Doug DuVall bonus features

By Andrew Conrad
Posted: December 22, 2008

Two weeks ago I sat down with longtime Wilde Lake football coach Doug DuVall, who is retiring from Wilde Lake Jan. 23 after teaching and coaching there for 36 years. I didn’t get to include everything that I wanted to in the story so here are some extras. Like a DVD’s bonus features, except that you have to read these.

On Columbia Flier columnist Stan Ber working out with the team in the early ’70s:

“George Plimpton did the Paper Lion, Stan wanted to do an article called the Paper Wildecat, and he did. It was back in I guess ‘74.

“I’ll never forget Stan Ber coming on the field with his shorts so long. He wasn’t bad; he’s smart. He had these shorts and I think he had black socks on or something and the kids were all laughing … we put him in full helmet, shoulder pads and he trained with us for about a week. He did good. If he’d gone to this high school, he could have played here.

“He had an idea. If you haven’t had a helmet on before, your helmet stays straight all the time. You realize if you want to talk to somebody you’ve got to turn your head.”

On being a part of young Columbia:

“Just to see the community grow … Take Rouse’s dream and have it be a reality. It’s not perfect, but we’ve been able to help it some anyway. I don’t know how much, but we believed what he believed.”

On the Towson University football program:

“There are so many kids that played in this county who should have gone there to school. You could fill the stadium if you recruit kids from the state of Maryland. You’re going to fill that stadium every week. Once they graduate their parents will still come back.”

On his brief stint as a professional football coach with the semipro Baltimore Eagles in 1982:

“Of all the fun sort of stuff… we’d coach like crazy for 2 1/2 hours and afterward those guys would have a cold beer in the back of a car. It was crazy.”

On serving as a graduate assistant with the University of Maryland football team in the early ’70s:

“All I’m doing is pulling film together and gophering for stuff, evaluating film and putting it together. That wasn’t really coaching. I got to watch great coaching … Bobby (Ross) was an assistant when I was first there … and Ralph (Friedgen) was a line coach. I got to hang out for a year and be the smoke-and-fire guy: I could smell the smoke, and I didn’t have to deal with the fire. If they won, good, if they lost, that was good, too; it wasn’t me. Boomer Esaison was there. I could project myself into what they were doing and evaluate what I knew and what I’d have to know in order to be successful, so that was a great experience, but I didn’t have the weight around my neck.”

On his post-retirement opportunities:

“I may not work. I may just build some stuff here and there, cause I’ve built four or five houses. I’ve built my own home. I’ve had some job offers in the private sector that are really sort of appealing, too. Running parts of companies, doing different stuff. Kids I’ve (coached) that have companies now, or friends of mine who have companies. We’ll see.”

On River Hill winning the 2A state championship:

“If I can’t win I want them to win. First, I worry about us, then I worry about everybody else in Howard County.”

On leaving the program in the hands of longtime assistant Mike Harrison, who takes over in 2009:

“He played for me, he’s coached here, he knows offense, he knows defense. Over the last two or three years when I knew I was leaving he’s assumed more and more responsibility … It won’t be any huge transition, they’ll be fine. We’ve got good kids coming back. It makes it easy to leave right now. Not that it’s ever easy.”

On the timing of his decision to retire:

“It’s time because I’m going to do something else. I’ve got to go do it right now while I’m still healthy enough to do it, and young enough, if 61’s young…”

On the possibility of his grandchildren playing football in high school:

“It’s up to them, anytime they’re ready. We already play two-on-two, but the little guy’s not very good yet: he’s only three. They’ll figure out what they want to do when they get there. If they want to play that would be great, if they don’t, that would be OK, too … (it’ll be) eight or seven years before the oldest one goes.”

On how long he’ll be retired before he gets the itch to coach again:

“I was talking with a coach (after the Baltimore Touchdown Club Senior All-Star Game). We were collecting pants. He said, ‘I know what we’re going to do: I’m going to talk to your wife after you’ve been retired about a month, and she’ll sign your name to the next contract!’ which might be true… at this time I’ve had some wonderful job offers from different places … I’m not going to entertain any right now. A month from now, three weeks from now, might be different.”

On his tradition of wearing shorts on the sideline while coaching:

“That was a thing we started here to win a state championship in ‘85. That one can be put to rest. I’ve spent some cold nights on the sideline.”

