Published: December 19, 2008 09:25 am      

FH’s Morris, Alco’s Hymes Crabby

Lineman selected to play in Saturday’s Maryland Crab Bowl at Towson

TOWSON — If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?

You’ll have to forgive Fort Hill’s Caleb Morris and Allegany’s Justin Hymes if they don’t quite see it that way, nonetheless, the two players, who have been rivals themselves on the football field for most their own lives, will finally team up with Tavon Austin and several of his Dunbar Poets teammates on Saturday as representatives on the Baltimore regional team in the 2008 Maryland Crab Bowl, Maryland’s only statewide high school football all-star game and the first one since 2004.

The Maryland Crab Bowl will be played Saturday at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University, kicking off at 1 p.m., and will feature the best senior all-stars from public and private schools in the state of Maryland, consisting of 90 players split on two different regional teams.

The D.C. regional team will consist of players from Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, St. Mary’s and Charles counties. The Baltimore regional team will consist of players from Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, Cecil, Harford, Carroll, Garrett and the Eastern Shore.

Morris, a candidate for area Defensive Player of the Year honors, helped lead the Sentinels to an 11-2 record, the Maryland Class 1A West Region title and a berth in the state championship game, which they lost to Dunbar, 20-19.

He is listed on the Baltimore roster as an offensive lineman and defensive end at 6-2, 240 pounds and has been contacted by colleges such as Shippensburg, Shepherd, Towson, Rhode Island and Villanova.

For the season, Morris had 48 solo tackles, 45 assisted tackles, one fumble recovery, four quarterback sacks and two blocked kicks. Morris was also one of the top offensive tackles in the area.

Said first-year Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel during summer practice in August, “Our offensive line is coming together. We’re not going to be as big as we have been in the past, but we have one player who has a chance to be an outstanding lineman and that’s Caleb Morris; and the rest of the lineman are really working hard to get to his level, and I really believe we can achieve that.”

Morris, who plays with fine speed, broke Josh Root’s total weight record in the Fort Hill weight room and set the marks in the squat and leg presses as well.

For Hymes, the 6-5, 275-pound offensive and defensive tackle, the season was disappointing in that a broken foot suffered in a summer scrimmage kept him on the sidelines until the ninth game of the season when the Campers faced Northern. He did, however, play well in the Homecoming Game for Allegany, as the Campers’ offensive line was dominant for much of the game, and helped Alco through the playoffs as they finished the season with a 9-3 mark and a berth in the West Region title game, where they lost to Fort Hill.

“Hymes is a spiritual leader for us,” Allegany coach Tom Preaskorn said. “He is a leader by his example on the field. He picks our team up with his attitude and his play. He played very well when he had the opportunity to play, and he got stronger each week.”

As a junior, Hymes helped lead the Campers to a 13-1 season and a berth in the state championship game, where the Campers lost to Dunbar as well. He is being recruited by Harvard, Maryland, Delaware, Towson, Akron, Navy, Brown, Yale, Army and Penn.

The Dunbar players listed on the Baltimore roster are running back Tavon Austin, the state of Maryland’s all-time leading scorer and rusher, who has narrowed his college choice down to West Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, West Virginia and South Carolina.

Other Poets in the game are wide receiver Sean Farr, who is being recruited by Akron, Eastern Michigan, Maryland and Virginia; quarterback Jonathan Perry, who is being recruited by Akron, Illinois, West Virginia, Liberty, Maryland and East Carolina; defensive back Courtney Bridget and defensive end Horace Miller, who have made verbal commitments to Nevada-Las Vegas; and running back-defensive back Davon Muse, who is receiving interest from James Madison and McDaniel.

Linebacker Tevin Brown, who is being recruited by N.C. State, West Virginia, Temple and Akron, is on the Baltimore roster but will not play due to an injury.

Tickets for the Maryland Crab Bowl will be available through Ticketmaster. For more information on the Crab Bowl, go to www.marylandcrabbowl.com.

Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.