Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - The Thrill of the Chase: Chevy Chase College (TCY)

MoonlightGraham · 09-21-2022, 06:33 AM

The 2005 Season

So, how did we do?

I renamed our conference the Old Line Eight, hoping to give it a bit more Maryland flavor. That name is inscribed on the championship trophy we proudly lifted in my second season in charge. The OL8’s stingiest defense combined with its second-highest-scoring offense to create a perfect conference record.

We opened our season with two non-conference victories. Freshman Andrew Horton ran roughshod over Rice and Kent State, but he broke a bone in his leg against the latter opponent. Horton had grabbed the starting RB job with both hands, but just like that, his season seemed to be over.

Classmate Harvey Sawyers and last year’s starter, senior Marty Heise, split the feature back for the next few games, and both played well. Against Air Force, a Saywers TD gave us the lead with six minutes left in the game, but their kicker nailed a field goal with 00:02 remaining to snatch the victory from us. That Air Force team turned out to be better than expected, making the result more favorable than it seemed to be at the time.

Our victory against Hagerstown turned bittersweet when we discovered that Heise had torn a calf muscle, and first-year fullback Raymond Armstrong had wrecked his knee. Heise would probably be out for the year; Armstrong certainly would be. Now, our running game would ride or die with young Harvey Sawyers.

Meanwhile, another first-year, quarterback Travis McGruddy, was growing into a consistent game manager who could occasionally display flashes of greatness. Travis was the star of the Rockville game, completing 17 of 21 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

Three consecutive conference victories set up the most important game of our season: a rivalry clash with Frederick. Both teams were undefeated in the Old Line Eight, and the winner would almost certainly take control of the race to the conference championship.

We won in fine fashion, combining our best defensive performance of the season with a productive, opportunistic offense. We held Frederick to 117 yards of total offense, held the ball for forty minutes, and gashed their impressive defense for 30 points.

Again, our joy was dampened by news from the medical staff. Offensive tackle Dave Ransbottom had pulled his hamstring badly, and his season was over. Dave had proven to be every bit the player we thought we were getting when we recruited him, teaming with fellow freshman Jon Quinn to make the left side of our offensive line the best in the conference.

Quinn stepped up in dominant fashion, racking up 11 key run blocks as we rushed for over 400 yards in our route of Bethesda. Sawyers accounted for 230 of those yards on 24 carries. Our victory earned us a spot in the rankings for the first time, coming in at #46…and our first league championship, too!

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that we nearly slipped up against Salisbury. It took a last-second field goal–literally a last-second field goal–from Conrad Cassidy to redeem a three-TD performance from Sawyers with a narrow victory.

The Old Line Eight’s champion earns a date to the Happy Fun Bowl in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Our opponent was North Texas, champions of the Southern Harvest League. The Mean Green were definitely the better team on paper, and they proved it on the field, too. Nevertheless, I’m delighted with our 9-3 record and, most importantly, the way our first-year players bedded in.

09-21-2022, 06:33 AM	#8
MoonlightGraham High School Varsity Join Date: Sep 2022	The 2005 Season So, how did we do? I renamed our conference the Old Line Eight, hoping to give it a bit more Maryland flavor. That name is inscribed on the championship trophy we proudly lifted in my second season in charge. The OL8’s stingiest defense combined with its second-highest-scoring offense to create a perfect conference record. We opened our season with two non-conference victories. Freshman Andrew Horton ran roughshod over Rice and Kent State, but he broke a bone in his leg against the latter opponent. Horton had grabbed the starting RB job with both hands, but just like that, his season seemed to be over. Classmate Harvey Sawyers and last year’s starter, senior Marty Heise, split the feature back for the next few games, and both played well. Against Air Force, a Saywers TD gave us the lead with six minutes left in the game, but their kicker nailed a field goal with 00:02 remaining to snatch the victory from us. That Air Force team turned out to be better than expected, making the result more favorable than it seemed to be at the time. Our victory against Hagerstown turned bittersweet when we discovered that Heise had torn a calf muscle, and first-year fullback Raymond Armstrong had wrecked his knee. Heise would probably be out for the year; Armstrong certainly would be. Now, our running game would ride or die with young Harvey Sawyers. Meanwhile, another first-year, quarterback Travis McGruddy, was growing into a consistent game manager who could occasionally display flashes of greatness. Travis was the star of the Rockville game, completing 17 of 21 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Three consecutive conference victories set up the most important game of our season: a rivalry clash with Frederick. Both teams were undefeated in the Old Line Eight, and the winner would almost certainly take control of the race to the conference championship. We won in fine fashion, combining our best defensive performance of the season with a productive, opportunistic offense. We held Frederick to 117 yards of total offense, held the ball for forty minutes, and gashed their impressive defense for 30 points. Again, our joy was dampened by news from the medical staff. Offensive tackle Dave Ransbottom had pulled his hamstring badly, and his season was over. Dave had proven to be every bit the player we thought we were getting when we recruited him, teaming with fellow freshman Jon Quinn to make the left side of our offensive line the best in the conference. Quinn stepped up in dominant fashion, racking up 11 key run blocks as we rushed for over 400 yards in our route of Bethesda. Sawyers accounted for 230 of those yards on 24 carries. Our victory earned us a spot in the rankings for the first time, coming in at #46…and our first league championship, too! I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that we nearly slipped up against Salisbury. It took a last-second field goal–literally a last-second field goal–from Conrad Cassidy to redeem a three-TD performance from Sawyers with a narrow victory. The Old Line Eight’s champion earns a date to the Happy Fun Bowl in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Our opponent was North Texas, champions of the Southern Harvest League. The Mean Green were definitely the better team on paper, and they proved it on the field, too. Nevertheless, I’m delighted with our 9-3 record and, most importantly, the way our first-year players bedded in.