An Impressive Season

After an underwhelming couple of years, the OM varsity football team has finally put it all together. “A state championship is what the whole team wants and it hasn’t been done since 1998,” said Isaac Ramsey, the captain, quarterback, and safety of the varsity football team. That state championship in 1998 remains the Scorpions’ only football state championship.

Now, they are aiming to recreate that success during the 2024-25 season, despite moving from a 1A school to a 3A school. However, this change doesn’t seem to be an issue as the Scorps are 7-1 (prior to the game on 11/2), having scored 178 points and allowing only 36 in the first five games. This highlights a drastic improvement from last year when the Scorps went 0-5, in the first five games, scoring only 72 points while allowing 140 points against them. When asked about the difference from last season, head coach Thomas Browne and defensive coordinator Jimmy Speake, emphasized the experience of their players as the main factor behind their success this season, especially since the team has remained relatively unchanged from last year. 

This 2024 team is reminiscent of the most recent success of the 2021 team which was led by quarterback Kanye Holland and finished the regular season with an 8-1 record. They advanced to the semi-finals, where they were leading 15-14 in the final minutes but lost heartbreakingly when Frederick Douglass HS scored on the final drive. When asked how this team compares to the 2021 team, Kaiden Lee, captain and middle linebacker for the Scorpions, said, “This team is definitely up there with that 2021 team, but that team was hard to beat. We have a good group of guys here.” When asked how far this team could go, Kaiden expressed his optimism, “This team will definitely go very far. I think we’ll match the 2021 team, maybe even go further, and I am hopeful we take it all the way [to the state championship].”

Despite Kaiden’s high praise and optimism for this team’s chances of winning the state championship, his coaches prefer to keep their focus on the present. When asked about the coaches’ feelings on the team’s success, Robbie Johnson, one of two varsity sophomores this year said, “Don’t listen to all the talk; our coaches say everybody at Oakland Mills thinks we are going to be good. It’s ‘poison’ to our minds.” Both Coach Browne and Speake stated that their goal for the team this year is simply to “win a lot of games,” indicating their desire for players to concentrate on the next game rather than the distant future.

Leadership plays a crucial role in sports success, as demonstrated by the three captains: Kaiden Lee, Jachy-Sean Asomani, and Isaac Ramsey. All three were juniors last year and were selected as captains alongside senior Malcolm Brooks. Now in their senior year, they’ve utilized their experience from last year to drive the team’s success. Freshman Archie Wellington stated, “The captains are big inspirations to me.” Robbie Johnson also mentioned that Jachy and Kaiden help him stay focused and play to the best of his ability. 

The successful football season is not limited to varsity. Our JV went undefeated with a 9-0 record, led by their captains, defensive end John Georges, offensive tackle Chemar Joseph, safety Jacob Kusi-Amponsah, quarterback and safety Kevin Joyce, and running back Miles Bickell.

Varsity is heading into the playoffs with their only loss being to Atholton, 20-27.

Despite that and facing high expectations, this team remains optimistic and intends to maintain their momentum as they head into the postseason, aiming to walk away with the school’s second football state championship. Be sure to come out and support your Scorps throughout the playoffs!