Flag football
When Sal Gorgone first put together a flag football team in 1986, it was meant to be an outlet for a bunch of his "weekend warrior" friends from Columbia.
Now, eight years later, his C and S Cowboys -- along with the very sport of flag football -- have evolved into something that even this construction executive says he couldn't have envisioned.
Years of diligent recruiting, largely through word of mouth, has netted Gorgone a national powerhouse of a team, with the nucleus made up of ex-professional and college players.
Former NFL players on the 39-man roster include Darryl McGill, Sidney Johnson, Vernon Dean and Albert Reese (all with the Redskins), James Henry (Seahawks), Wayne Wilson (Saints), George Snowden (Broncos) and Cedric Gordon (Oilers).
The nine-man contact team also features a number of former Division I college players and has an offensive line that averages 295 pounds.
"It's hard to believe how far we've come," said Gorgone, a 30-year-old graduate of Atholton High who is the team's coach and sponsor. "It was always my dream to build a team that could maybe compete for a state title. But to think back to where we started, we've just come such a long way."
In recent weeks, the Cowboys showed just how far.
After going 18-2 and winning titles in Howard County and the Central Maryland Region, C and S defended its state championship before advancing to the finals of the North American Flag Football Association national tournament.
The tournament, held earlier this month at various sites around Howard County, featured a 30-team field of local and state champions representing New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The Cowboys -- sponsored by Gorgone's company, C and S Gorgone Masonry in Highland -- won four of its five games, losing only to New Jersey's K.B. Tri-Gems Cowboys in the finals.
For Gorgone, however, that loss was a bitter pill.
With the local team leading 10-0 near the end of the first quarter, C and S quarterback John McGraw got knocked out of the game.
The New Jersey regional champions then scored 30 unanswered points to win going away.
"It's very disappointing because our goal is to win a national championship," said Gorgone, whose team had defeated Rochester, N.Y. -- the recognized national champion of another organization -- 24-13 in the semifinals.
In the tournament's B bracket, the Ciccone Law Outlaws of Providence, R.I., defeated Chicks Tavern of Harrisburg, Pa., 27-3.
With the growing popularity of the sport in various forms around the country, Gorgone thinks that it's only a matter of time before it takes off.
"It's growing like softball did years ago," he said. "People don't realize how serious it really is."
But no matter how big it gets, Gorgone says he and his players will never lose sight of the team's original purpose.
"It's recreation for us," said the Gaithersburg resident, who turned down an offer two years ago to make the team semi-pro. "I just didn't want to do that. Even though flag football is very competitive for us, we basically still do it for the fun of it."
Basketball
Sunday was championship day at the Supreme Sports Club in Columbia, where winners were crowned in the 8-9, 10-12, 13-15 and high school leagues.
Here is a look at what happenned:
* 8-9 boys -- The Junior Mavericks needed overtime to defeat the Junior Bulls, 26-23. Brad Mandart led the Mavs with 14 points and Lemuel Taylor added 10. Brian Cunningham paced the Bulls with a game-high 15 points and Fana Walcott added eight.
* 10-12 boys -- Eric Jones scored 15 points to lead the Huskies to a 36-30 win over the Irish.
* 13-15 boys -- For the Kings, the question Sunday wasn't if they would win. It was by how much.
The Kings set a league scoring record in their 105-61 championship win over the Sonics.
T. J. Welsh scored a game-high 41 points, followed by teammates Joe Iannarino (30), Colin Stefan (20) and Eddie Lopez (14). Matt Deuchler (28) and Derek Ritzenberg (14) paced the Sonics.
* High school -- The fourth-seeded Magic got 18 points from Dante Benning en route to its 61-57 overtime win over the No. 2 seeded Knicks.
Keilan Mathews (14), Dain Lewis (12), Marc Alston (11), Donald Wallace II (14 rebounds) and Kory Reynolds (five steals) also led the victors.
Tim Frazier (16 points) and Tony Howard (10) paced the Knicks.
* 16-18 boys -- First Baptist Church of Guilford was the host team for the Christian Fellowship Basketball League preseason tournament at Mayfield Woods Middle School.
First Baptist went 4-0, finishing the tournament last weekend with a 52-48 win over previously unbeaten Isle of Patmas and a 54-35 victory over New Creation.
Against Isle of Patmas, First Baptist used a 20-5 mid-game run to come back and take the lead by one early in the third quarter.
First Baptist was led by the aggressive defensive play of Levear Owens and Michael Bright. Shawn Hill scored 11 points, and Ramsey Green and Phil Mackey added eight each. Antonio McCary led Isle of Patmas (3-1) with 19 points and Eric Stancil added 18.
In other final-round games, Lonny Baxter scored 18 to lead the Wheaton Panthers (3-1) to a 54-34 win over New Creation (1-3). Karl Sorrell scored 16.
