County Champs & Playoff Bound: South River Football’s Historic Season

Seahawk Nation — this one’s packed! We’re back at The Green Turtle celebrating an unforgettable week in South River sports. Coach Lucas and Coach DeSantos join Tom and Grey alongside members of our undefeated, county champion football team — Evan Paximadas, Sean Cox, Ben Keith, and Trent Shipley — to talk about the season, the culture, and what’s next as the Seahawks head into the state playoffs.

Plus, we spotlight our Field Hockey squad as they charge into the state semifinals Wednesday vs. Linganore after a huge 5–1 win over Chesapeake.

It’s all energy, heart, and Seahawk pride on this edition of Hawk Talk — where South River Sports make history.

🏑 Field Hockey: Wednesday at Glen Burnie HS – tickets at mpssaa.org
🎟️ Football: Thursday night, home vs. James M. Bennett – tickets on GoFan
💙 Let’s pack the stands, Seahawk Nation!

Chapters

• 0:00 Kickoff, Sponsors, Big Weekend Recap
• 0:25 County Title And Playoff Seed Announced
• 1:09 Field Hockey Semifinal Shoutouts
• 1:57 Meet The Coaches And Their Paths
• 4:22 Coaching Chemistry And Nickname Culture
• 7:00 Why The Defense Dominates
• 9:05 The Moment They Knew It Was Special
• 10:33 Player Voices: Why We Came Back
• 13:20 What The Coaches See In Their Leaders
• 16:32 Playoff Logistics And Bennett Preview
• 19:10 Rallying The Community: Pack The House
• 20:16 New Journey: Girls Flag Football
• 23:05 Puppy Parade, Service, And Culture
• 25:15 Stakes, Promises, And State Title Push
• 27:06 Blue Out, Final Hype, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:00

You ready, Greg?

SPEAKER_06: 0:00

Yeah, I'm ready.

SPEAKER_04: 0:01

Alrighty, welcome back to Yacht Nation. I'm Tom Frank. I'm Grayson. And we're talking all things South River High School sports. Talk Talk is brought to you in conjunction with the Athletic Department at South River High School. Merit Creative, your end-to-end creative agency dedicated to amplifying brands' authenticity through branding, marketing, and public relations. Chad's Barbecue and Maryland Remodeling Expert. Alright, we're back at the Green Turtle tonight to talk about an exciting, very exciting past weekend. But a football team wins the county championship.

SPEAKER_02: 0:34

Our first since 1983. No, is it 83? No, we won it in 2019. 2019. 2019.

SPEAKER_04: 0:45

That was a good shot. 2019. So we had a commanding 57-6 victory over Northeast. We finished the season at a perfect 9-0. And are heading to the state playoffs? We'll play at home Thursday night versus James M. Bennett High School out of Salisbury, Maryland. Get your tickets now and go fan. We gotta pack the house. We're gonna get all into that game shortly with today's very special guest. But first, let's give another one of our teams some love for their outstanding play. Our field hockey team beats Chesapeake on Halloween night, 5-1 to advance to the state semifinals. Shout out to Blake O'Connell, who scored two goals. We'll face Linganor at Glen Burney High School on Wednesday. Tickets are on sale now at MPSSAA.org. What do you think of that, Greg?

SPEAKER_08: 1:30

Um, you know, I think we gotta support our team, you know. Ligonor, they're 13-2 coming into the year. 13-2? So they're a tough team, yeah. Um, I think we just we gotta play, we gotta play uh the way we play, you know. We we can't fall for Ligonor's antics.

SPEAKER_04: 1:46

We're gonna beat Ligonor. I'm calling it right now. You guys have any opinion on that? We're gonna win. That's good enough. Alright, let's buckle in to talk some football. We got some guests this week from our undefeated boys football team. Fellas, you gotta introduce yourself. Give me your name, your role on the staff, and how long you've been with South River.

SPEAKER_03: 2:08

Alright, I'm uh Coach D. I have been on the staff since 2019, was my first year. Um, and I coach the inside linebackers this year. And my name is Lucas Jamerson.

