By Keith Mills

Online Exclusive

What's the cliche? "The more things change the more they stay the same."

River Hill, Dunbar and Hereford, three teams that dominated area public school football throughout this decade, are once again in great position to make state championship runs.  

River Hill ran its win streak to 36 games with a 48-3 win over Oakland Mills last Saturday. The Hawks moved up in class this year and currently sit at 8-0, topping the seeds in the state's class 3A East region. They could possibly meet Hereford in either the state semifinals or final.

Baltimore's Polytechnic Institute will likely have something to say about that. Poly is also 8-0 and a serious contender for the Class 3A North region championship. 

Coach Roger Wrenn's Engineers stayed perfect with a 32-0 win over Northwestern last week and now face a Dunbar team that has ripped off six wins in a row after a loss to Patterson in early September. Poly ends its season on Nov. 7 against archrival City at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Poets are 7-1 and, like River Hill and Hereford, are no strangers to winning state championships. The three teams have combined to win 11 state championships over the last 15 years. River Hill, coached by Brian Van Deusen, won the last two Class 2A titles and Dunbar won the last three Class 1A crowns. Hereford won its first state title in 1997 and won back-to-back class 2A championships in 2002 and '03.

Steve Turnbaugh's Bulls are in a major fight with Poly for the top spot of the North region and are playing their best football of the year. Hereford is 6-1 after last week's 24-6 win over Franklin with Willie Williams rushing for 153 yards and a touchdown.

After losing to Eastern Tech, 14-10, Sept. 11, Hereford has ripped off five wins in a row, including tough victories over Milford Mill (21-14), Woodlawn (16-0) and Franklin, which came into the showdown with the Bulls 6-1 overall and 5-1 in Baltimore County's Class 4A-3A league race.

Hereford closes out the regular season with games against Dulaney and Perry Hall while Eastern Tech ends its season with a Baltimore County league game against Patapsco and a non-league showdown with Patuxent of Southern Maryland.

Eastern Tech, which lost to River Hill in the last two Class 2A state championship games, has positioned itself for another playoff run. The Mavericks are 7-1 with the only loss going to Chesapeake of Baltimore County, which right now is one of the surprise teams in the state.

Coach Mark Junker's Bayhawks are a perfect 8-0 heading into Friday's non-league game with Caravel Academy of Bear, Del.

Junker spent nine years as an assistant to Roger Wrenn at Patterson before taking over the job at Chesapeake three years ago. Behind Corey Polston, running back/linebacker James Bedgood and linebacker Pascal Tsiams, the Bayhawks lead a very competitive Class 2A North region that includes City College, Edmondson-Westside and Eastern Tech.

The Bayhawks beat Eastern for the first time in 23 years back in September and stayed perfect last week with a 35-6 win over Patapsco. Bedgood ran for three touchdowns and Polston rushed for two TDs and 93 yards.

Woodlawn is another Baltimore County team looking to make a run in the state playoffs. The Warriors beat Parkville, 26-7, last week and are 6-2 overall. Their only two losses are to Franklin (21-20) and Hereford (16-0).

Posted October 27, 2009