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Fort Hill is a small school with a big-time football program.That was quite evident Friday night as the Class IA Sentinels used a dominating defense to beat Class 4A Thomas Johnson 12-0 at TJ.
Fort Hill held the Patriots' strong running game to just 71 yards on 29 carries one week after they rushed for 493 yards against Tuscarora. TJ had 18 yards on 12 attempts in the first half.
Nick Forbes, who's averaging 12.7 yards a carry entering the game, had just 34 yards on 14 carries.
The Patriots had just five first downs, one of those on a penalty. They didn't get their initial first down until there was 2:55 left in the third quarter.
TJ coach Ben Wright said he can't remember one of his strong teams being dominated like this.
"They just beat us up pretty good on the line of scrimmage," Wright said. "They were very physical, well coached, very aggressive."
The Patriots, who live by the running game, went to the pass late in the fourth quarter, but like everything else that didn't work, either. They had just 15 yards passing.
The TJ players appeared in shock after the game. They walked back to the school in silence.
Asked about the game, one player said he had "no comment, sir."
The Sentinels, who lost in the state 1A title game last year, are 8-0, many of their wins coming over larger schools.
"I think their area is a tough area, they get some pretty tough kids," Wright said.
TJ hurt itself with mistakes. In the third quarter, the Patriots finally got their offense going, driving from their own 48 to the Fort Hill 18. But two penalties helped killed the drive.
After Fort Hill's first touchdown, the ensuing kickoff hit a TJ player and Fort Hill got the ball at the Patriots 49. The Sentinels drove to the 12, but couldn't score. By the time the quarter ended, they had the ball for 22 plays compared to three for TJ.
The Sentinels scored their first touchdown when they took the opening kickoff and went 64 yards for a score, with quarterback Devin Lee going to his left and racing 27 yards into the end zone. The kick failed.
TJ made some adjustments and stopped the Sentinels offense most of the rest of the game.
The exception came on the first play of the second half, when Fort Hill's Sam Walker took the handoff, went up the middle and ran 54 yards almost untouched for a touchdown. The try for the two-point conversion failed.
Fort Hill finished with 168 yards on the ground and 18 through the air.
The loss dropped the Patriots to 5-3 and it won't get any easier. Next week, they host unbeaten Linganore .
NOTE: This is the first time the two teams have met in 23 years, but they will meet against next season.
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