High school football

For a second straight year, the Class 2A state championship at M&T Bank Stadium will be between  Eastern Tech and River Hill.

Count on the Mavericks — who lost to River Hill of Howard County, 14-7, in 2007 — to be ready, Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3:30 p.m.

Both teams are 13-0.

“We have our work cut out for us, but I think if you learned anything, Eastern Tech kids ... will work hard at a task until they get it right,” Eastern Tech coach Marc Mesaros said. “It’s our second bite at the apple and we’re going to try not to waste it.”

Eastern Tech advanced to final by beating host and previous unbeaten Queen Anne’s, 28-6, in Centreville on Nov. 28 in a state semifinal. The Mavericks rushed for 201 yards as Darian Conners (15 carries, 69 yards,  2 touchdowns), Emmanuel Gbor (10, 45) and Luke Horner (3, 41) gained significant yardage.

Eastern Tech also rode the precision passing of quarterback Joey Jones (9-for-12, 1 TD) and the defensive performance of linebacker/lineman Aaron Wilson (2 sacks, 6 tackles) to overcome a scoreless first half.

Conners’ first carry of the second half resulted in a 29-yard run. Two plays later, Horner finished off the drive when he raced around the left side for 34-yard touchdown 1:48 into the third quarter.

“It’s an old Wing-T play,” said Mesaros, describing the double handoff that had Horner getting the ball from Conners. “Counter, criss-cross. We run it a lot.”

Queen Anne’s (12-1) moved down to the Eastern Tech 34-yard line on its first series of the second half, but the Mavericks held when Tyler German’s pass to Jake Haley fell incomplete on fourth down. Eastern Tech scored 10 plays later when Jones found Rob Kyle in the left corner of the end zone for a 13-0 lead. The touchdown pass followed nine consecutive runs.

“We are in a hostile environment and we had some things not go our way,” Mesaros said. “They can say ‘We are not going to be able to do it in the second half. But they rose up  — and that’s a testament to their inner toughness.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Eastern Tech stopped Queen Anne’s again on Dan McManus’ fourth-down sack. The Mavericks put the game out of reach with two touchdowns 15 seconds apart in the middle of the final quarter. Connors scored on a 4-yard run, then returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown.

The Mavericks said they are looking forward to playing River Hill, which features 1,500-yard rusher Mike Campanaro.

“We are going to game-plan and practice harder than we ever have,” said Jones, who is also a starting free safety.  

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