On coaching offensive linemen, the position he played:

“I love those guys. They’re good because of that, and I’ve coached running backs and different (positions) at different times when I had to over the years, but it takes two or three years, sometimes four years, to really get a kid where he can play offensive line. I was fortunate I had (assistant coach) Dwight Evans for years and years and years. He did a great job with the little linemen and then I’d just tweak them up when they got up (to varsity).”

On what might have happened if he hadn’t accepted the Wilde Lake job 36 years ago:

“I probably would have ended up coaching in college and traveling around the country, because they just hire you and fire you. It would have been different.”

On being a minor celebrity in the community:

“The good and the bad of it is, I don’t go into the store and shop. My wife has been nice enough to do that. Because if I go into the store it takes me forever to get out if I go any place close by.”

On the way this year’s team played knowing that it was his final season:

“They really played; man, did they play. I think they would have still played, but I don’t think they’d have played like that. They were crazy.”

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FOOTBALL: Wilde Lake state final preview

By Andrew Conrad
Posted: December 4, 2008

Across the nation, former Wildecats and Doug DuVall pupils are pounding their chests and yelling, “LET’S GO!”

Tonight at 7 at M&T Bank Stadium, the Green and Gold will go for its sixth state championship in DuVall’s last game. Oh, you haven’t heard? DuVall is retiring after 36 years and more than 300 wins. He told me the other day that he’s trying to keep his retirement out of this, make this state championship game about this year’s team, etc. So to respect coach DuVall’s wishes, I will save the career retrospective until after tonight’s game, and focus on the game itself. I will throw this out, though: Towson University football coach Gordy Combs was let go; it was announced Monday. The search for his successor is on. I’ll leave it at that…

Now, to break down the battle of the ‘Lakes: Westlake (11-2) vs. Wilde Lake (12-1).

Six of the eight teams Westlake defeated during the regular season won three or fewer games, but the Wolverines have had quality wins in the playoffs, including a 37-0 shutout of Friendly, and a 24-21 win over 12-time state champion Seneca Valley last week at Seneca Valley.

The Wolverines’ two losses — to North Point (8-3) and Lackey (8-3) — indicate some vulnerability. Wilde Lake’s only loss, by comparison, was to undefeated defending state champion River Hill, 12-0, at River Hill’s homecoming.

Wilde Lake had some sloppy performances early in the season, but still managed to win those games, beating Atholton, Glenelg, Long Reach and Marriotts Ridge by a combined eight points.

Here’s the six (or four, or whatever it is) degrees of separation: Westlake lost to North Point, 24-13, which lost to Douglass, 32-10, which lost to River Hill, 21-6, which beat Wilde Lake, 12-0. Helpful? I didn’t think so.

Anyway, enough with the semantics, let’s take a look at the teams.

Westlake has Devon Smith (No. 2 in the program). He’s listed at 5 feet 7, 150 pounds, but he is FAST! He was a state champ last year in the indoor and outdoor sprints and he has been recruited to play football for Penn State. He’s the guy you need to look out for. He has scored just about all their points this season.

The Wolverines don’t have much of a passing game. Their quarterback has thrown eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and most of his passing production has come by getting the ball into the hands of Smith and allowing him to make plays.

Let’s take a look at how Wilde Lake has done against a team with a strong running attack. There’s no better example than River Hill, which features Michael Campanaro and Malek Redd.

So how did that go? Well, it was a split decision: the ‘Cats’ defense held Redd — who resembles Smith in size, speed, stature, and jersey number — to 10 yards on six carries. If they can do that against Smith, they’ll likely be state champs, and you can bet that DuVall has watched plenty of film and worked on a game plan to do just that. However, in that same game, Campanaro rushed for 175 yards (5.6 per carry). Wilde Lake held him out of the end zone, though, so the defensive effort was considered a success. It should be noted that it was rainy, windy and muddy that day. The field at M&T should be in good shape.

What it comes down to is that Wilde Lake has the players on defense to at least slow down Smith. Then Westlake’s other offensive options will have to come into play: sophomore quarterback Chris Istvan (7); 6-2, 175-pound receiver Brian Richards (20); Evan Harris (17) — who is more of a fullback-type at 6-foot, 220; and Antoine Reese (5), another mighty mite running back. They’re all good players, but Wilde Lake is used to defending against good players.

