Broadneck Football Ends Season In State Semis

The end of Broadneck’s football season on November 28 at Quince Orchard came with equal measures sadness, frustration and perspective.

Sadness at the finality of a special season. Frustration at the way the game unfolded. Perspective as they looked back on where they came from to get to this point at all.

The Bruins’ 35-0 loss at Quince Orchard in the 4A state semifinals marked the second straight season they’ve lost in this round to the Cougars. Unlike last year where they were dominated, the margin this time was largely self-inflicted: four turnovers (two interceptions and two muffed punts) gave Quince Orchard short fields and three touchdowns, and the Bruins mustered just 54 yards of offense.

The first turnover came on the first series of the game, after Broadneck had forced a punt, but swirling wind and a shorter kick resulted in a muff that the Cougars recovered and later cashed into the end zone.

“It’s definitely deflating, but you’re not defined by that one play. We had an opportunity to step up and make some plays, but it’s tough,” said Broadneck coach Rob Harris. “It’s a testament to the kids that they put the work in and believed in the coaches. Our ability to keep putting that work in got us to this point. It didn’t go our way today. We had opportunities early on, but that says a lot about these kids. That’s a great group of kids.”

The perspective comes in realizing that the start to the season was Broadneck’s worst in decades, and yet it ended in a fifth straight trip to the state playoffs and a fourth straight run of reaching the semifinals or further.

The loss snapped an eight-game win streak that got the Bruins to the postseason, having started the season 0-3. They handled local rival Severna Park in the final game of the regular season and did likewise to Annapolis in the region playoffs. Then, Broadneck became the only road team to win in the quarterfinal round courtesy of a 37-22 win over Paint Branch that was more one-sided than the final score suggested.

“Starting 0-3, we were definitely questioning ourselves but we had to come together, work through those difficulties, and we were able to improve it,” said Broadneck senior Caydin Evans, who had two sacks and two more tackles for loss in the first half of the Paint Branch game, where the Bruins allowed just 23 yards and one first down in the first 24 minutes.

On the season, the Bruins were balanced on offense, with Nathan Kropkowski throwing for 1,811 yards and 14 touchdowns, and the team piling up 1,520 rushing yards and 14 scores. The two-headed rushing monster of Gabe Denius and Aaron Foote combined for 1,316 of those yards and 12 TDs. Aidan Tupper hauled in 43 catches for 739 yards and five scores.

Defensively, the Bruins grew stouter as the season went on. They had 10 senior starters on defense and 13 in the rotation. Kemarri Collison was a difference-maker at defensive lineman, while linebacker Alijah Hawkins had four interceptions and five sacks. Teams stopped throwing Jonah Brown's way, as he proved himself to be a true lockdown corner.

In total the Bruins graduate 20 seniors from this squad: Aaron Foote, Brown, Hawkins, Collison, Evans, Carson Pierce, Kendall Jones, Cordaro Foote, Myles Bryan, Cam Jones, Carter Gondak, Marlo Brown, Brad Bynum, Jacob Chick, Keaton Walker, Nehemiah Robinson, Brian Gomez Valle, Tyreus Brown, Cameron Provan and Maison Bryan.