It never even entered my mind until retired Howard County educator and former coach Chuck Bragg called to remind me that the regional championship football game between Howard and Paint Branch on Nov. 21 was a repeat of a playoff match-up in 1975.
That game nearly 40 years ago resulted in a Paint Branch victory, ending the Lions' 47-game winning streak at the time. This year's meeting had a sweeter ending for Howard, with running back Najee Savage exploding for a huge game in a 39-6 victory that clinched the 4A North region title.
And, although the Lions ended up losing this past weekend against Old Mill in the state semifinals, that win over the Panthers helped highlight a banner season that saw the program win its first region title in 15 years and finish with a 12-1 record.
As I dig into the memory bank, back to that year in 1975, I recall that Howard actually almost lost the week before that meeting with Paint Branch. Up against Cambridge-South Dorchester, the Lions fell behind 14-0 before battling back for the victory to keep their unbeaten streak alive for one more week.
Once in that game against Roy Lester's Paint Branch team, though, Howard simply didn't have an answer for the running combination of Tyree Hill and John Cheng. I think we all knew that the streak was going to eventually end, but everyone just wasn't quite ready.
I recall how the players reacted to that first loss since 1971, but I especially remember my encounter with Howard head coach Bill Caudill just outside the locker room after the game.
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hadn't uttered a single word and yet I was subject to a tongue lashing unlike any I have experienced in all my years.
All the years later, that game still sticks out in my mind.
Remembering Bowen
It was another tough pill for me to swallow when I read the obituary in the newspaper a couple weeks ago about the death of Calvert "Skip" Bowen.
Skip was a regular at Wilde Lake High School events with his lovely wife, Rosalie, and I made it a special point to spend time with both of them over the years. I always found him to be a caring, bright individual who was savvy about all things, not just Howard County sports. I considered him to be one of the very good guys that I have come to meet.
Over the years I have lost a number of friends and associates and the loss of Skip hurts in a way that is difficult to explain. I guess it is because I knew that Skip would always be there. Now he's gone and that leaves a big void in the lives of all who knew him.
Turf Valley Trot
Despite competition from at least one other race on the same day, the 2nd Annual Turf Valley Trot 10K and 1-mile Family Fun Walk still managed to draw a field of 210 runners for the benefit of the Zaching Against Cancer Foundation.
The race was won by 31-year-old Brian Fleming, who is the assistant track and cross country coach at Oakland Mills High School. He finished with a time of 38:21. Martin Goode, a 52-year-old running mainstay in Howard County, hung with Fleming for much of the race before eventually falling back and finishing in second place.
Alex Wang, the Centennial High School grad and University of Maryland Medical School student, built on her victory at this year's Baltimore Marathon to finish sixth overall with a time of 40:14.
Prior to the start of the 10K, all runners made the Zaching pose that was made popular by the late Zach Lederer, who died earlier this year from brain cancer. Many runners who participated said that they had been touched in some way by either Zach or his family over the years.
The race starts at the Turf Valley Towne Center and covers the 18-hole cart path of the Turf Valley golf course.