Jabril Daniels Leads Fort Hill to Tenth State Football Crown

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Phil Myers | December 2, 2023

The Fort Hill Sentinels dominated Mountain Ridge in the Class 1A Maryland state championship contest, whipping the Miners 45-21.  It was Fort Hills’ 8^th title in the last 10 years and third in a row.  Jabril Daniels and his offensive line was a big reason that happened.  The 6’ 185 lb. Daniels set a school single season record for touchdowns by scoring 5 in the championship game and rushing for yards.  Those 5 TDs gave him 34 for the year breaking Ty Johnson’s 2014 record of 33.  By the way, Johnson is now playing on Sundays for the Buffalo Bills.  Daniels scored on runs of 63, 64,42, 2, and 59 yards.  He ended the game with over 300 yards rushing, 292 of those on 18 carries in the first half alone.

Look at the Ft. Hill (in red) blocking going on for Jabril Daniels who can be seen in the middle background getting the handoff.

Fort Hill’s coach, Zack Alkire stated, “We have a very special o-line.  We’re going to miss them.”  The offensive line has played together for awhile.  Riley Williams said this about Jabril Williams, “He’s my guy.  It’s awesome to block for him.”  Jabril Williams was modest and gave all the credit to his line.  That is true as they opened some space for him, but he also made his own space at times.

The game started off with a bang as each team scored on the first play of their first possession.  Fort Hill received the opening kickoff and Daniels ripped off his first long run, by breaking free and racing 63 yards to the house.  Mountain Ridge countered after the Sentinel kickoff when Andrew Ketterman got behind the Fort Hill secondary, grabbed a throw from Will Patterson, and sped untouched to the end zone to complete a 73-yard pass play.  At that point the game was tied at 7.

Mountain Ridge in white with ball, Fort Hill about to pressure Ridge’s QB. #32 is Andrew Ketterman.

From there Fort Hill took charge on both sides of the ball.  The Sentinels scored two more first period touchdowns and piled on three more TDs in the second stanza.  Daniels scored both of the other first quarter touchdowns on runs of 64 and 42 yards.  He also had a 75-yard scoring sprint called back due to a hold.  Daniels’ 2-yard score at the eight-thirty mark of the second, followed by Tristan Ross’s 38-yard run two minutes later upped the score to 35-7.  Then on the half’s final play, Daniels scooted 59 yards to give the Sentinels a 42-7 cushion and invoke the Mercy Rule’s running clock for the second half.

Jabril Daniels of Fort Hill scores on a beautiful run to give FH a 21 -7 lead. His 2nd TD of the day. Had one called back. @PaFootballNews @FH_Football pic.twitter.com/aUDbfPaO2a

— Phil Myers Sr. (@Protime_PFN) December 2, 2023

The Sentinels outgained Mountain Ridge 389 to 131 in the first half.  Fort Hill added a field goal in the second half, while the Miners scored a pair of touchdowns against mainly Fort Hill’s second team defense.

Fort Hill (left to right): Coach Alkire, Carter Hess (#77), Logan Vanmeter (#64), Gamil Daniels (#2), Bryson Metz (#4), Riley Williams (#53), and Jabril Daniels (#3)

Fort Hill is the 13^th smallest school in the state of Maryland, but you would never believe it based on the size of their great fan base, band, and of course their fantastic football team.  One has to wonder if anyone that goes to school at Fort Hill isn’t part of the football team, band, or cheerleading squad.  Coach Alkire said, “We look up into the stands and want to thank everybody.  It’s a community.  Our band is one of the best bands out there, they show up for us, doesn’t matter, rain or shine where ever we go.  The cheerleaders do the same thing.”

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