Sports

Wildcats Start Bid for Sixth Straight County Title

With a new quarterback at the helm, the Arundel High football team remains optimistic that it will top the county standings and make a deep playoff run. The Wildcats host Annapolis Friday night.

Even before an earthquake and tropical storm battered the Arundel High football team’s practice schedule, players and coaches were dealing with their share of adversity.  

With a quarterback out with a fractured foot and a defensive leader suffering a broken femur, the Wildcats were feeling a bit unlucky heading into Friday night’s opener against Annapolis. But the team said it remains optimistic that another county title and playoff berth is in the cards.

“There’s always some sort of distraction,” Arundel head coach Chuck Markiewicz said. “You can’t look for excuses, you just have to play on.  The show starts on Friday night.”

Find out what's happening in Croftonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Wildcats come into the season again as one of the favorites in the area, after finishing last season with its fifth consecutive county title and berth in the Class 4A  East Regional final.

Like most teams, Arundel lost several key players to graduation, but have re-tooled with talent at every position.

Find out what's happening in Croftonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Senior Cooper Hibbs will start at quarterback, and said he knows what he’s expected to do under Markiewicz’s aggressive philosophy of offense: pass often, score often.

“I’m really comfortable with the play-calling and everything,” said Hibbs, who moved up from junior varsity. “Just getting used to the speed is a lot different.”

Depth at quarterback could be a question mark after Jack Gordon went down with a broken foot in a scrimmage game last month. Gordon saw significant time behind center for the varsity squad last year, going 1-1 in two starts.

“I feel bad for him, he’s one of my best friends,” Hibbs said. “It was hard seeing him go down.”

But Hibbs said he expects to have plenty of targets to throw to, including Tyler Young, Dillion Tighe and Hunter Cetrone and Gary Cropper. Hibbs said he believes it’s the fastest team he’s seen during his time at Arundel.

Hibbs said the team learned a lot from a recent scrimmage against national powerhouse Good Counsel last Friday. The Wildcats lost, but held their own against an agressive, blitzing team featuring many top collegiate recruits.

"We were able to execute," Hibbs said.

On defense, the Wildcats lost a key leader when linebacker Kenny Edwards broke he femur during a scrimmage last month.

The Wildcats appear to have a favorable September schedule, with games against Annapolis, Northeast, Meade and South River to start the year. The Wildcats won’t face perennial playoff contenders Old Mill and Broadneck until October.

The schedule could give extra time for the team to gel, and Markiewicz suggested the team would not be perfectly in sync from day one.

“Nothing changes, we’re going to do what we do, and we have better people to do it,” he said. “But right now it’s not clicking.  At that doesn’t usually happen for a while, but sometimes you see glimpses earlier.”

With Broadneck and Old Mill featuring new head coaches this year, there has been speculation that Arundel is again the favorite in the county, a notion that Markiewicz downplayed.

“They can say that all they want, but Old Mill has nine guys coming back on defense. So how does that make us the team to beat? We don’t buy into that,” he said. “They practice, they work hard and we’re going to expect their best. You can’t turn your back on anybody in this league.”

Tonight's Game: Arundel vs. Annapolis. Varsity kickoff at 6:30 p.m., Carroll Field, Arundel High.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here