New Pikesville football coach Jeff Fuller knows that for every couple of steps forward with a team trying to get back on track after three winless seasons, there's often a step back.
His Panthers, with just 19 players on the roster, took a monumental step forward on Sept. 30, when they defeated Loch Raven, 13-12. It was their first win since October 2012.
The game also included their first touchdowns of the season. Linebacker Chase Green scored after recovering a fumble and quarterback Trey Wiggins scored on a keeper.
"The kids were extremely excited," said Fuller, a former defensive line coach at Franklin. "I was more excited for my seniors. Some of these guys were on the team for three years and they had to go through those three years without winning a football game. I was real happy for them to experience that. The next week, people were congratulating them in the hallways and saying, 'Job well done,' and stuff like that, so that kind of gave us some momentum going into the rest of season."
On Friday night, the Panthers hoped to ride that momentum at Eastern Tech, but they got off to a slow start and fell, 38-6, to one of the perennial powers in Baltimore County's Class 2A-1A Division.
"I think the guys still had a hangover from the win last week," Fuller said, "and at halftime, I had to explain to them that this is not the same team as last week. They thought they were going to come out and be able to come away with the same result against Eastern Tech and that wasn't the case. They had to come out and compete … and that was a valuable lesson."
The Panthers had a much better second half with Kayvon Lomax breaking a 74-yard touchdown run and Antonio DeShields excelling on defense to finish with 10 tackles and two sacks. Defensive back-wide receivers Josh Bishop and Demon'te Atkinson, and defensive tackle Chris Wiggins also turned in key performances.
"They stepped up and I think that's a good sign to see where we're going as far as dealing with adversity," Fuller said of the team.
The Panthers haven't had a winning season since 2009, when they made the Class 1A playoffs. Since then, they've never won more than four games in a season.
For a small team with many players who have persevered through a winless career until beating Loch Raven, Fuller has nothing but admiration.
"I tell them every day they're the best 19 guys in the state of Maryland. They come to practice every day, they work hard and they're committed to getting better," Fuller said. "When I call practice at 6:30 in the morning, the kids are there, ready to play football. That's what type of kid we're dealing with. No one has quit and hopefully, we can bring some JV guys up soon."
A Randallstown native, Fuller played football at St. Frances. He spent several years as the defensive line coach at Franklin, including the back-to-back state title years, 2013 and 2014.
But he jumped at the chance to be a head coach.
"I thought when you look at programs like Pikesville, it's always an opportunity to get in and try to change the culture and try to build young men to be better young men and just not through football. I always wanted to be a head coach and to have the opportunity to try to build my own program and the Pikesville job is just the perfect opportunity for me to showcase my coaching ability and try to help the school out as far as building a football program."