Wilde Lake, meanwhile, will look to move the ball with its own version of Devon Smith, senior Jarrel Epps (6), who is a few pounds bulkier than Smith and has put up impressive numbers. Senior Danny March gives Wilde Lake the edge at quarterback.

A big key is that, on average, the Wilde Lake line outweighs the Westlake line by about 20 pounds on offense and 30 pounds on defense. The average Wildecat is listed at 5-11, 196 pounds; the average Wolverine is 5-11, 187 pounds.

MaxPreps ranks Wilde Lake 5th and Westlake 10th.

PREDICTION: I’ve punched these numbers into the PredictaTron 3000 and after releasing some steam and expelling a few busted springs, this is what it spit out: DuVall wins his final game and closes his high school coaching career with a sixth state championship, 27-13.

Check back tonight for an injury update on Michael Campanaro, who hurt a hamstring in the state semifinal, and coverage of the Wilde Lake-Westlake game.

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FOOTBALL: Previewing the playoffs, Thanksgiving edition

By Andrew Conrad
Posted: November 28, 2008

This Friday evening, after you’ve gone to shop at Kohl’s at 4 a.m., seen this year’s big Thanksgiving week blockbuster, and eaten a few leftover turkey sandwiches, you’ll have two state semifinal football games to choose from in Howard County: in the 2A, Century (12-0) at River Hill (12-0), and in the 3A, Hereford (10-2) at Wilde Lake (11-1).

Both games are at 7 p.m., so you’ve got to choose one and stick with it. I sure would like to see staggered start times in the football playoffs, but that’s another blog I guess … Last week the Wilde Lake game was scheduled to start an hour before the River Hill game, but the officials at Wilde Lake didn’t realize that and didn’t get out to the field until after 6:30, so you wouldn’t have been able to double dip anyway. No one was more peeved at having to stand around waiting in the freezing cold than Wilde Lake coach Doug DuVall, who was wearing shorts and bare hands. I saw coach DuVall at the football state tournament press luncheon Tuesday at M&T Bank Stadium, and I’m happy to report that he didn’t look like this.

This Hereford-Wilde Lake game looks to be a doozy. DuVall cautioned me that his team would not be able to run wild on Hereford like it did against Fallston in the region championship.

“I’m not sure we can stop (Hereford), but we’ve got a pretty good idea of what they’ll do … as you work your way up through the pyramid that’s the way it gets,” DuVall said. “It becomes a little bit more of a chess game rather than a poker game.”

Hereford runs a Wing T offense like River Hill, the only team to defeat Wilde Lake this season, 12-0. Hereford’s two losses are to Perry Hall, by three, and Douglass, by three. River Hill defeated Douglass in the region championship, so there is a common opponent chain that goes like this: Wilde Lake lost to River Hill (12-0) which beat Douglass (21-6) which beat Hereford (20-17) which plays Wilde Lake Friday night … for whatever all that is worth (that common opponent chain and 50 cents will get you half a can of soda).

Here’s the tale of the tape. Hereford senior running back Nick DePaola (jersey #10) has rushed for 1,466 yards and 14 TDs on 188 carries and caught nine passes for 179 and two.

Wilde Lake senior running back Jarrel Epps (#6) has rushed for 1,014 yards and 15 touchdowns on 121 carries and caught seven passes for 112 and two. DePaola has returned ten kickoffs for for 234 yards, Epps has returned 10 for 201.

Wilde Lake’s next two rushers, Danny March (#4) and Christian Hough (#2) have combined for 1,296 and 13 TDs. Hereford’s next two, Hasani Cromwell (#9) and Neil Deluca (#2) have combined for 933 and 13.

Hereford QB David Wood (#19) has thrown for 662 yards (31/74), 8 TDs and 5 INTs. March has 487 (25/46), 5 and 2.

Interceptions: March and Epps have 9, DePaola and Reilly Crosby (#21) have five. Sacks: Wilde Lake’s Chaz Cousins-Lee (#7) and Jackson Drury (#80) have 15, Hereford’s Scott Schmelz (#56) and Ron Rose (#99) have 16.

Punting and field goal numbers are nearly identical between the two teams.

Roster size. Wilde Lake: 46. Hereford: 47. The average Wildecat is listed at 5-11, 196 pounds; the average Bull is 5-11, 190 pounds.

Get the point? It’s going to be close.

“It’ll be whoever gets the ball last I’m sure,” DuVall says.

