Broadneck Retains Football Rivalry Supremacy

Last Thursday’s football game between Broadneck and Severna Park had all the makings of a classic.

Behind an opportunistic defense and a methodical balanced offense, the resurgent Falcons had won six straight, including impressive wins over Arundel and Old Mill. The Bruins, meanwhile, had won five in a row on the backs of an increasingly stingy defense and an intermittently explosive offense.

The intrigue lasted a quarter and a half.

Severna Park turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions, Broadneck punched two of those into the end zone, and the Bruins ran away for their 15th straight win over Severna Park, 30-13.

Aaron Foote ran for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns, Gabe Denius added a rushing score and a field goal, and Aiden Tupper closed the Bruin scoring with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Nate Kropkowski.

The Falcons got rushing touchdowns from quarterbacks Blake Howell and Isaac Graves. But they ran into a defensive buzzsaw in Broadneck, which had two sacks and forced four turnovers in total. Howell threw three interceptions before being lifted in the second half. Two of those turnovers went to Kendall Jones, including an end-zone pick on the first drive of the game.

Broadneck’s win, combined with Glen Burnie’s 4-0 loss to Old Mill, handed the Bruins the top seed for the 4A East region playoffs, which start this week. They’ll get a first-round bye and will host either Annapolis or Bowie for a berth in the state quarterfinals.

For the Falcons, who would have been the No. 1 seed in the 4A/3A East playoffs with a win, all is not lost. Their path to the state quarterfinals goes through three teams they’ve already beaten this season. They’ll open as the No. 4 seed, hosting No. 5 Crofton on Saturday. The winner there plays either No. 8 Severn Run or No. 1 Old Mill the following week for a berth in the quarterfinals.