CUMBERLAND — Last year Fort Hill started the season with six seniors up front and an inexperienced backfield. This year, it’s the opposite.
Standout senior back Jabril Daniels returns after scoring more points (208) and touchdowns (34) in a season than any player in Fort Hill history, as do senior speedster Tristan Ross and talented sophom*ore Carson Bender.
Their blockers, however, will look quite different with the graduation of area Player of the Year Carter Hess, Logan VanMeter and Brayden Sines among others.
No seniors are expected to start on the line and two underclassmen will get the nod this year, but the expectations remain the same: An unbeaten season and a state championship.
“We have a lot of new faces,” Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire said. “Trying to get a lot of kids acclimated to some new roles. Some familiar faces playing in new spots, and some new guys hopping in there. It’s been a lot, we’ve had our hands full, but we’ve enjoyed getting back to the grind.”
The 2023 Fort Hill Sentinels will go down as one of the best in school history, finishing 13-0 and capping the campaign with their 10th state title, a 45-21 rout of Mountain Ridge in the Class 1A state championship game.
Led by its offensive and defensive line and the bruising running of Daniels, who accumulated 1,826 rushing yards and tied for the city record for touchdowns, Fort Hill often only played one half of football.
The Sentinels outscored their 12 opponents (they also had a forfeit win over Southern in Week 3) 386-42 in the first half for an average margin of 32.2 to 3.5 entering the halftime locker room.
The season’s highlight was a thrilling 36-35 win over Wadsworth, which at the time was ranked No. 11 in Ohio’s largest classification in the Associated Press poll.
Fort Hill’s unbeaten season was its 12th in school history and sixth since 2013.
Since the start of that ‘13 season, Fort Hill has a preposterous 130-7 record and eight state championships.
The Sentinels enter the 2024 season riding a 21-game winning streak.
If Fort Hill can take care of business at Northern in its opener on Friday at 7 p.m., it’ll have a chance to earn the distinction as having the state’s longest streak in Week 2 in a highly-anticipated matchup with Dunbar.
The Poets, who haven’t lost since the COVID-19 pandemic, maintain a 37-game win streak.
Fort Hill and Dunbar were longtime Class 1A rivals, with the Poets holding a 5-1 lead in the series. All six meetings came in the state semifinals or later.
They’ll link up for the first time in the regular season on Sept. 13 at Morgan State in Baltimore in the first leg of a two-year contract.
“Everyone is looking forward to that game, and it’s not just up here,” Alkire said. “Teams down there want to see it too. One of the most highlighted games in the state of Maryland this year, and it should be. Even though we’re smaller schools by definition, we’re two of the most successful schools in the entire state.”
After going to Baltimore, Fort Hill hosts Southern, Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and Briar Woods, Virginia, and is at Mountain Ridge.
It then welcomes East/World of Inquiry of Rochester, New York, which competes in the state’s second-largest classification and reached the state semifinals last year in a 12-1 season.
Fort Hill is then at Smithsburg before taking on Allegany in Homecoming.
“We want to win that state championship, that’s the goal every single year here at Fort Hill,” Alkire said. “We’re transitioning from a group of 20 seniors into a younger team. ... You still expect to still go out and win every single game. The goal is to go 14-0 and win a state championship.
“You always want these kids to grow. If growing means you have to have a hiccup here and there, you want to see how they rebound too.”
Fort Hill will have a new quarterback under center following the graduation of Deshaun Brown, who completed 37 of 58 passes for 788 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
Senior Nash Cassell (5-foot-11, 190 pounds) beat out junior Noah House (6-0, 205) for the spot, though both can be expected to see time.
While Fort Hill doesn’t take to the air often, its coaching staff worked in the offseason to modernize its passing game.
“We did do something with our passing game over the summer,” Alkire said. “We spent some time at the University of Maryland, talking to their receivers and quarterbacks coaches about our passing game. We did get out of the ‘90s with that.”
The strength of this Fort Hill offense runs through its running back unit, namely Daniels, who enters his senior season with 2,381 yards and 45 touchdowns through two varsity campaigns.