SPEAKER_02: 2:21

I have been on the staff for 18 years. Um, and I coach the offensive line and call the run game. When we run the ball.

SPEAKER_04: 2:31

When you run the ball. When we run the ball. Alright, so we gotta get to know you guys a little bit before we dive in on this season. Yes, sir. What's what's the background that makes you guys such esteemed coaches here at South River?

SPEAKER_03: 2:45

I you know, it's been years. Um I've been coaching for a long time and find a home in South South River in 2019. I've been at a lot of schools in this county, but um, it's a very special place and um made some great relationships. This year is really special, and I'm just blessed to be part of it. So did you go to high school here? Where'd you go to high school? You don't want to know. I went to Saverna Park High School. Oh, did you really? Long time ago. Long time ago. Yep. I coached some.

SPEAKER_04: 3:11

Oh wow, I now look at you a little differently.

SPEAKER_03: 3:13

Yeah, a little bit. I would too. A lot of people do. Back then we weren't uh like we are, you know, whatever. Um, but yeah, I've been at Mead, I've been at Chesapeake, um, Saverna Park, and and you know, here at South River. Had a really good time here too.

SPEAKER_04: 3:29

Now you heard I heard you say earlier, because I need to hear a story. You're you're already played volleyball in college.

SPEAKER_03: 3:34

I did. I have a mad vertical. I wish Jaden McDuffie was here because I would definitely show him up at any point. I I could do a uh two-handed dunk when I was a senior, but I I couldn't do the the one-handed. I played basketball in high school and I I took off on one foot on a fast break. And being real brave, I went up and smacked the front of the rim and my body went parallel. I smacked my head on the ground and went to the hospital. After that, I think it's like getting hit by a pitch. I was like, I'm not dunking anymore. So no more dunking. Not broad jump. I could broad jump pretty high, but you know, I was the sixth man off the bench and when they needed some fouls, so worked kind of well.

SPEAKER_02: 4:12

And then coach? Um, I actually went to South River High School. I graduated in 2000. Um played for Coach Summy. Yeah. Played for Coach Henney there. But um, like like John said, it's a special place. It's special to me because I went there. Um I've gotten the opportunity now recently. I coached all four of my sons now. Um Caleb, Jaden, Braden, and I'm coaching Carson now, so I've got to coach all four of my kids, which is really a big deal to me. But now I'm starting to coach some of my guys I played with in high school. Like AJ Buzer, me and his dad, Joe Buzer, played together, and um I get to coach him. So it's pretty cool. It's it's starting to go around the circle now where I'm starting to. Now what happens?

SPEAKER_04: 4:48

This is your last son coming through.

SPEAKER_02: 4:50

That's a good question. My wife puts pressure on me to get out, but I think she knows I love it, so I think she wants to, she'll let me leave, she'll let me hang around for a little while, I think. All right. Maybe. Maybe.

SPEAKER_04: 5:00

Now now did you I did you play in you played at high school and in college?

SPEAKER_02: 5:05

I played high school and college. I went to Billy State for a year. Um a buddy of mine who I grew up with, his um cousin is a defense coordinator now for the Minnesota Vikings.

SPEAKER_01: 5:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 5:16

And was a coordinator at Billy State at that time. And I went there and um kind of sniffed around a little bit, but it really was I I it at the end of the day, it just really wasn't my thing. I kind of wasn't into it anymore. But um I have some regrets about it a little bit sometimes still.

SPEAKER_04: 5:30

All right. Well, hey, you're now coaching. Yeah, an undefeated team. Is this the first undefeated team you guys have ever coached?

SPEAKER_02: 5:37

Um no, 2019 we had. 2019 was undefeated.

SPEAKER_04: 5:41

How far did the 2019 team go? We lost the second round to a rundle. Yeah. Second round to a rundle. We had some. Marking that down. Yeah. Second round, a run.

SPEAKER_03: 5:52

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 5:53

Second round, a rundle.

