Cougars Advance to State Championship in Search of School's Third Title

Mark Green was in eighth grade in 2007 -- the year the Quince Orchard Cougars went undefeated for the first time in program history and captured the school's second state championship. And when he arrived at QO in 2008, he had aspirations that he would one day be able to lead his team to state title glory.

After a career night, Green is one step away from realizing that goal. 

On a night where his teammates relied on him more than they had all year, Green delivered in a major way.  The senior running back carried the ball 43 times and racked up a career-high 279 yards and two scores as the top-seeded Quince Orchard Cougars defeated the visiting C.H. Flowers Jaguars, 23-12, in the state semifinals Friday night at the Cougar Dome. 

With the win, Quince Orchard (13-0) advances to the Maryland 4A state championship for the second time in five years and will face Old Mill (13-0) next Friday at the Baltimore Ravens' M&T Bank Stadium where the Cougars will look to bring home the school's third state football championship. 

"It means a lot to me to get here," said Green, who now has 1841 yards and 25 touchdowns on the year. "Ever since I got to QO my freshman year, we all had the goal to get to this point. If we can replicate what that 2007 team did, it would mean so much. I'm just thankful to be in a position where we can try to make that happen."

Quince Orchard coach Dave Mencarini called Green one of the best players to ever come out of Quince Orchard and he has consistently called Green among the best players in the area. So, it was no surprise to him that Green stepped up again for the Cougars Friday.

"We put the ball in the best player in Montgomery County's hands and he made plays. He’s just a different kind of player. But I have a great group of kids," Mencarini said. "They're not just good football players, they're good people. And they deserve this. Every one of our players deserves to go to the state championship. They've worked really hard for this."

The Cougars scored first when Billy Plante connected with Tyrell Williams from 42 yards out to give Quince Orchard a 7-0 lead with 28 seconds left. But the Jaguars quickly answered on their next possession and on the first play of the second quarter, Edwin Walker burst through a hole and found the end zone from 66 yards out to make it 7-6 (after the point-after failed). 

Quince Orchard responded on its next possession when Green scored his first of two touchdowns on a 19-yard run to cap the drive and give the Cougars a 14-6 advantage with 8:42 to play in the half. 

Later in the half, after the Cougars went for it on fourth-and-goal from the one-foot line and didn't make it, the Cougars forced the Jaguars to punt and took over at their own 46 with just over a minute to go in the half. 

Just when it looked as though QO would run out the clock and go into the break up by one score, Green shed four tackles and scored on a 39-yard run with 18 seconds left to give QO 20-6 lead at the half.  Mencarini admitted he was just trying to run out the clock at that point but Green once again made the big play.

QO's lone score in the second half was a Chris McPherson 34-yard field goal with 5:47 left in the third quarter. Flowers scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter, a 28-yard pass from Jonathan Holland to Keith Payne with 10:15 left in the game, but the two-point conversion attempt failed and Flowers was held off the board the rest of the way.

Flowers had many chances, but costly turnovers proved to be much of the difference. On the game's first possession, the Jaguars moved the ball with ease and had the ball inside the five-yard line but Quince Orchard forced a fumble and recovered to kill the Jaguars' chances of an early score. The Cougars also intercepted Holland three times, including late in the fourth quarter that sealed the win for QO.

QO Defensive Coordinator, John Kelley, said after the game he was pleased with how the Cougars' defense contained Walker after his big run in the second quarter. 

"Take that play away, I thought we played very well," Kelley said.

Mencarini, who has taken QO to the playoffs in each of the eight seasons he has been head coach, said that a lot of his former players had been around this week, coming to practice to wish the players well.

And members of both the 1991 state title team and the 2007 team were in attendance Friday night. Earlier this season, Quince Orchard formally celebrated the . Another state title win on this anniversary year would be "poetic" said one former player.

Travis Hawkins, a member of the 2007 team, was among those at Friday night's game and stated he was proud to see the tradition continue with this group of Cougars. 

"It's great to see that the program is still among the best in the state," Hawkins said. "It gives me a lot of pride to see these guys get back to the state championship."