Football and futility were once synonymous at Baltimore County's northernmost public high school, where being a Hereford Bull meant being a fatted calf for your rival's homecoming feast.
It meant playing before fans who sat on a transportable, five-row bench.
And it meant enduring a lot of long bus rides back home up Interstate 83; from 1987 through 1994, the Bulls went 21-58.
A year later, the Bulls were rescued. Energetic Steve Turnbaugh returned to coach his alma mater and soon turned Hereford into a perennial title contender.
"Before Steve assumed the head coaching position, Hereford hadn't experienced winning in 20 years," said athletic director Mike Kalisz. "Now, we're one of the most successful programs in the state."
Tonight at 7, the No. 2 Bulls (10-0) travel to 10th-ranked Southern (7-3) of Anne Arundel in a Class 2A quarterfinal game. The Bulls, who carry a 23-game winning streak into the game, are ranked No. 6 in Maryland by the Associated Press ahead of state powers such as DeMatha and Seneca Valley.
But everything goes back to Turnbaugh's hustle in the earlier days.
Before his first coaching season, Turnbaugh, a 1978 Hereford graduate, assembled a coaching staff that devoted hours talking to parents and boosters. They organized fundraisers. They made players believe in weightlifting. And faced with a limited player turnout, they combed the hallways for recruits. One of Turnbaugh's first standout players, two-time All-Metro defensive back Jason Wingeart, came from the soccer team.
Despite all this, however, the Bulls posted only a .500 record that first season in 1995.
"People asked Steve, 'Why did you take the job up there?' " said assistant coach Mike Blizzard. "They said, 'You'll never win up there.' "
But the next year, Hereford went 11-1, beating county power Overlea for the first time in school history. Hereford reached its first state playoff and first of seven straight state semifinals. The Bulls went 13-0 in both 1997 and 2001 and won 1A and 2A state titles, respectively.
Assistant coach Brian Bandurchin, a member of the '97 squad, said: "Some of the guys from '97 are still like, 'Our team was much better.' But their 2A competition is a step up from the 1A we played. Give this team the credit it deserves."
On Friday nights, Hereford's lighted stadium often is crammed beyond its 1,200 capacity with cowbell-ringing, banner-waving fans. Money from fundraisers has helped purchase outdoor bathrooms, a press box, NFL-style goal posts and an underground irrigation system.
"I read this book called Friday Night Lights, about this nationally ranked high school football team in Texas," said senior defensive end/tight end Zach Armiger. "It's a true story about the players' lives and how the whole town would come out and support the football team. It sounded just like Hereford: The whole town shuts down to come out and watch us. For that two hours, nothing else matters."
As seventh-graders, Armiger, Henry Julio and Nate Wdowiak were members of a neighborhood youth football program that had adopted Hereford's nickname and colors. The trio often visited Hereford's weight room, where they'd stare up at a large, towering portrait of the Bulls' '97 team "as if they were idols," Armiger said.
"We would always say, 'One day, that's going to be us up there,' " said Julio, now a 6-foot-2, 260-pound senior two-way lineman. "We'd say, 'One day, we're going to be state champs.' "
These days, Hereford even is winning recruiting battles with private high schools.
"I got a call from DeMatha in the early summer saying they're interested in me and if I'd go there," said Joe Akers, a 6-3, 280-pound sophomore who was Turnbaugh's first freshman lineman to start both ways. "It was very tempting, but Coach Turnbaugh spent two hours talking to me when I came here. I felt special. That's what got me."
Preseason tryouts have swelled to nearly 130 boys. And Hereford has benefited from transfers such as All-Metro senior running back/linebacker Adam Goloboski, formerly of St. Paul's, and junior kicker John Dinkins, from West Virginia.
Goloboski's 1,772 rushing yards are 40 shy of the season school record held by Todd Leitzel, his 24 rushing touchdowns are five short of the season record held by Jason Murphy and his 25 total touchdowns six shy of Leitzel's record. Dinkins has six career field goals, including game-winners in the Bulls' three playoff games last season, and 101 career extra points.
"The only thing I was worried about was fitting in as a public school football player. I was honestly afraid of being accepted at a different level," Goloboski said. "But what separates Hereford from your average football program is its family atmosphere. People work well together, and there's a lot of trust."
Coaches and players have lunch together daily at school. On Thursdays, minus coaches, players eat a post-practice meal, prepared by parents, in Freeland, a nearby town. And there is a pre-game meal at a Hereford restaurant each Friday.
For coaches, Sunday mornings mean reviewing game film during meetings at Blizzard's home. Turnbaugh and his eight-man staff will eat a breakfast prepared by Blizzard's wife, Sue. "It's usually a two-hour thing, but in the playoffs, it's an overnight thing," said Turnbaugh, who is 83-10 in eight years.
"During the summer, the kids have a three-night weightlifting schedule and a running schedule twice a week," said Blizzard. The team has an average bench press of 250 pounds.
"We're in the weight room year-round, and we work as hard, if not harder, than any other team," said running back Pat Butt, Hereford's second-leading rusher and scorer with 1,015 yards and 16 touchdowns. "We have a great coaching staff and team unity, which is why we're where we are."