Football: Hereford bows in 3A state semifinal
Bulls stay close until fourth quarter of Linganore loss
By Nelson Coffin
ncoffin@patuxent.com
Posted 11/27/09
After beating Franklin at home in Parkton last week in the Class 3A North Region final, Hereford coach Steve Turnbaugh had no illusions about the Bulls’ next opponent — unbeaten Linganore High.
“To be the best, you have to beat the best,” he said.
To be sure, the Lancers (13-0) were the best team on the field in a 3A state semifinal Friday night, only they weren’t quite as good as the lopsided margin of their 41-9 victory might indicate.
In Turnbaugh’s opinion, the Bulls “gave (hosts) all they wanted. Nobody has moved the ball up and down the field on them the way we did.”
Hereford (10-2) was on equal footing with Linganore throughout the first half after giving up a 7-yard touchdown run to Penn State-bound running back Zach Zwinak.
Meanwhile, on their first possession, the Bulls ran 11 plays and produced four first downs until stalling at the Lancer 13-yard line when Turnbaugh eschewed a field-goal attempt to gamble on a fourth-down run by junior Vince DePaola.
The next time Hereford advanced into the enemy red zone, it came away with a 28-yard field goal by Andrew Johns to reduce the deficit to 7-3.
And at halftime, the Bulls were still in the game, trailing, 13-3.
However, when Linganore recovered an on-side kick on the first play of the third quarter at the Bulls’ 44-yard line, Hereford lost some momentum.
It showed when Zwinak streaked for another score, running behind a line that boasted massive 6-foot-8, 333-pound Robert Havenstein, on the next play.
But a determined Hereford bunch wasn’t about to back down.
Instead, the Bulls used senior running backs Willie Williams and Zach Witkowski to plow deep into Linganore territory on a 16-play drive finished on senior quarterback David Wood’s tough tackle-breaking 12-yard touchdown run.
Five Zwinak runs and two penalties later, the Lancers mushroomed their lead to 27-9 late in the period.
As well as the Bulls performed, the fourth quarter belonged to the home team as Linganore’s depth began to exact a toll. Two long runs sandwiched around an interception sealed the Bulls’ fate.
“We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of,” Turnbaugh said. “We wanted to represent Baltimore County well, and we came up a little short.”
“To be the best, you have to beat the best,” he said.
To be sure, the Lancers (13-0) were the best team on the field in a 3A state semifinal Friday night, only they weren’t quite as good as the lopsided margin of their 41-9 victory might indicate.
In Turnbaugh’s opinion, the Bulls “gave (hosts) all they wanted. Nobody has moved the ball up and down the field on them the way we did.”
Hereford (10-2) was on equal footing with Linganore throughout the first half after giving up a 7-yard touchdown run to Penn State-bound running back Zach Zwinak.
Meanwhile, on their first possession, the Bulls ran 11 plays and produced four first downs until stalling at the Lancer 13-yard line when Turnbaugh eschewed a field-goal attempt to gamble on a fourth-down run by junior Vince DePaola.
The next time Hereford advanced into the enemy red zone, it came away with a 28-yard field goal by Andrew Johns to reduce the deficit to 7-3.
And at halftime, the Bulls were still in the game, trailing, 13-3.
However, when Linganore recovered an on-side kick on the first play of the third quarter at the Bulls’ 44-yard line, Hereford lost some momentum.
It showed when Zwinak streaked for another score, running behind a line that boasted massive 6-foot-8, 333-pound Robert Havenstein, on the next play.
But a determined Hereford bunch wasn’t about to back down.
Instead, the Bulls used senior running backs Willie Williams and Zach Witkowski to plow deep into Linganore territory on a 16-play drive finished on senior quarterback David Wood’s tough tackle-breaking 12-yard touchdown run.
Five Zwinak runs and two penalties later, the Lancers mushroomed their lead to 27-9 late in the period.
As well as the Bulls performed, the fourth quarter belonged to the home team as Linganore’s depth began to exact a toll. Two long runs sandwiched around an interception sealed the Bulls’ fate.
“We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of,” Turnbaugh said. “We wanted to represent Baltimore County well, and we came up a little short.”
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