SPEAKER_03: 5:54

Oh, a rundle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 5:56

All right. So tell me a little bit about you guys. What's your coaching style? Are you guys the yellers?

SPEAKER_03: 6:01

Are you guys the this is like uh me and him can't be next to each other that long on the sideline because it just becomes going back. I have a bunch of nicknames for people, and yeah, and uh I've heard that about you. Yeah, it's there's a long list of them. Um but the two of us have been, we hit it off right from start coaching, and I get along with him better than anybody. And um, but me and him next to each other is kind of scary. We see eye to eye on a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02: 6:31

We do, we see a lot, especially nicknames. We see that we see that. Nicknames is the big thing.

SPEAKER_04: 6:35

Shout out to a lot of those guys. What do you got? Give me some of your best nicknames over the years.

SPEAKER_03: 6:40

Oh, baby. What's your favorite nickname?

SPEAKER_04: 6:42

You gotta be careful with that.

SPEAKER_03: 6:43

Um you know, we'll we'll coach, I don't know uh his real name. Um I call him Bumbles. If you've ever seen you don't even know his real name. Coach Clark, Coach Clark, Coach Clark. Yeah, I call him Bumbles all the time, you know. We call uh we call Erx the Larry from uh Bull Durham, the guy in the dugout, because he's always chewing gum with his hat on, all funny. Um there's a lot, there's a lot of kid nicknames too. You know what though? Like a lot of these guys who I'm very tight with, these are the guys we pick because I love these kids. They're like they're they're some of the best guys I've coached in 2015.

SPEAKER_04: 7:17

And we're gonna get to meet each and one of these.

SPEAKER_03: 7:19

28 years of coaching, and these guys are at the top of the list. I love these guys. And um, I can't, I'm so proud of all of them. And just being part of it, that's where it's it's awesome. But they don't have nicknames. But if you I don't know his last name or how to spell it. Pax a mate. I'm like, what is that? So I don't even go there. So Pax and Shipples and Sean, and I didn't know his first name until like a couple weeks ago. I didn't know if it was his first or last name either. Ben Keith. Who's that? Two first names. But anyways, there's a lot of guys on the team that have nicknames. They they kind of buy into them. Um if you go through the years, I've been there seven years now. You was there seven years, and there's a list of of uh Christian Anderson as Fido, Bark at people.

SPEAKER_02: 8:01

Yeah, there's countless kids we've had.

SPEAKER_03: 8:03

Do you remember any Lucas? What nicknames?

SPEAKER_02: 8:05

Yeah. Some of them are scary. I don't think I can stand one of this show. I don't think you can either. No, I don't think I can.

SPEAKER_04: 8:10

Not real bad, but we're not governed by anyone.

SPEAKER_02: 8:15

He's always called he's always called Austin Green and toothpaste. I never I never got that one, but uh but we went with it.

SPEAKER_03: 8:20

It goes it goes uh boy George. There was a couple kid at an earring. There was there was, you know, we you know when I see you, we usually within the first five minutes a nickname comes popping out and uh it sticks. You know, we had Lego Batman, uh Lego Batman's nickname. I like Lego Batman. Chin was just Chin. Lego Batman, who is that? That I don't know. Sam Peterson. Sam Peterson. The names are you know, I don't remember, but like if I see them, the nickname comes back to. And it's weird because every school I've been at, they all have nicknames. They all have nicknames.

SPEAKER_04: 8:56

Alright, so be honest. Coaches or players, who who's more intense on that sideline any given day?

SPEAKER_02: 9:04

I got well Pax and Vada scares me. Pax of Veda scares me from the time he walks into the locker room for one game days at a time and leaves here.

SPEAKER_03: 9:13

I'm like, what? Just stay away from me and go hang out with Chipples. And Dan Meyer. Dan Meyer. Yeah, Dan Meyer, I stay with him, Dan Meyer too. He's Bobby Boucher.

SPEAKER_02: 9:22

Dan Meyer gets out.

