Congratulations, Sherwood!

Big news in the greater Olney area over the weekend... Our Sherwood High School Stormin' Warriors are the Maryland 4A High School Football Champions, after beating Linganore of Frederick County, 21 - 3 on Friday night! Sherwood did something the Redskins tried, but couldn't do... They won this weekend at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore!


Big Stadium Provides Big-Time Atmosphere

By Toni L. Sandys
Washington Post Staff Photographer
Monday, December 8, 2008; E08



Most of the other Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state championships are held at state university facilities. Six years ago, after a scheduling conflict at the University of Maryland, the football championship games were moved to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. They have been there ever since.

It's a field most people can only dream of playing on. The energy fills the air -- along with trumpets, screams, and cheers -- as the final minutes tick off the clock and dreams are realized. "We worked so hard for this," Sherwood senior Sosthene Kapepula said.

From the beginning of its 14-game season, the team felt underestimated by so many. But the Warriors powered through their opponents to an undefeated record. They won eight of their games by more than thirty points -- four of those games were shutouts. They earned their 4A championship by soundly beating Linganore, The Post's top-ranked team, 21-3. "I have no words for it," Kapepula said. "It feels so good."

Weekend News And Notes And Odds And Ends

...and knicks and knacks... Mutts and Jeffs... yins and yangs... salts and peppers... tweedledees and tweedledums... you get the idea.

We've been so focused lately on the big picture economic issues, with the Dow falling hundreds of points a day and whatnot. Well, I enjoyed two small picture economic victories over the weekend. We drove out to Frederick to go to Costco, hopeful of finding gas under three bucks a gallon, because Costco is always cheaper than conventional gas, and also because Frederick in general is about as cheap as it gets in Maryland for gasoline . (In addition, I always enjoy going to the Frederick Costco, because I can wave to my grandparents, who are buried at Mt. Olivet cemetary, just across the street!) When we arrived, traffic at Costco was spilling out onto the highway, because gas was going for $2.69 a gallon! How ironic is it that Detroit's Big Three automakers are now struggling to survive because the markets for SUVs and Big Trucks dried up when gas prices started to move towards four bucks a gallon?


Meanwhile, even though my garage shelves were already full of soda because of the great deal I found at Shoppers Food Warehouse ($1.99 a case for Diet Pepsi!), I could not resist going to Safeway on Saturday, where Pepsi 2-liter bottles were going for 59 cents! Do I have a life, or what? (Don't answer that question!)


On Saturday night (actually, on Friday, THEN Saturday night), Brad and I accompanied our friends, the Bernsteins to the Sherwood/Quince Orchard High School football game - a HUGE deal in our community because Sherwood has a long tradition as a Montgomery County football power and because Quince Orchard was ranked as the number one team in the DC area.

It's amazing just how much a sense of community there really IS at local high school football games... The stands were packed with parents, most of whom were wearing Sherwood gear, and many of whom seemed to be "regulars" at the games. My friend, Randy, has been going to Sherwood games for years, even when his kids weren't going to school there - and it's easy to see why. The atmosphere is electric... it's fun to see teenage hormones at play in the stands... and the football is not bad, either! Sherwood took an early two-touchdown lead, and held on with excellent defense to shutdown Q.O., 14 - 6, ending Quince Orchard's 20-game win streak!

Finally, I must mention that while I enjoyed watching the Redskins win a defensive battle over the Browns, for me the real joy of the NFL weekend was watching those no-account Cowboys choke like dogs to the Rams. The mainstream sports media have had a Barack Obama-like fascination with Dallas for years, and it's good to see their expectations fall back to earth. The Cowboys suck, and short of a major turnaround, they'll be watching the Skins in the playoffs instead of playing the Skins in the playoffs!