Three yards, a pile of mud

Springbrook claims Consortium Cup

Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Susan Whitney-Wilkerson⁄The Gazette Springbrook senior Harold Brantley (center) gets blocking from senior Kris Diggs (left) and junior Adou Kouadio as he returns an interception against Blake Friday night in Silver Spring. The Blue Devils beat the Bengals, 20-0, to claim their first-ever Northeast Consortium Cup.

Wendel didn’t even bother to send anyone out wide, putting eight men on the line of scrimmage and unleashing his senior running backs Derek Overton and Everett Pumphrey at host Blake. The strategy worked, as the two racked up more than 200 yards rushing and the Blue Devils took advantage of a couple of costly Bengal turnovers early to dominate field position and win their first Northeast Consortium Cup with a 20-0 win, their third straight victory.

Consortium games are played between Paint Branch, Springbrook and Blake because those three schools belong to the Northeast Consortium. Any student living the consortium can attend any of the three schools, regardless of what school district they technically live in. Since the three schools all started playing each other in 2001, Paint Branch won the first two consortium titles (which are mythical; there is no trophy) and Blake the latter two.

On Sept. 30, Springbrook thumped Paint Branch, 29-7, ratcheting up the importance of Friday’s game.

‘‘It’s a neighborhood game, which brings a big level of intensity to the game,” Wendel said. ‘‘We know them and we see them on the streets. Anything we can do to get our guys fired up is nice, but with this game, I don’t have to do it.”

The rivalry also meant increased security and worries for safety only several weeks after two fatal incidents occurred following two Montgomery County Public School football games, the first at Seneca Valley on Sept. 16 and the second at Blake on Sept. 23. Fans were kept separated to their respective sidelines. The Springbrook student section’s chants of ‘‘This is our house” were quickly quashed by school administrators worried about an incident.

Both Blake coach Tony Nazzaro and Wendel kept a close eye on their players after the game, with Wendel not stopping to talk to reporters until making sure that all of his kids were safely on the bus.

Springbrook athletics director Ronald Lane went a step further, expressing concern about all the hoopla surrounding the Consortium Cup.

‘‘I don’t want to talk about it because it creates problems in the community,” Lane said.

As for the game itself, sloppy conditions ruled the contest. The teams had a rough time gaining ground in the second half as field conditions deteriorated in the downpour. The teams also combined for four fumbles resulting in turnovers, at least a half-dozen other fumbled snaps and botched handoffs and two interceptions.

‘‘When it’s wet like this, you know you’re going to have a hard time passing,” Wendel said. ‘‘That’s OK with us. We like to just pound it in.”

While the Blue Devils (3-2) enjoyed several scores in the first half — the first after Blake (1-4) fumbled on its first play from scrimmage — the teams struggled to get anything going on offense. Even though would-be tacklers were slipping and sliding, making it easy for running backs to make people miss, both offensive lines struggled to get any sort of footing.

‘‘Both teams had the same game to play today,” Nazzaro said. ‘‘Unfortunately, we gave them the short field early, they capitalized and we were never able to do much.”

Pumphrey (16 carries, 80 yards) scored Springbrook’s early touchdown by slogging 2 yards up the middle. The Blue Devils then kept Blake in its own territory for the rest of the game. Overton (28 carries, 135 yards) scored in the second quarter on a 23-yard run, though the extra point failed. Springbrook got its third touchdown in the fourth thanks to senior Adou Kouadio, who plunged in from the 2-yard line after a 23-yard interception return by Overton set the team up near the goal line.