It was quite the two-game stretch for junior WR/CB Devron Johnson (above). He scored a key touchdown against Atholton and then followed it up with a three-interception performance against Mt. Hebron. (Handout)
By: Gabe Kamins, Co-Editor-in-Chief
The Hawks didn’t play their best football these past two weeks, struggling offensively with turnovers and too many negative plays, while giving up some big plays on defense that had been uncharacteristic of the team in their first two games. Still, however, they won both games, taking down Atholton 21-14 and Mt. Hebron 20-0, proving to the rest of the county that even when they aren’t at their best, the Hawks are still as dangerous as anyone.
Although the circumstances were quite different – it was a Thursday game instead of a Friday game, with a 6 p.m. start time instead of a 7:30 p.m. start time – it was expected to be business as usual when the Hawks arrived at Atholton on April 1st. River Hill was rolling, while Atholton was coming off of a blowout loss at the hands of Wilde Lake. So when quarterback Miles Scott connected with receiver Malik Hemmeian for a 63-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead early in the game, the Hawks were stunned. They not only were trailing for the first time all season, but had just surrendered their first points all season. But as senior center Gurdeep Barring explains, the team wasn’t concerned. “As much as I could say River Hill has been dominant for all four of my years here, our team has been in situations like these before. It is usually these types of situations that make us angry and want the win more,” he said. “I felt that this [deficit] brought fire into our minds and motivated us to stop the upset from happening.” Thanks to some key plays by senior quarterback Dylan Burnett (one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown), as well as some timely defensive stops, River Hill did stop the upset from happening, battling back to take down Atholton and improve to 3-0.
Despite a Mt. Hebron team that was only 1-3 looming next for River Hill, the Hawks were focused all week in practice, determined to not overlook the Vikings like they may have done with Atholton. When Friday came around, the team was locked in right away – but so was Mt. Hebron, who, much like Atholton, was determined to slay the giant. The Vikings recovered a fumble on the Hawks’ second play from scrimmage, as River Hill fans looked on sheepishly, likely thinking to themselves, “not again.” But the Hawks’ defense recovered a fumble of their own on the next play – the first of six turnovers for the stout defense – and set up a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Nick Laumann, the first rushing touchdown of his career. This would be the only score of the first half for either team, as the Hawks found themselves in another close one at halftime. The defense continued its dominance in the second half, while senior Michael Crisitello found the endzone twice for the offense. The game ended, and the Hawks were 4-0. Perhaps the best part about the game was that Coach Van Deusen was able to get every River Hill player in the game, including junior wingback Arjun Singh, who had been impressing in practice recently. Although Singh hadn’t appeared in a varsity game before this, he was ready when his number was called. He caught a 15-yard pass on a trick play from halfback Michael Crisitello, explaining that he was “ready to perform” as soon as he saw some of his teammates go down with injuries during the game, and that the play “worked to perfection with a great throw from Michael [Crisitello].”
While his teammates are well aware of the talent that junior receiver and cornerback Devron Johnson possesses, Hawks fans were eagerly waiting for a big play from the speedster. Their wait lasted two weeks, and was rewarded with two straight monster games from Johnson. He caught a 17-yard touchdown pass against Atholton to give the Hawks the lead, breaking free from the cornerback after a smooth route that found him perfectly positioned in the back of the endzone. This was Devron’s first touchdown on varsity. “When I scored, it didn’t feel real at first until I saw everybody celebrating,” he said after the game. “It was a big moment for me because I had just let the other team score prior to that drive. The touchdown was a big confidence booster.” Johnson’s newfound confidence translated to next week, where he recorded a whopping three interceptions against Mt. Hebron, tying him for the all-time River Hill record for most interceptions in one game. Ironically enough, River Hill headed into this game with zero total interceptions all season. “Before the game, Coach Van was telling the DBs we needed interceptions and turnovers because as a team we had zero the whole season. I knew I needed to make plays that game. I didn’t expect to have three, let alone tie the school record, but as the game progressed I felt more and more comfortable in my ability to stop any completions on my side which allowed me to have the game that I had,” he explained. While Devron’s performance made history, Michael Crisitello continued his dominance with an interception of his own – unsurprisingly, off a deflection from Devron Johnson – and senior safety Devin Campbell recorded the first interception of his career. Coach Van Deusen explained before the game that he was hoping for three interceptions that night, but the team took it upon themselves to get a couple more, finishing with five.
The famous saying “it all comes down to this” certainly applies here. The Hawks (4-0) will host the Marriotts Ridge Mustangs (3-1) next week in the final game of the season. It will be the last time that River Hill greats such as Zach Igwebe, Michael Crisitello, Nick Laumann, and many others will don the Hawks’ colors. It will determine the county champion, as the winner of the game will have the best record in the county and a win over the opposing team (Glenelg will likely finish the season 3-0, but a 4-1 or 5-0 record will hold more significance). And it will be the final chapter of the Hawks’ “revenge season,” as a victory over Marriotts Ridge would mean the Hawks avenged both of their defeats from the past season (Wilde Lake being the other). The Mustangs took down River Hill 15-14 last season in an overtime thriller, ruining their chances at a perfect regular season. Since then, the Hawks have been licking their chops as they awaited a rematch, while Marriotts Ridge has been ready to prove that last season wasn’t a fluke. The Mustangs return dominant lineman Jack Baxter and welcome back their speedy running back/cornerback Kam Young, who wasn’t available when the Mustangs defeated River Hill last season. Meanwhile, River Hill will rely on many players that are new to this rivalry but will likely be led by their determined senior class. This should be a good one.