Quince Orchard Cougars named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, Md.) Cougars have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its fourteenth year honoring football.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Cougars ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating North Point 40-33 in the MPSSAA Class 4A state championship contest on Friday, November 30 marked the completion of an incredible 13-1 season — and earned Quince Orchard an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

The Cougars opened up a close game by scoring four straight touchdowns over the second and third quarters to take a 33-13 lead with 20-minutes, 32-seconds remaining in the contest. North Point, however, scored three of the final four touchdowns, pulling within a touchdown twice, before the Cougars held on for a 40-33 triumph and secured Quince Orchard's third state football title at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

During its 27-point scoring spree, Quince Orchard hit pay dirt running the football, throwing the football and on defensive lineman Kevon Carter-hackey's 61-yard fumble return for a score that capped the four-score spurt. North Point pulled within 33-26 before Marquez Cooper's 4-yard scoring run gave the champions some breathing room. Linebacker Johnny Hodges recovered an onside kick with 14-seconds remaining following North Point's final score.

Cooper rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries in the title contest, while Brian Plummer completed four of five passes for 49 yards and a 19-yard scoring strike to Max Bernard. Hodges led the Cougar defense with eight tackles and Charles Bell IV and Gerald Wade III had six tackles each. Aaron Green and Dameioun Robinson joined forces for the game's only sack, while Bell and Green each had a pass breakup. Quince Orchard opened postseason play with a 42-10 win over Richard Montgomery. The Cougars then kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 35-0 blanking of Northwest before bumping Wise from state championship contention with a 31-6 semifinal triumph to set up the championship bout with North Point.



Quince Orchard shutout Bethesda-Chevy Chase 50-0 to open the season. Then, following a 45-6 victory over Blair, the Cougars upended Clarksburg 55-14 to open the season 3-0. Following a narrow loss to Bullis, Quince Orchard did not lose again and outscored its opposition 591-105 on the year. John Kelley's club posted six shutouts and held 10 foes to 10 points or less, while scoring 40 or more points 10 times.

Having won 10 straight contests to end the season, Quince Orchard set itself up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only are the Cougars the No. 1 ranked team in MaxPreps' Maryland Class 4A Rankings, Quince Orchard is the sixth best team in all of Maryland. The Cougars are the 132nd ranked team in MaxPreps' National Rankings!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Quince Orchard Cougars an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, January 4 at approximately 7:15 p.m. at halftime of the boys basketball game.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.