My pick: Wilde Lake, 22-14. Yes, I’m a homer and I want to see Coach DuVall on the sideline at M&T Bank Stadium for his last game.

Onto Clarksville. Although River Hill opened just over ten years ago, its got the edge on Century in terms of history. Century opened in 2000, and this is its first time in the playoffs. In fact, this is the first season the Knights have had a record above .500. River Hill, meanwhile, has gone to the playoffs six years in a row, won four straight region titles, and is the defending state champ.

“The impressive thing is how they’re getting better throughout the playoffs,” River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said. “It’s their first time there, but you couldn’t tell.”

Century’s big three offensive weapons are bruising running back Cory Anderlik (#34, 6-0, 235) who has rushed for 1,139 yards on 163 attempts and 14 touchdowns; quarterback Josh Bordner (#12, 6-4, 190), who has thrown for 2,049 yards (125/217), 17 touchdowns and 14 interceptions; and receiver Luke Wright (#4), who has caught 45 passes for 754 yards and ten touchdowns.

“They’ve got good balance on offense, real good quarterback, a very good receiver, and also in the backfield they’ve got a big running back … they’re a tough team to defend,” Van Deusen said.

Defensive backs Michael Campanaro (#5) and Malek Redd (#2) will have their hands full defending against the Knights prolific passing attack. They haven’t been tested too much this year, probably because they’re so adept at covering receivers that opponents don’t bother. But you can expect a quarterback who has averaged 18 pass attempts per game to at least give it a try.

Campanaro and Redd won’t just be toiling in pass defense, though. That duo has combined for 2,726 yards and 38 touchdowns (Campanaro: 186 rushes for 1704 and 26; Redd: 99/1022/12) in the running game. River Hill doesn’t pass it nearly as much as Century, but when they do, they’re efficient. Luke Hostetler (#11) has thrown for 472 yards (27/58) seven touchdowns, and one interception. Campanaro has caught 17 passes for 266 yards and seven scores.

“We’re hoping that our speed maybe can give them some problems, I don’t think they’ve seen a whole lot of teams with our speed,” Van Deusen said.

Wright is the man in the Century return game. He has returned 10 kicks for 296 yards (29.6 average) and a score, and 13 punts for 85 (6.5) and a score.

River Hill splits its return duties between its two best athletes. Redd has returned only four kickoffs for 216 yards (54) and two TDs. Campanaro has six punt returns for 170 yards (28) and two TDs. Give River Hill the edge on special teams.

River Hill has only had to punt ten times this season, so I won’t compare those numbers. But I will say that Century’s punter is averaging 32 yards per punt, which is good.

Sacks: River Hill’s Ryan Griffin (#27) has five, Century’s Bordner (the rare QB who also plays defensive end) and Zach Zile (#86) have eight sacks each. Edge on pass rush goes to Century, though the Hawk O-line has been pretty good and should hold up. I should also note that as a tight end, Zile has caught 25 passes for 498 yards and three scores, as Century’s second leading receiver.

Interceptions: Campanaro and Wright each have five. Campanaro returned two of them for touchdowns.

River Hill has seven shut outs. Century has two.

Scoring differential: RH: 505-40; C: 403-132.

Roster: RH: 37; C: 35. The average Hawk is 5-11, 188. The average Knight is 5-10, 180.

Century’s season has been impressive, going all the way to the state semifinals in their first playoff appearance (Tampa Bay Rays anyone?) But I don’t see their story ending with a state championship win (or appearance.)

River Hill, 35-13.

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FOOTBALL: Previewing tonight’s playoff games

By Andrew Conrad
Posted: November 21, 2008

It’s snowing as I write this, but it’s supposed to stop by game time. Still, it’s gonna be CHILLY! The temperature could get down into the 20s, and it could feel like it’s in the teens! Bring lots of warm clothes, maybe a blanket to lay over your knees, and maybe even some of those hand-warmer things to stick in your gloves. The concession stand is probably going to sell a lot of hot cocoa tonight.