SPEAKER_03: 9:24

I know him. I coached him. Dan Meyer's Dan Market's around. He's eating roadkill on the side of the road before the game, so I mean it scares me a little bit. He doesn't say anything, but yes, sir, with a big smile. He'd run through a wall, though. Yes, he would. I mean, he's a big dude. Yeah, he is. That's a grown man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 9:42

All right, so let's look back at the regular season. First of all, does anybody know the answer to my? I predicted at the beginning of the year that we would score the most points ever in the history of a South River team. Do we know if that's accurate? Or and do those points count in the playoffs or not?

SPEAKER_02: 9:59

The defensive points we learned this week. The defensive points. Defensive points count. The defensive points count of the whole time, right? Wait a minute. Offensive points? Offensive points don't make don't really make any difference.

SPEAKER_03: 10:09

How many points we've given up and this year make any sense? This year we blew them away. We had like the lowest amount scoring. So that's what actually bumped us into the number one seed, I believe.

SPEAKER_04: 10:18

Yeah. So do we know about the offense though? Because this is what I uh I predicted.

SPEAKER_02: 10:22

The only over the 18 years I've seen that 2019 offense will probably be the only one close to this. But do you think we beat them? I believe we scored 40 points more than they did. Yeah. So my prediction is right. I believe you are right now.

SPEAKER_04: 10:34

I just want to put that out there.

SPEAKER_03: 10:35

I think that's accurate. Yeah. I like it.

SPEAKER_04: 10:37

I like it. Alright, so what why let's talk about the defense. We don't talk about the defense enough. Yeah. Why what what's why has this defense, why is this defense so good this year?

SPEAKER_03: 10:49

Well, we've run the defense for a while now. Um these guys kind of have adopted. I mean, a lot of these dudes were up with us as sophomores, and and they got to learn the defense. The defense that Erks and I, when I came here, started running was very similar, and um, it's kind of out of the box. And if you get the right guys, you don't necessarily have to be the biggest guy out there, even though we got Uncle. Fester and Zach. Yeah, Fester and Zach. And Johnny Bravo. Johnny Bravo and Uncle Fester in the middle there is a big and big red, the kid with red hair. Uh Boyle. Brian.

SPEAKER_02: 11:23

Boyer or Boyle? Boy. I got him. I got him all mixed up. So killer beats.

SPEAKER_03: 11:27

I mean, like, we we've got some we've got some dudes. Pax in the middle. He's I I think he's leading the state in tackles, which is is he really? Yeah, he's he's a stud. He's he's tearing it up this year. Um Schiples, I think, is real close behind him, too. Sean's been tearing up Ben, these guys have all come together, man. And you know what the cool thing is? Them coming back from when they were little and getting to play their senior year and having this memory. The biggest thing, I'm not gonna mention Savurna Park, but we um, you know, that was some of the best times of my life. I played college ball, but I can say high school was the best time. And I want to give to them what I had, and they're getting that. And hopefully this is something that you know they can they can have the rest of their life. Defense is um, they bought in. You really have to buy into the philosophy, you've got to buy into the scheme, and you've got to work hard. I I truly believe that our defense works harder than anybody. Um, any school I've been at, this defense works hard. We we demand it every single day, and they come out and they get better. I mean, I've seen these guys grow, and it it comes from practice. Game is great experience, but practice just nonstop. The motors don't stop. That dude right there, shipples, his motor does not stop. These guys don't, but I've never seen something like that. It's just meh running around like a Tasmanian devil. That dude is, I don't I always say if we had 22 of that, that dude, I'd dig that on a team attempted everybody. But I'm just saying, these guys all play college ball, they're studs. Yeah. And I love being part of it. They they really listen up.

SPEAKER_04: 12:57

So what what at what moment did you know this team was gonna be special? I mean, an undefeated team, regardless of what happens next, which I think we have a long way to go, but regardless, this has been a special team.

SPEAKER_03: 13:09

When Whitey got an interception. Who's Whitey?