Brown Memorial (1-3) defeated the T.J. Rebels, 53-46, as Regginald Lee scored 17 and Earl Daniels added 10. For the Rebels (0-4), Andre Beatty led all scorers with 21 points.
* 10-and-under girls -- The Columbia Chargers took four of five games in winning last weekend's double-elimination GORC Holiday Tournament.
The Chargers defeated Severna Park, 20-13, Lutherville-Timonium, 28-15, and Western Howard County, 31-10, to advance to the championship round.
There, the Columbia Basketball Association team started off by dropping its only tournament game, losing to Arbutus, 13-9.
In the rematch, however, they edged Arbutus, 19-14, to claim the title.
Natasha Warren, Shanee Johnson, Ashley Hooper, Kelly Thomas and Melissa Workman led the offense, and Maggie Angle, Amanda Moreland, Ashley Pietryka, Kimberly Pyne, Fana Walcott and Becky Ward led the team's defense.
* 13-year-old girls -- The Howard County Youth Program 1981 Cougars had a productive weekend, winning their game in the Loch Raven League and advancing in the single-elimination Langley Park Christmas Tournament.
The Cougars first defeated Towson, 36-29, as Alexia Vogler scored 10 points, Stacie Tokasz six, Jane Williams five and Jennifer Westervelt, Tia Richardson and Colleen Cox four each. Point guard Lisa Chapman also played well.
The local team then started off tournament play on a winning note, defeating Kettering, 33-26. Tokasz led the way with 12 points, Cox added eight, and Richardson and Williams had four each.
* 10-year-old boys -- The Howard County Youth Program Hawks had an exciting weekend, winning a buzzer-beater and a nail-biter in two days.
On Saturday, the Hawks beat Greenbelt, 25-14, at the Langley Park Boys Club. Matt Hashimoto scored five points, and Andy Starr and Andrew McSkimming also played well.
But later that day, the real fun started. Scott Clipp hit a jumper in the lane with two seconds left to give the Hawks a 20-19 victory over Gardenville at the Gray Charles Rec Center in Dundalk. David Freund also contributed clutch free-throw shooting and Timmy Lane played a good all-around game.
On Sunday, the Hawks continued with a 23-20 win over Pikesville in the Catonsville League. Jeff Hill and Brad Hill led the offense, Hedges provided strong rebounding and Michael Taneyhill led the defense.
Ice hockey
* 10-11 boys -- The Howard County Youth Hockey Club Squirt A Huskies participated in the first game played at the new ice rink in Frederick on Saturday. And they played up to the occasion.
The Huskies took a 5-0 lead before holding on to beat Bowie, 5-2. Thomas LaCour put the local team on top early, scoring the first goal in rink history.
He later added another goal, as did teammates Michael Down, Wayne Lamanna and Daniel Buswell.
On Sunday, the Huskies edged Northern Virginia, 4-3, at Tucker Road.
Eli Martin scored the game-winner in the third period, with assists from Lamanna and Adam Levine.
Other Howard scorers were Daniel Baron, Dominic Uccellini and Josh Merson, with assists going to LaCour, Martin and Merson.
Goalie Kurt Carter also had a strong game, making 26 saves and getting defensive support from Merson, Martin, Matt Pinto, Adam Kessler, Daniel Buswell and Andrew Jazwiecki.
Gymnastics
* 7-14 girls -- The Columbia Gymnastics competitive team had several place winners at Saturday's Baltimore County Gymnastics Invitational.
In the Level 5, 12-14 age group, Erika Strauss took seventh all-around with a third on the vault (8.40), a ninth on the uneven bars (8.00), and a fourth on the floor exercise (8.75).
Jill Hurley, in the 9-11 age group, took sixth in the vault (8.50) and 10th on the balance beam (8.25).
Three competitors in the 7-8 group earned placements, including Elizabeth Donnelly on the bars (sixth, 7.80), Tessa Laidig on the beam (third, 8.10), vault (fifth, 7.60) and all-around (sixth), and Veronica Lewis on the vault (sixth, 7.45) and the beam (fourth, 8.00).
Columbia also had several outstanding performers in Level 6.
Lindsay Derenberger topped the list, taking sixth place in the 8-11 all-around. She scored an 8.05 on the bars (eighth), an 8.50 on the beam (fourth) and a 9.05 on the floor (sixth).
Also placing high in the age group were Katie Muth -- sixth on beam (8.10) and ninth overall -- and Nicole Saddic -- seventh on vault (8.90), fourth on bars (8.80) and fifth on floor(9.15).
Christina Lee, in the 12-14 group, took fourth place on the bars (8.45), seventh on vault (8.55) and ninth on floor (8.65).
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Note: Submit your Howard County recreation information by calling (410) 521-0505.