Daniels has earned a pair of Division 1 scholarship offers from Morgan State and Southern Utah since last year.
“Jabril spent a lot of time in the offseason working on adding a little bit of weight, a little bit of speed,” Alkire said. “He’s come back this summer and has looked really good. He’s in much better shape than he was coming into last year.
“He’s been a great leader too. When you’re breaking in five new linemen, you’re going to have plays where you don’t block the right guys. There have been times that he’s been lit up. A lot of guys would be angry and get in guys faces, there’s been a little of that, but for the most part he’s been positive. He’s done a great job of pulling those guys with him.”
Daniels suffered some turf burn in the Queen City Quad scrimmage against Bridgeport and was held out of Fort Hill’s scrimmage against Catoctin, but he’s expected to be ready to go Week 1.
“I think he’s going to have a great season,” Alkire said. “(The line) is going to be fine. It’s going to help him that he’s going to have a stable of backs to come with him. It’s not just going to be the Jabril Daniels’ show.”
Among those other backs are Bender (5-11, 178), Ross (5-11, 166) and junior Braelyn Younger (5-11, 206), the latter of whom has been working at both halfback and fullback.
Bender was Fort Hill’s second-leading rusher last year as a freshman, gaining 598 yards and scoring six touchdowns on 77 carries, Ross rushed it 52 times for 426 yards and six scores, and Younger garnered 223 yards and scored three times.
Other backs that could see time include senior Gamil Daniels (6-0, 160), junior Chase Lamb (5-8, 136), sophom*ore Neek Taylor (5-7, 131) and junior Ahmad Saunders (5-10, 150). Sophom*ore Jacob VanMeter (5-10, 198) has gotten time at guard and fullback.
One notable absence from that group is senior Nick Willison (5-10, 182), who moves into the starting tight end role after rushing for 242 yards and two scores as the back-up fullback last year.
“He’s got that kind of football mentality, old school, I’m going to just pound it at you kind of guy, but I can also run by you too,” Alkire said of Willison. “It’s a new position for him, but he’s very aggressive with it. He’s done a great job.”
The split ends will be senior Wyatt Ranker (5-9, 136), sophom*ore Bobby Brauer (6-1, 173) and Gamil Daniels.
“In our offense, we run the ball most of the time,” Alkire said. “We want you to catch the ball, but how are you going to block? That’s the most important thing at our receiver position. ... The guy that’s the best blocker is the guy who will play.”
All eyes point to Fort Hill’s offensive line, especially with what figures to be a long, athletic and physical opponent in Dunbar looming early.
Fort Hill plans to start three juniors and two sophom*ores Week 1 against Northern.
Sophom*ore Casey Martz (6-0, 210) will get the nod at center, juniors Landyn Ritchey (6-0, 193) and Dakota Shambaugh (6-0, 180) are the guards, and junior Austin Zembower (6-0, 250) and sophom*ore Ryder Canan (6-1, 296) will be the tackles.
Fort Hill has used as many as 10 linemen in scrimmages, so expect some shuffling week-to-week until the Sentinels find the right combination.
“There was a definite step forward from the week before, but that’s going to come with reps,” Alkire said of the line’s performance in the Catcotin scrimmage. “Looking forward to giving that group the opportunity to work together and jell together now.”
The other linemen still in contention are senior Ean Abe (6-1, 283), an Allegany transfer playing his first year of high school football, junior Kyler Miller (5-9, 178), junior Aiden Warnick (5-8, 197), junior Tytus Sheetz (5-10, 172) and junior Keiyn Steinmetz (5-9, 188).
“Those are guys that are still going to get important reps throughout the weeks, game reps” Alkire said. “Those guys are still definitely still in the mix.
“We have a lot of good clay to mold. It’s just a matter of if we’re able to mold them or not.”
Defensively, Fort Hill will be playing its first season under Alkire without the services of Hess, who was a force on the interior of the line totaling 132 tackles, 12 Sacks and 20 tackles for loss last year.
Hess was previously the 2022 area Defensive Player of the Year and the 2021 Lineman of the Year.
