Bruins Football Makes Another Deep Playoff Run

Broadneck’s wait for their first state football championship will continue for another year, but the 2024 Bruins left no doubt as to their place in the upper echelons of Maryland public school football.

A return to the 4A state championship wasn’t in the cards for the Bruins, as they lost 48-13 to Quince Orchard on November 29, but Broadneck reached their third consecutive state semifinal and racked up yet another region championship.

Having received a first-round bye in the region playoffs, the Bruins beat Glen Burnie 54-28 on November 15 to secure their region championship and advance to the state quarterfinals.

Broadneck got two rushing touchdowns from Ian Mauldin and a rushing touchdown and two passing scores from C.J. Watkins, who connected with Joey Smargissi and Mari Hayes on the aerial scores. Aaron Foote also scored on the ground.

But the defense and special teams were really where Broadneck made a mark on the game, and those two phases swung the game in the Bruins’ favor.

There was a recovered kickoff that Glen Burnie never touched, when kicker Dylan Jordan pooched a kickoff short. The ball bounced at the Gophers’ 20-yard line and kicked back toward Broadneck’s Kobe Owen, who fell on it to give Broadneck a second straight possession.

The defense made its mark when Tyrin Chinn-Thompson twice stepped in front of Glen Burnie passes and raced the other way for a touchdown. His first pick-six preceded the recovered kickoff, and his second was the final score of the game.

“It felt just like St. Mary’s,” said Chinn-Thompson, referring to the season opener in which he returned an interception for a touchdown. “All the way down to getting two picks in practice (the day before the game). We had film and we were ready for what we needed to do. It was hard to get the juice going, but we got momentum when we needed it.”

It was the momentum Broadneck sorely needed to push through on yet another deep run. After they beat Glen Burnie, they dominated Northwest on a windy, cold night at Broadneck High. The Bruins won 24-14 in a game where the margin of victory could have been greater in better conditions.

Mauldin ran for 119 yards and a touchdown, and the Bruins also got a running and passing touchdown from Watkins, the passing score coming on a pinpoint 20-yard pass to Aidan Tupper in the corner of the end zone.

The defense did the rest, as they harassed Northwest’s quarterback and running backs all night, to the tune of four sacks — two by senior lineman Tommy Anglim.

Though they came up short in a bid for two straight championship game appearances, the Bruins — and most notably an outstanding senior class — were able to leave their mark on the program and set a benchmark for years to come.

In the three years since the first of Broadneck’s current seniors played on varsity, they went undefeated at home, winning all 18 home contests in those three years and stretching the team’s win streak at The Den to 24.

“For me, it’s been coming up since Cape,” Mauldin said. “I used to come to the games wishing I could play here (one day), and winning every single game I’ve played on this field is the best thing ever.”

Two seniors etched their names in the history books at Broadneck as well: in addition to three pick-sixes on the season, Chinn-Thompson set a new school single-season mark with 80 solo tackles (100 total), and Mauldin graduates as one of the program’s all-time great players, having broken several records including single-season total touchdowns (27), career total touchdowns (62) and career rushing touchdowns (52).

Broadneck also reached the state semifinals all three years and made their first state championship appearance in 20 years last year.

“These guys were sophomores on a great team, juniors on a great team, and now seniors on a great team,” Harris said after the Northwest victory. “They’re already starting to reminisce some with the coaches about the times they’ve had.”

The 22 seniors moving on from the program include Chinn-Thompson, Mauldin, Watkins, Smargissi, Hayes, Jordan, Owen, Blake Levicki, Zion Lowder, Mike Swick, Henry Hill, Spencer Long, Ben Fisher, Bennett Chatlos, Donovan Probst, Patrick Geoghegan, Andrew Hill, Nathan Griswold, Donovan Boyer, Declan Miller and Thomas Ritchie.