SPEAKER_01: 13:13

Phipps. Drew Phipps. Drew Phipps.

SPEAKER_03: 13:15

He had an interception in the scrimmage. That's when I knew we were gonna be aware. In the scrimmage. Oh, yeah. Shout out Drew. Shout out to Drew Phipps. Phipps? Yeah. Phipps. Phipps. Whitey from uh Me, Myself, and Irene, the guy who loses the thump.

SPEAKER_04: 13:29

So that's what you knew all the way back. Oh, I knew it.

SPEAKER_03: 13:31

We had something special going on. Well, everybody rallies around each other, too. This is a good group of kids. I mean, they or guys, I shouldn't say kids. They they they rally around each other, and it's not just the starters, it's the guys who are practicing, and and everybody's bought in. It's really like a family experience. So I think that's with the players. I mean, the players are really tight.

SPEAKER_04: 13:51

So let's let's meet these guys. Great. Pass your mic around. Let's pass it around. Give me your name, give me your number, and then here's what I want you to tell me. What's that one moment that you're like, this is why I came back to play this week?

SPEAKER_00: 14:09

Um, Trent Shipley, I'm number seven. And I the one moment that I would say was probably like my eighth grade year, you know, we had like Ben Rains on the team, Zach Philpot, Sean, uh Jaden. We had just a whole bunch of people on the team, and then everyone kind of went their own ways in high school, the start of high school, and then somehow everyone ended up back at South River. That's pretty cool that everybody came back. It is.

SPEAKER_04: 14:35

That's that you don't see that very often.

SPEAKER_00: 14:38

So I didn't play my junior year of football.

SPEAKER_01: 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:41

So, and then everyone came back, and I was just like, I'm gonna regret it if I don't play my senior year of football. I'm gonna regret it later in my life, so might as well just play it.

SPEAKER_06: 14:50

I like it. Sean Cox, number 21. And um, probably like all summer, like the weight room and the workouts, everyone was really balled in. Like everyone was there, like the years prior, it'd be like 50-50. Like, everyone would be there someday, some people would be skipping. And then also ended the last year with a winning record. We were the underdogs too. We had a couple, like, we had a lot of good stuff going on. We built off that over the summer, and I could just tell that it was gonna be a great year the way that we were hungry and we wanted to come out and dominate.

SPEAKER_07: 15:21

Ben Keith, number 34. You know, I think uh we we got we got a lot of seniors this year, so I think our our community as like a senior group, you know, we got we don't have many juniors or sophomores that play a whole lot, so I think we're really strong as a group, and you know, we're all we're all really tight, and I think that that kind of is what made me come back. We're all like going going at it together and have worked together since you know we were freshmans and we didn't win a or we won one football game.

SPEAKER_04: 15:49

I I remember that one win. Yeah. I mean it was the first game of the year, too. I thought, oh, this team's going under the game.

SPEAKER_07: 15:54

We thought we were gonna do real good, and it we didn't.

SPEAKER_05: 15:58

Uh what's up? I'm I'm Evan Pax and Mattis, I'm number 42. Uh and if I had to say what what brought me to come back was uh it'd be like kind kind of like what Sean said, we we got a taste of what winning's like our our junior year. Like before that we didn't like we would win some games, but it didn't really feel that good. It didn't really feel like an accomplishment. But then junior year, uh we we were felt really hungry, and then and then the offseason hit and everybody was working and it it truly like felt different. So it was it was kind of surreal, I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_04: 16:33

Yeah. What do you coaches? What what's something that uh anybody who's listening doesn't know about this team?