The defensive line will feature sophom*ore Christian Riley (6-0, 170), VanMeter and Willison, as well as a combination of junior Mason Bennett (5-11, 175), Warnick and Abe.
Others to look out for include Canan inside, Martz and Miller both at linebacker and on the line and sophom*ore Harley Twigg (5-9, 155).
“We lost Carter Hess, who is all-world,” Alkire said. “He did an amazing job for us, for basically four years. You don’t replace him with one guy, you have to replace him with a bunch of guys.
“It’s not just him, you have guys like Cooper Silber, and Logan VanMeter. You lost some guys that you were expecting back this year that aren’t here anymore.”
Riley was one of Fort Hill’s biggest surprises this year. He was called up from the junior varsity team over the summer due to weight room space and worked his way into a role at the 5-technique on the varsity squad.
Willison could’ve started at backer but asked to play on the line for a second straight season. He tallied 46 tackles and seven for loss last year.
“We like to find the guys that are a little more wiry, quick off the ball, strong, fast kids,” Alkire said. “We have a whole team full of those kids. They’re just inexperienced.
“The message has been pretty clear on defense. We’re going to try to do a lot of thinking for you in terms of our scheming. Keep it as simple as we can and put you in a position to be successful. Here’s your role for the week, do that and fly to the football. That’s what we preach.”
The linebackers will be House (42 tackles, three sacks), Younger (22 tackles, two interceptions), Bender (15 tackles) and Jabril Daniels (52 tackles, three interceptions).
All four have the athleticism to bounce outside and cover receivers against spread teams.
“They can play both linebacker, safety,” Alkire said. “Sometimes they play the old-school, I’m going to run down your throat and tackle you linebacker. Sometimes they’re out covering guys who run 4.4 40s.
“They spend a lot of the times in the offseason working on their game. They’re up in the stadium working on their coverage skills, their footwork. They can literally play anywhere on the field.”
The secondary will be made up of Gamil Daniels, Ranker at either corner or safety, and you will see guys like Taylor, Saunders and Brauer.
Daniels intercepted a pass in the 2023 state championship game.
Brauer also earned the place-kicking responsibilities, and junior Jacob Bone (6-1, 204), splitting time on the Sentinels’ soccer team, has been penciled in as the punter.
Fort Hill only punted 13 times last year.
“We had a great special teams year because of Cooper (Silber), now we’re trying to find his replacement,” Alkire said. “Both of those guys have done a really good job.
“The bigger concern isn’t field goals, extra points. ... It’s getting the ball in the end zone on kick-offs so we don’t have to worry about our coverage. I think by the end of the year we can get there.”
Fort Hill brings back electric returner Ross, who returned a kick for a touchdown against Wadsworth, and welcomes Lamb, who walked off two junior varsity games last year with game-winning return scores.
Both are record-setters in track and field. Ross broke Ty Johnson’s 100-meter dash sophom*ore school record, and Lamb set a new Fort Hill freshman mark in the 300-meter hurdles.
Alkire will be assisted by Richie Shook (offensive coordinator), Chad Knippenberg (defensive coordinator), Buddy House (linebackers), Chris Martin (special teams), Toby Main (defensive line), Nathaniel Graves (quarterbacks), Scott Rice (running backs), Jerry Meeks (offensive line) and Shane Steckman (offensive line).
Tanner Brode is the JV head coach, Jeremy Bender is in charge of the offense and Avery Knippenberg the defense.
Jaleel Moore will coach the freshmen and be assisted by Jeff Lee (offensive coordinator) and Chad O’Neal (defensive coordinator).
Fort Hill will play a full freshman schedule, something indicative of the health of the program despite the region’s shrinking population.
The Sentinels have just eight seniors, but they have 85 players across their varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams.
There may be bumps in the road this year, but the talent is there for another championship season.
It’s just a question of harnessing it.
“I’m pretty confident that these guys are going to get the job done,” Alkire said. “There’s a lot to work with there. There’s a lot more depth than what we’ve had in the past. It’s young depth, which means it’s not just this year.
“There are a lot of young kids who are going to be playing big roles this year. There could be up to 10 sophom*ore kids playing a role or playing significant minutes.”
Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.
