Fumble return 21 years in the making sets tone for Fort Hill defense

CUMBERLAND — The play that put Fort Hill on the scoreboard in Saturday's Homecoming game was 21 years in the making.

During the 2005 edition of the game, a Fort Hill player had an opportunity for a scoop-and-score, but couldn't pick it up in what ended up being a 21-14 win for Allegany.

The Campers routed the Sentinels 38-16 a week later in the West Region playoffs on their way to a 14-0 season and a Class 1A state title.

But in this year's game, Ramelo Palmisano returned a scoop-and-score in the opening three minutes to set the tone for the Sentinels' defense in a 42-3 thrashing of the Campers at Greenway Avenue Stadium.

On Allegany's fourth play from scrimmage, Fort Hill (9-0) blitzed and Harley Twigg forced the fumble before Palmisano took it 25 yards at the 9:16 mark of the opening quarter.

"It was a huge play," Fort Hill coach Zack Alkire said. "That play has been written since 2005. We had a kid in 2005 that could've picked up a fumble to beat Allegany in the Homecoming game and couldn't pick it up. So every year since then we've been practicing scoop-and-go, scoop-and-go, scoop-and go.

"Melo got the opportunity today to get a scoop-and-go down by the end zone, and it really set the tone for the game and got us going."

Fort Hill's stifling defense forced Allegany (5-4) to bring out its punting unit often. A couple of the Campers' punts were shanked, which often gave the Sentinels' offense great field position.

Fort Hill's offense went the entire first quarter without running a play in its own territory.

The Sentinels' first offensive play in their own territory didn't come until the 6:02 mark of the second quarter. By that point, Fort Hill was already up 21-0.

Even after the Campers intercepted a pass in Fort Hill territory with about 30 seconds left in the first half, the Sentinels limited them to a field goal to make it a 28-3 game at halftime.

Fort Hill's methodical run game kept the ball out of Allegany's hands and prevented any chance of a comeback in the second half.

The Sentinels owned the ball for more than 10 minutes in the third quarter, and triggered a running clock with Neek Taylor's touchdown run early in the fourth.

Fort Hill limited Allegany's run game to an average of 3.8 yards (113 total yards on 30 rushes). The Campers were without leading rusher Khiante Bible.

"Our defensive line is pretty dominant," sophomore quarterback/linebacker Levi House said. "All week, we've been working (on) run fit and just having our gaps and stuff like that. Our defensive backs ultimately shut down the passing game, so there was nowhere for them to go."

Sophomore Jaiden Beck led the Sentinels' defense with six tackles, including 1.5 tackles-for-loss.

Christian Riley was second with four tackles, which included one that went for a loss.

Owen Walker contributed 3.5 tackles, while House, AJ Adams and Marlee Williams each finished with three.

"I think it's just a tribute to our film watching and our preparation every week," senior running back/linebacker Carson Bender, who was named the game's MVP, said.

"It's every week we struggle with something the week before, we're great at it the next week.

"We watched a lot of film and we put work in throughout the week and it showed out today. We stopped pretty much everything they had for us on offense."

Like the 2005 Allegany team, Fort Hill controls its destiny after ending the regular season undefeated.

The Sentinels locked up the top spot in the region playoffs with last week's win over Smithsburg. They will have a first-round bye since there's only seven teams in the West Region.

But the Sentinels could very well meet up with Allegany again the region semifinals in a couple of weeks.

The Campers earned the No. 4 seed and are set to host No. 5 Southern Garrett in a quarterfinal matchup at Greenway next week.

"We don't like byes," Alkire said. "We would love to be playing this week. The guys want to play. It's just unfortunate that the system's set up for byes. But we'll make do.

"We'll spend some time together, have a little bit of fun on Monday and Tuesday and then get back to work on Wednesday."