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Three of the four area high school football teams have new quarterbacks to lead their offenses in 2025. They must also replace many talented players who have gone on to play college football.
Only Severn School has a starting quarterback returning, Severna Park resident Ty Bussard. Archbishop Spalding lost All-American quarterback Malik Washington, Broadneck lost three-year starter CJ Watkins, and Severna Park graduated multi-year signal-caller Vince Nguyen.
All three quarterbacks have gone on to play college football; Washington to Maryland, Watkins to West Virginia Wesleyan, and Nguyen to Wagner.
All four area football programs went back to work in August to try to replace those stars and prepare for their grueling schedules that await them this fall.
Head coach Rob Harris enters his 19th year as a Broadneck football coach, 11 years as head coach. Harris has the herculean task of replacing three starters of the skilled positions of quarterback (Watkins) running back (Ian Mouldin) and leading wide receiver (Joey Smargissi).
“We have a great group of players coming back,” Harris said. “They work their butt off, and it’s fun to teach them and they have earned the right to be a Bruin.”
Last year, the Bruins went 10-2, and their only losses were to Annapolis and Quince Orchard in the state’s 4A semifinals. This year, the Bruins are ranked No. 10 in the Baltimore area according to MaxPreps, a national website providing coverage of high school athletics.
“We have a tough schedule as our early games are against St. Mary’s of Annapolis and Milford Mill,” Harris said.
According to MaxPreps, both St. Mary’s and Milford Mill are ranked in the top 20 teams in Baltimore.
The Anne Arundel County competition will be fierce as Arundel and Old Mill are also ranked in MaxPrep’s top 20.
Harris looks to replace Watkins with junior Nate Kropkowski, who received valuable playing time last year. At running back, the Bruins will have senior Aaron Foote, and at wide receiver, junior Aidan Tupper and senior Carson Pierce will step into bigger roles.
Harris boasted about a stingy defense that may include 10 seniors as starters. “Our defensive line will be very good, and the overall leadership of that unit helps us compete against the high-powered offenses in the county,” Harris said.
Visiting teams that come into Broadneck’s home field are greeted by a banner that reads “Play Like a Bruin.” When asked what the banner means to him, Harris replied, “That reminds our players to play with grit, hustle and wear the opponents down in the first three quarters and then dominate them in the fourth quarter.”
The Falcons went 4-6 last year which was an improvement over their 2023 record of 2-8.
“We played 10 sophomores two years ago and we knew we would take some lumps, but now we have 27 seniors leading our team,” said head coach Nick Marks.
One of those seniors, wide receiver Cole Cavanaugh, will attract the attention of visiting teams as he was one of the leading wide receivers in the county last year. He has accepted a scholarship to Brown University to extend his football career.
Throwing to Cavanagh this year is senior Isaac Graves, who will be more of a dual-threat quarterback. Graves is one of the strongest players pound-for-pound on the team and is a member of the Falcons’ 1,000-pound club. His squat, bench press and deadlift totals reach over 1,000 pounds.
“We want to be mentally tough this year,” Marks said. “We want to finish games and compete through all four quarters.”
Senior leadership will also be an asset for the Falcons. Marks raved about Johnny Wark, defensive lineman Noah Croghan and Kam Chapman, as well as offensive lineman Asher Knickerbocker, Roy Bowman, Matt Murphy and Roy Bowerman IV.
The Falcons also boast of two exceptional kickers in punter Gavin Fetty and kicker Joe Caffiero.
“Our goals are to have a winning record and win our first playoff game,” Cavanaugh said.
The Falcons have not won a state playoff game since 2012.
Marks also wanted to thank the Severna Park community for their outstanding support during the past year as his wife, Leah, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is in recovery now and Marks is grateful for all the kindness that was provided to him and his family.
“Severna Park is just a great community,” Marks said.
Severn School had a successful season last year as the Admirals finished with a 7-4 mark and made the Maryland Interscholastic (MIAA) B Conference playoffs and head coach Demetrius Ballard was named the MIAA coach of the year.
Severn also retains numerous players from last year’s squad including Severna Park resident and senior quarterback Ty Bussard, along with the hard-running backfield of seniors Jules Floyd, Charlie Runco and junior Jack Schlein.
“What has really impressed me so far is our offensive line,” Ballard said. “Our strength and conditioning program has been so beneficial to our success.”
Those offensive linemen include seniors Charlie Helfferich and Nate Eskins. Eskins is up to 265 pounds and increased his bench press by 50 pounds over the summer. Another example of Severn’s achievement in the weight room is Bussard, who came to Severn at 145 pounds three years ago and has grown to 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds. Both Bussard and Eskins are both being recruited by college programs.
Ballard believes that the improved overall athleticism will play a major factor during the season.
“We have much better athletes than before,” Ballard said. “That will be one of the strengths of the team.”
Ballard raved about his freshmen class as he has recruited eight players from the Green Hornets feeder program. Ballard hopes to add Severna Park to Severn School’s schedule as an annual game.
“It would be great for the community,” Ballard said.
How do you replace the fifth-rated quarterback in the nation in Malik Washington, who many observers believed was a generational talent?
Spalding head coach Kyle Schmitt is concerned about replacing Washington’s exceptional talents, but he also has to replace numerous other players who have gone on to major college football programs.
“Replacing the senior class that went 43-4 over the last four years will be a tremendous challenge,” Schmitt said. “They were the foundation of three consecutive MIAA A Conference championships.”
In addition to Washington going to Maryland, his teammates Jayden Shipps and Delmar White also became Terps. Trent Gillis and Cooper Welsh went to Navy, and Alijah Jones is playing at Northwestern.
The Cavaliers have a formidable schedule this year by adding nationally-ranked Archbishop Hoban of Ohio as well as the prestigious Hun School of New Jersey before the rigorous MIAA schedule starts.
“Every opportunity to play top competition allows your players and staff to measure themselves against those high-caliber teams,” Schmitt said. “We’ve had a strong focus in summer workouts and energetic August practices to serve as great preparation for our challenging conference schedule.”
One of the Cavaliers’ strengths will be the offensive line, which has four returning starters including senior Kyle Lucas, who is a Navy recruit.
Replacing Washington at quarterback is Severna Park’s Blake Howell, who has served multiple seasons as Washington’s backup. He is a dual-threat quarterback compared to Washington’s drop-back style. The offense has multiple quick receivers including sophomore Kam Miller and junior Myles McAfee.
Defensively, the Cavaliers are athletic and fly to the ball. Senior defensive back and Severna Park resident Sean Johnson leads the ball-hawking secondary. Johnson has committed to Florida State.
Spalding is chasing their fourth consecutive MIAA A Conference title, and they will face numerous teams that MaxPreps has ranked in the top 10 from the Baltimore area. Those teams circling Spalding on their calendars include McDonogh, Loyola, Calvert Hall, Mount Saint Joseph and Concordia Preparatory.
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