Chiefs Claim their First State Title

Two times this fall, the Montgomery Village Chiefs’ varsity prep/14U team faced off against youth football powerhouse Westlake from Charles County.

Both ended in lopsided losses—first, a 32-0 shellacking in the regular season, then a 24-6 result in the Capital Beltway League finals. But because of their record and state ranking, the Chiefs found reprieve with an invite to the Maryland Youth Football League playoffs, where the state's creme-de-la-creme in youth football duke it out for bragging rights.

There, the Chiefs barreled through the opposition, blanking the Laurel Wildcats 28-0 and the Patuxent Rhinos 22-0 to set up a Dec. 17 rematch with Westlake—this time for the state title at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens.

The third time proved to be the charm in front of a raucous crowd as the Chiefs beat the Bulldogs 12-0 to capture their first-ever state championship.

MV pulled off the upset behind an offense orchestrated by a quarterback who took over late in the season and a defense that refused to yield a single point in three playoff games.

That Chiefs defense neutralized the Bulldogs’ trademark sweep, forcing them into manageable passing situations. MV intercepted four Bulldogs passes and recovered two fumbles.

“We came out and really stopped what they liked to do,” said Garrett King, MVSA football assistant commissioner. “If you’re able to score first and take their crowd out of the game, that’s a big asset. From there, our crowd was electric and the kids fed off it.”

Jeron Woodyard, who had filled in at QB since the end of the season, ran in a touchdown and threw another to Malcolm Littlejohn. Trevon Diggs—little brother of Good Counsel standout Stefon Diggs—had two interceptions. And Trevon Stott, who missed most of the season with separated shoulder, also had an interception.

It’s only the third time a youth team from Montgomery County has won an MYFL title (Germantown and Maplewood are the others). And it was only the second time that an MV team had beaten Westlake with hardware on the line (the Capital Beltway championship two years ago in ankle-biters age division).

“They’re our nemesis right now, our archrival,” King said. “This win was one of the biggest in MV history. We’re hoping that with our other teams seeing us getting over the hump, they’ll be able to follow our blueprint.”

The win capped off a banner year for MVSA football that saw four age divisions reach the Capital Beltway finals. Now, they’re sending an unprecedented number of players to the year-ending showcase on Friday: the Chesapeake Bowl in Edgewater.

Trevon Stott, Malcolm Littlejohn, Jeron Woodyard, Issan Pulley, Daquan Hill and Clarence McNearney will be representing the Chiefs.

This year’s crop is being heavily recruited by top-tier private schools like Good counsel, Gonzaga, Avalon and Bullis, said King, who expects a half dozen will be playing private school ball

“That’s really the goal, to get these kids some looks from the private schools, and if not, they’ll be able to hit the ground running and be able to contribute at their public schools,” he said.