SPEAKER_03: 16:39

Well, I'm gonna tell you right now, Lucas, not to cut you off, but um you know each one of these guys, there's a reason I picked them to be here. I love the guys that aren't here, but but I mean Shippy coming back this year, and um didn't really get a chance to know him, I think your sophomore year, and and uh he plays defense backs. I don't really hang out with the defensive backs, but this year he's a defensive only guy, and he comes with me a lot, and and uh just the relationship built. But I I I love the fact that he does Sean I saw as a sophomore come up, and there were questions. I was like, you know, he's a skinnier dude, didn't you know, coming up to hit, and I was like, you know, we'll see where it goes, but my God, I mean his junior year, he just started cracking people, and um I've seen him grow so much from his sophomore year to his senior year, and didn't really get too much of a chance. He was in the secondary last year, and this year stepped away from outside backers, but I'm still in his ear about some things because I love coaching the outside backers as well. Um, same thing with Ben. Ben last year um starting and having to play in that role as the will backer, and he grew a lot. He had some bumps there and things like that, but never stopped working. Different player this year. All these guys are and and the dude next to me is is like a son. He's he's uh I'm so proud of him as a sophomore coming in. I saw him at at the uh is it the Under Armour? Yeah, yeah, Under Armour, Under Armour um seven on seven, and I'm like, who is that guy? And I was like, you know, he looked like Joey Ramone. I called him Joey Ramone. And uh and I was like, I don't know if he's gonna cut it, but he was with me his sophomore year, he played his sophomore year. Yeah. Um, and then his junior year last year, you know, I get I get to spend a lot of time with inside backers, and from where he was his sophomore year to his senior year leading the state in tackles, how he comes downhill, how he has progressed as an inside linebacker, as a as a captain, as um the biggest thing with with Pax is he's grown up so much. He has gone from, you know, temper, trying to control that temper on the field and finding that balance. And this year, you know, I have a zero tolerance with him, and he knows it that if he gets a personal foul, you're not going back in. Yeah, you're gonna be behind me, and you can throw a fit, you can do whatever you want, you're not going back in. He knows that. And this year, he started off a little bit with the mouth, and I saw and I kicked him out, but um, he's he's becoming a young man and he's stepping up and want to see him do that at the next level. But I've spent three years with him, which is rare for a high school to get three years of him, and and uh one of the best kids I've ever coached in my life. And I and I've coached this is 28 years, I've and it's been linebackers, and he is at the top of my list. So I love this kid. I I don't want any of these guys to leave. I don't want him to leave at all. I could coach him for the rest of his life, but but uh it's it's been a fun year, and and um these guys are great, you know it, you talk to all of them. And just to be part of it and watch them, they've gotten they've grown up so much, and they've done it together, which is really cool. It is cool, you know, and these relationships we have. I tell Pax I showed him a text I got from Christian Anderson, shout out to Fighter. Shout out Fido. He barks at people. Um he's a firefighter starting a family now, but he takes the time out, he's like, I love you, man, I miss you, I want to come have dinner with you. And that was 2019, and I'm like, Pax, I got kids like this, guys like this that they get families and stuff, and they come back, and you know, if I can give them anything I had growing up, that's what I want to do, and it's all about them. And um, these guys are real special.

SPEAKER_02: 20:16

So it's been fun. I mean, I agree, they're they're good. The big thing about them is they're good kids. They're good people. If you walk around our building, I mean I'm I teach in the building, if you hear things about these kids, it's nothing but positive. They're gonna miss the senior class when they leave the building because they're generally overall good kids. I mean, Shippy, I love them to death. Sean, I mean, I I love the death. They know how I feel about him. Ben Keith has grown on me over the years. And uh, Paxtonatus gives me a hard time on the offensive line all the time, but I mean, you can't replace a guy like that. Yeah. The passion he has and the effort, yeah, you can't replace those guys.

SPEAKER_03: 20:49

Shout out to Les. Shout out to Les Cox and Big Shippy.

SPEAKER_01: 20:53

There you go.

SPEAKER_04: 20:54

They did a good job, Parenting. Let's shift gears. We gotta talk about what we got in front of us. Thursday night. Why are we playing Thursday night?

SPEAKER_03: 21:01

Referee. Referee shortness. Oh, that's why? Yeah, next, I I imagine going forward, they'll be Friday night. Since we're the number one seed, which is Okay, so let's talk about that.

