CUMBERLAND — North Carroll coach Todd Edmondson wanted to get some early momentum for his team against the defending state champions and attempted an onside kick on the opening kickoff Friday night.
It didn't work. And Fort Hill took that momentum and, literally, ran with it.
The Sentinels scored four touchdowns and rushed for 196 yards in the first quarter alone, cruising to a 56-20 win over the Panthers in the Class 1A West Region final at Greenway Avenue Stadium.
Fort Hill finished with 442 yards on the ground and eliminated the Panthers (9-3) in the regional final for the second year in a row.
North Carroll's Zack Sherman had three touchdowns, returning a kickoff 90 yards in the first quarter and then hauling in TD catches of 61 and 73 yards in the fourth quarter.
After Fort Hill (12-0) recovered the opening kickoff at its own 48-yard line, the Sentinels covered 52 yards in 1 minute, 52 seconds, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Ty Johnson for a 7-0 lead. The Panthers then went three-and-out and the Sentinels scored on their next play from scrimmage, a 41-yard run by Alex Barnes, to go up 14-0 just over three minutes in. North Carroll senior quarterback Jack Flowers was then intercepted by Johnson, who returned it 14 yards for a 21-0 lead with 7:07 to go in the first quarter.
North Carroll got on the scoreboard thanks to Sherman, the Panthers' senior playmaker. He fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 10 near the right sideline before cutting back left behind some blockers and streaking down the left sideline for a 90-yard return score.
That cut Fort Hill's lead to 21-6. Then, on the first play of the Sentinels' next drive, fullback Raen Smith was hit from behind by Sherman after an eight-yard gain, losing the ball and allowing the Panthers to recover.
But North Carroll couldn't add another score, losing a yard on its next drive before punting it away. That was the last chance the Panthers would have to make it interesting, as Fort Hill scored on each of the next four drives to take a 49-6 lead at halftime.
The Panthers were coming off a come-from-behind 17-14 win over Allegany in the regional semifinals last week, which included a 96-yard game-winning drive in the final minute orchestrated by Flowers.