Football Today: New Town vs. Owings Mills

football coach Steve Lurz would love to consider the Eagles’ a rivalry.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t believe his squads have performed well enough against their crosstown neighbors to warrant the rival designation.

Before Owings Mills’ triple overtime victory last year, the Titans had won the schools' six prior meetings—usually in blowout fashion—ever since fielded its first varsity squad in 2004.

Still, with two playoff bound teams looking to enter the postseason with positive momentum, Saturday’s 2 p.m. matchup at New Town should prove to be one of the most competitive and intense to date.

At 8-1, the Titans are guaranteed one of four playoff spots in Class 1A North and are fighting for seeding. Meanwhile, at 5-4, Owings Mills is a virtual lock in the 2A North region, but can solidify their position with a win.

But a trip to the postseason for the first time since 1997 is on the backburner for Lurz’s Eagles. In fact, they aren’t even talking about it.

“We actually decided that we aren’t discussing the playoffs this week,” Lurz said. “Our guys are so familiar with the New Town kids. The game itself is what’s going to be important.

"We aren’t worried about playoffs. We’ve had three very good, physical practices and the kids knowing each other, being Facebook friends, seeing each other out—the tone’s kind of been set.”

For the Titans this season, the tone has been set on defense, where Joe Holland’s defensive unit has pitched shutouts in five of nine games and allowed only one score in two other contests. After starting the season 1-1, New Town has outscored its opponents 273-22 in its next seven games.

Lurz is depending on a revamped ground game to control the clock and keep the ball out of the hands of New Town's plethora of playmakers on offense. Following a disappointing performance in a 34-15 loss to Joppatowne last week, the Eagles are concentrating on their hogs in the trenches this week in practice.

“We’ve been focusing on the offensive line being more aggressive this week, because we’d like to establish the running game and get a little bit better pass protection from those guys,” Lurz said. “We’ve really worked the offensive linemen hard this week as far as that’s concerned.”

Lurz noted that New Town opts to play a man-to-man defense on most downs, and believes the Eagles possess the players in the skill positions—such as wide out De’Ante Keene and tight end Kevin Yrizzary—capable of winning one-on-one matchups.

Meanwhile, Owings Mills will have its hands full on defense trying to neutralize the four-pronged rushing attack of Darrell Wyche, Gary Clark, Rayshawn Clark and Derrick Kittrell.

And, while the Titans primarily run plays out of their version of the Wing-T, they are also capable of seamlessly switching into the Power-I and spread formations, based on what the situation dictates. The variety of offensive sets makes New Town one of the more difficult teams to prepare for.

Regardless of the formation, the Titans possess a true field general in quarterback Shawheem Dowdy, who is a threat to connect with any of his receiving targets and is hardly afraid to take off and run himself.  

New Town is racking up almost 38 points per game on average, and for the Eagles to have a shot at emerging victorious and making this game a true rivalry, they know they’ll have to slice into that number.

“If we get a couple good games in the next couple years I’d say so, but right now, on our end, we haven’t made it much of a rivalry,” Lurz said. “I’d like to see it get there because they’re a good team and I’d like to compete with them. Hopefully it develops."