SPEAKER_04: 21:10

We are the number one seed. We found out the number one seven. Now, why did some I I looked at the bracket. Isn't there a team that got a buy?

SPEAKER_02: 21:19

Some some teams did get a buy that if other teams pulled out and just didn't go to the playoffs.

SPEAKER_04: 21:23

So that's why. That's why I thought maybe we weren't the number one seed because other seeds got a some teams pulled out.

SPEAKER_02: 21:28

Like I know in the 4A. They didn't pull out elected not to play. Not gonna play. Yeah, not gonna play. Some team in the county did it, I think North County did it a couple years ago. They pulled out and said they weren't gonna play. North County.

SPEAKER_03: 21:41

Don't feel like playing, I guess. Yeah. I have never had that in my system. So we're the number one seed.

SPEAKER_04: 21:46

And we play so Bennett. JM Bennett. How many teams are in this thing? Uh the the bread. Is that 32 team bracket or no?

SPEAKER_03: 21:53

No, it's it's all the it might be 32? I think it's 32. I think it is. I think you're right. Some of the guys that don't play. Yeah, it's it's since we've got the 3A, 4A, and the 3A and all the different so it's it's it's um the path is gonna be interesting how we get there. Right when they reseed and do this.

SPEAKER_04: 22:12

Oh, and that was my next question. So they actually reseed? After they do reseed at the second game.

SPEAKER_03: 22:16

So we'll we'll we'll we're either gonna play um if we get past Bennett, which we will, um, then we'll we'll see St. Charles and or Chesapeake High School, right? Aniral County. And we've already killed Chesapeake, right?

SPEAKER_08: 22:30

Yeah, yeah, we've already taken Chesapeake.

SPEAKER_04: 22:32

So so Bennett comes in, okay. I thought I was it was a I misread this. They're at one and eight.

SPEAKER_02: 22:37

They're one and eight because everybody makes the playoffs. Yeah. Everybody makes the playoffs.

SPEAKER_04: 22:41

Since when does everybody make the playoffs? During COVID. They've changed their changes right after COVID. All right, so one and eight, they're coming in here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 22:48

They're traveling from Salisbury on Thursday night, which they just found out today that they have us and we're playing on Thursday. That's right. Right.

SPEAKER_04: 22:58

So what do I dare ask? What's the key to victory here? Show up.

SPEAKER_03: 23:03

Well, here's the big thing that we've got to try.

SPEAKER_04: 23:06

Don't say that. No, we gotta take this, you gotta take it seriously.

SPEAKER_03: 23:09

We have to drive home that we can't play down to them. They're, you know, we're a better team, we're better skilled, we're you know, but we can't play at their level. We gotta come out like this is a new season. Yeah, this is these guys are seniors, they don't take anything for granted. It goes by so fast. So our goal as coaches is to keep these guys up.

SPEAKER_04: 23:29

Yeah, and for them nothing should be taken for granted. No, nothing. No, no.

SPEAKER_03: 23:34

You never know. That's why you play the game, and I'm sure they feel that way too. But I think these guys just have to come out and play their game.

SPEAKER_04: 23:40

And they have nothing to lose coming in here. No, they have nothing to lose anything. Expected to lose.

SPEAKER_02: 23:43

No expecting to lose. That's a dangerous thing. That is a dangerous thing. We we were in that spot in 2018. We we were the last team in. We upset Broadneck and they were the number one seed overall. So it can't happen. And it can happen it can happen.

SPEAKER_04: 23:54

You gotta strike early. Early and often. That's that's it.

SPEAKER_03: 23:58

Xander.

SPEAKER_04: 23:59

Xander.

SPEAKER_03: 23:59

That's my that's my prediction.

SPEAKER_04: 24:01

He's gonna get a big one right from the get-go. He's Xander.

SPEAKER_03: 24:04

Yeah. He's he's sneaky small. So that's his nickname, sneaky small. Sneaky small.

