Gilman topples DeMatha; Sills tosses first TD

Highly-touted senior quarterback Darius Jennings rushed for 274 yards on 31 carries and scored twice as Gilman (Baltimore, Md.) defeated DeMatha 35-10 Saturday night.

"We had a bad week of practice (before last week’s loss against Don Bosco of New Jersey), so we wanted to get back on track," Jennings told The Baltimore Sun. "Coach (Biff Poggi) is always telling us that you play like you practice, so we wanted to come back and play well as a team."

Running back Kenneth Goins scored for the Greyhounds on their first two possessions, scampering into the end zone on runs of 8 yards and 1 yard. He also added a 1-yard touchdown run late in the game.

Gilman (3-1) hosts Georgetown Prep-North Bethesda, Md. (2-1) 1 p.m. Saturday, while DeMatha (2-1) hosts Paul VI (1-2) Friday night at 7.

In other news around the Mid-Atlantic region:

2. Hermitage (Richmond, Va.) moves to 2-0 with win over Meadowbrook (Richmond, Va.)
Special teams and defense were the difference as Hermitage rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to defeat Meadowbrook 14-3.

Justin Gist picked up his own fumbled punt and returned it 57 yards for a score to give Hermitage a 7-3 lead it would never relinquish with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter. Quarterback Brendon Riddick then put the game on ice when he hit B.J. Clark for a 70-yard completion to set up his own 1-yard rushing touchdown with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

The Panthers defense was led by Division I prospect Curtis Grant, who recorded 16 tackles from his linebacker position, and Virginia-bound defensive end Diamonte Bailey, whose constant pressure limited Meadowbrook’s passing game.

Hermitage (2-0) will look to stay undefeated when it travels to Varina (1-1) Friday night, while Meadowbrook (0-2) will look to pick up its first win against Norview (0-2) the same night.

3. Dover (Del.) quick work of Glasgow
Connecticut-bound quarterback Kamal Abrams was 9-for-12 for 193 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Senators to an easy 41-6 win over Glasgow.

Running back Pierre Foreman ran through gaping holes opened up by Florida-bound offensive lineman Trip Thurman and finished with 92 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.

Dover (2-0), which scored 46 points in its opening win, plays at Indian River (1-1) Friday at 7:30, while Glasgow (1-1) plays at Charter of Wilmington (2-0) 11 a.m. Saturday.

4. Seton Keough (Baltimore, Md.) netters remain unbeaten
Liz Brown had 11 kills and six digs and EJ Igwe delivered 10 kills, five digs and two aces as Seton Keough swept Chapelgate Christian (25-16, 25-20, 25-20) in Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland Conference play.

The Gators also got five kills and three blocks from Adama Aja as they improved to 3-0 on the season.

5. Eighth-grader tosses three TDs
Red Lion Christian Academy (Bear, Del.) quarterback David Sills, the much-publicized eighth-grader who has already verbally committed to Southern Cal last spring, threw his first career varsity touchdown pass in the Lions’ 41-27 win over Interboro (Pa.). Sills threw for three scores of 75, 7 and 39 yards in just his second start.

“It was really cool throwing my first touchdown pass because it was to my brother (sophomore wide receiver Jahmere Irvin),” Sills said in a phone interview Sunday afternoon. “I wasn’t really thinking about it that much when it happened because it was such a good game. But then it hit me when I went over to the sideline and I thought it was really cool.”

Players of the week
Dante Shells, senior, Caesar Rodney High School (Del.): Caught four touchdown passes (74, 24, 10 and 14 yards) and had two interceptions in the Riders’ 46-29 win over Concord.

Curtis Grant, senior, Hermitage High School (Va.): The highly-recruited linebacker had 16 tackles in his team’s 14-3 win over Meadowbrook.

Madeline Ross, senior, Severna Park (Md.): Scored the game’s lone goal with 18:24 remaining to give the undefeated Falcons a 1-0 field hockey win over rival South River.

D’Lante Martino, senior, Gonzaga (D.C.): Scored four touchdowns and was awarded the Great American Rivalry Series most valuable player of the game award in Gonzaga’s 41-21 win over Georgetown Prep.

Games to watch
* Sills and his Red Lion Christian team will play at John Carroll (Md.) Friday night at 7.

* Our Lady of Good Counsel-Olney, Md. (2-1), ranked in the Top 25 of most national polls before losing to Gilman in the I-95 Kick Off Classic, returns to action after a bye week and will look to get back in the win column when it hosts Bishop O’Connel (2-1) Friday night at 7.

Recruiting News
* James Bourne, Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), a 6-foot-7, 230-pound senior has made a verbal commitment to play basketball at Winthrop University.

* Naiesha Brown (Sanford School, Hockessin, Del.), has made a verbal commitment to attend Loyola University on a basketball scholarship

The buzz
Appoquinimink (Del.) High perhaps added the final piece to its basketball puzzle when 6-foot-7 senior Shakur Grant transferred from Newark. Grant will join highly-touted guards A.J. English III (sr.) and his brother A’Jen (jr.) on a team coached by former UD center Spencer Dunkley, who also played professionally overseas. … A bag of away jerseys valued at $3,100 was stolen Sunday afternoon from a car in the Red Lion Christian Academy parking lot. Ironically, the same lot used by the church’s parishioners.

Jon Buzby covers the Mid-Atlantic region for MaxPreps.com. He is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and color commentator for the 1290am The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.