Old Mill's Chad McCormick was named the Ravens' High School Football Coach of the Week after leading the No. 4 Patriots to a win over Meade that boosted their record to 9-0.
McCormick, in his sixth season as head coach, has guided the Patriots to 27 straight regular-season wins in the Anne Arundel County league. The 44-8 win over Meade last week set up a showdown of undefeateds with No. 5 Annapolis (9-0) Friday night for the Anne Arundel County championship. The Patriots and Panthers are two of just 11 undefeated public school teams statewide.
Against Meade, the Patriots ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Sirus Gay scored two touchdowns, running 23 times for 109 yards. Quarterback Blaise Fisher also passed for a pair of touchdowns as the Patriots built a 38-0 lead.
Old Mill has overcome injuries to key players through the season, but that hasn't stopped them from winning by an average of 32 points.
"I think our guys that are next-up are mentally prepared and physically prepared to come into a football game," McCormick said. "One thing I emphasize to our coaching staff and our players understand -- probably a lot of people say this -- is the next-man-up philosophy. We don’t expect our results to be different if there’s an injury or someone should happen to get in trouble. The next guy’s got to come in and perform the job, so they’re trained to do that and so far this year, those guys have done that very well.”
The Patriots, aiming for their second straight undefeated regular season, have already qualified for the Class 4A East regional playoffs for the 18th consecutive year. They won state titles in 2009 and 2011, McCormick's first season as head coach.
McCormick is the ninth Coach of the Week this season, and the program will conclude with one more selection after Week 10. Each weekly winner receives a $2,000 donation to his high school's football program and an award from Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
All of the weekly winners will gather at the Ravens-Eagles game at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 18, where one will be named the Ravens Coach of the Year.
Previous weekly winners are: Carlos Dunmoodie, Centennial; Matt Miller, Winters Mill; Ray Wright, Randallstown; Justin Payne, Parkville; Kyle Schmitt, Archbishop Spalding; Anthony Burgos, Franklin; Daryl Wade, City; and Steve Lurz, Patterson Mill.