass from Will Stack (Jack Dinwiddie kick), 3:56. F — Tristan Ross 94 kickoff return (Bryson Metz pass from Deshaun Brown), 3:41. F — Ross 48 pass from Brown (Silber kick), 0:11.1. Third W — Nathan Metzger 1 run (Dinwiddie kick), 10:39. W — Madigan 6 run (Dinwiddie kick), 1:07. Fourth W — Stack 3 run (Dinwiddie kick), 7:39. W — Drew Jones 27 pass from Stack (Dinwiddie kick), 4:40. F — Daniels 3 run (Daniels run), 0:51.3. &emsp;&emsp;W &emsp;&emsp;F First downs &emsp;&emsp;17 &emsp;&emsp;15 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;39/220 47/274 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;5.6 &emsp;&emsp;5.8 Passing &emsp;&emsp;9/16 &emsp;&emsp;5/8 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;181 &emsp;&emsp;116 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;55/401 55/390 Punting &emsp;&emsp;3/39.3 2/36.5 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;8/92 &emsp;&emsp;4/25 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;0/0 &emsp;&emsp;1/0 RUSHING: Wadsworth — Madigan 7-84, Figuray 15-71, Stack 13-48, Cooper Gray 1-14, Metzger 3-3. Fort Hill — Daniels 20-177, Carson Bender 14-66, Gavin Carney 1-20, Steven Spencer 2-16, Ross 7-2, Team 1-(-1), Brown 2-(-6). PASSING: Wadsworth — Stack 9-16-181-1. Fort Hill — Brown 5-8-116-0. RECEIVING: Wadsworth — Jones 4-66, Madigan 2-60, Caden Shriver 2-39, Colton Leavitt 1-16. Fort Hill — Ross 3-101, Bender 1-8, Landon Sensabaugh 1-7.