Now here’s the schedule: No. 2 Fallston kicks off at top-seeded Wilde Lake at 6 p.m. for the 3A East region championship. Then at 7, No. 3 Douglass kicks off at top-seeded River Hill for the 2A South championship. So you could catch the Wilde Lake game, and then be over at River Hill in time for the second half. That’s my plan, with my colleague Brent Kennedy spotting the first half at River Hill for me.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Wilde Lake (10-1) has tradition, and the home field advantage, on its side. Fallston (8-3), which opened in 1977, had never made the football playoffs until this year. The Cougars have been coached by Dave Cesky since the school opened. Wilde Lake has made the playoffs 14 times and won five state championships under coach Doug DuVall. Fallston is led by senior quarterback Garrett Weinhold, who had been a running back before this season. Wilde Lake is led by senior quarterback Danny March, who has rushed for 562 yards this season. Both quarterbacks return kicks. Weinhold (No. 15 in your program) is supported in the running game by David Ivory (No. 5) and Tony Johnson (No. 7). March (No. 4) is supported by Jarrel Epps (No. 6), Christian Hough (No. 2) and Mike Fields (No. 10). Both teams have good overall speed and playmakers on special teams and in the secondary.

MaxPreps ranks Wilde Lake 13th in the state, and ranks Fallston 68th.

The pick: Wilde Lake by two touchdowns.

In the main event, River Hill (ranked No. 2 by MaxPreps, behind Loyola) takes on ninth-ranked Douglass. The Hawks held off Gwynn Park last week, 20-6. Douglass was one of only two teams to defeat Gwynn Park during the regular season, although the Eagles lost to Friendly, by three, and Fort Hill, by two.

The Eagles are led by junior dual-threat quarterback Richard Barber (No. 9), who does not mind throwing the ball to senior Maurco Bradley (No. 6), and senior rusher/linebacker Trey Massey (No. 26). River Hill is led by seniors Mike Campanaro (No. 5) and Malek Redd (No. 2) in the running game. That pair also anchors the pass defense and secondary. Another pair of seniors, quarterback Luke Hostetler (No. 11) and receiver Leron Eaddy (No. 1) key the passing game. Eaddy is also a sideline-to-sideline linebacker who can drop into pass coverage and is the heart of the Hawk defense. Each team has six shutouts this season.

Starting with its first playoff appearance in 2004, River Hill (11-0) improved one step each year under coach Brian Van Deusen, culminating with a state championship last season. Douglass (9-2) has made 12 playoff appearances, but has never won a championship, falling in the first round in each of the past two years. Douglass beat North Point, 32-10, to get over the hump this year. The Eagles are coached by J.C. Pinkney.

The pick: River Hill by one touchdown.

NOTE: Because Wilde Lake defeated Howard in the playoffs opening round, there was no need to update the power rankings this week. Therefore, last week was the final edition. If you think that the rankings were wrong, I’d be happy to listen to your argument. E-mail me at aconrad@patuxent.com. Thanks for reading.

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30-second Time Out with Mike Campanaro…

By Andrew Conrad
Posted: November 18, 2008

Michael Campanaro, River Hill running back

…River Hill senior running back.

Campanaro was named first team all-county as a sophomore after scoring 19 touchdowns five different ways (punt return, rush from scrimmage, reception, fumble recovery and interception return). He then earned Offensive Player of the Year status for 2007 after rushing for 1,820 yards and scoring 32 touchdowns in helping his team win its first state championship. The Wake Forest signee also helped River Hill win a state championship in basketball in 2007 with 88 assists and a county-best 75 steals. So far this season, Campanaro has 1,329 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. In the last game of the regular season, he rushed for two touchdowns, passed for another and returned an interception for yet another score, all in the first half of the Hawks’ 41-0 win over Glenelg. Campanaro and his teammates, currently riding a 25-game winning streak, host Frederick Douglass, of Prince George’s County, Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. for the Class 2A South Region championship and a ticket to the state final four.

TV show I can’t miss: House

Favorite pre-game locker room song: Go Hard (Kanye West and T-pain) (warning: explicit lyrics)

Best on field moment: Waiting 40 Yards back For a punt return

Hobby that I have or had in the past that would surprise people: I’m a great bowler

Favorite movie of all time: P.S. I love You

Top professional athlete role model: Reggie Bush

Hardest class I ever took: Functions And Trig

When I grow up I want to: Be Really rich and have four children and also have a huge boat with jet skis.

Best part-time job I’ve ever had: Camp Counselor

Got an idea for a ‘30-second Time Out’ question? Know a local athlete who would be an ideal candidate for a ‘30-second Time Out?’ Send your suggestions to the sports staff at howardcountysports@patuxent.com.

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