SPEAKER_02: 24:10

Alright, and then afterwards we see what happens. We see what happens. It could be St. Charles, it could be Chesapeake.

SPEAKER_06: 24:15

They also play on this.

SPEAKER_04: 24:16

I like it. How many home games, if we were to win, I'll say win, if how many home games, I mean, if you're the number one seed, you're in throughout the whole time. Yeah, we're throughout the whole time. Until we live in the middle.

SPEAKER_02: 24:26

Until something until Naval Academy we're home. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_04: 24:28

And what's that, the final four or the final game? That's the final game.

SPEAKER_03: 24:31

That's the final game championship. So we're home. I think there's four games at home, and then you travel. You travel to Naval Academy. Which is right here. Right here. Right in the backyard.

SPEAKER_04: 24:42

I give the mic back to these guys.

SPEAKER_03: 24:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 24:45

Shout out to Little Shipples. So what what are we thinking, guys? What are you telling all of this area that they have to come out for each and every one of these games? Why? Why do we have to come?

SPEAKER_06: 25:01

You really never know when a team like this could come around. Like it really, we're all bought in, and it's gonna, it's it's special. Like there might not be another team like this in a couple years, so you gotta buy in and support them, support us, and you never know what could happen.

SPEAKER_05: 25:15

We we might be the best team in South Ever history. And I feel like that's just something you would want to experience. So why why not come out?

SPEAKER_06: 25:24

I like the confidence. Come watch history.

SPEAKER_04: 25:26

Oh yeah. Alright. What else you guys got for me?

SPEAKER_03: 25:31

Lucas and I have also started a new journey.

SPEAKER_04: 25:36

I can't wait to hear this.

SPEAKER_03: 25:37

And we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_05: 25:38

Welcome to Merrick Studios, where stories take the mic and culture comes alive.

SPEAKER_04: 25:43

We're not just a net, we're a family bringing you smart, soulful, unfiltered conversations.

SPEAKER_00: 25:48

And this season, we're bringing the heat in our biggest lineup yet. Whatever you're into, music, sports, business, we got you covered.

SPEAKER_04: 25:56

Merritt Studios, where the conversation starts and keeps going. Check out our full lineup, including Unglossy with Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, and myself, Tom Crank. Now streaming at wearemeritstudios.com.

SPEAKER_03: 26:09

And now, back to the show. Lucas and I have also started a new journey.

SPEAKER_04: 26:15

I can't wait to hear this.

SPEAKER_03: 26:17

I'm the head uh middle school girls' flag football coach. And Lucas is the associate head coach for the girls' flag football.

SPEAKER_04: 26:28

Now, can I point something out to you guys?

SPEAKER_03: 26:30

Sure can.

SPEAKER_04: 26:31

You can back me up on this. You know exactly what I'm gonna say. I am the all-time winningist Anna Rundle flag football coach.

SPEAKER_02: 26:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 26:41

Sean Sean was a part of it too.

SPEAKER_03: 26:42

Let's not forget Sean.

SPEAKER_02: 26:43

Sean, back me up here. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 26:46

All right. Back me up here, right?

SPEAKER_03: 26:47

Can you be a guest speaker at my team?

SPEAKER_04: 26:49

Maybe I'll be a guest speaker. We can bring you in. I I had the luxury of having the same team for about eight years. From kindergarten all the way up through eighth grade.

SPEAKER_08: 26:57

Second grade to eighth grade, twelve seasons.

SPEAKER_04: 26:59

Twelve seasons, because we played twice a year. Wow. I think we went to how many?

SPEAKER_08: 27:05

Uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_04: 27:06

We went to a lot of the of the 12 seasons, I think we went to at least eight championships. I was a little bit like the Buffalo Bills. It's kind of like Marvel Evie.

SPEAKER_08: 27:18

You left or one of the championships.

SPEAKER_04: 27:20

One of the championships I had to I had to leave, but I watched it. I streamed it. Right. I streamed it because I had it. My parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Well, that takes priority. That's priority.

SPEAKER_08: 27:30

I missed that.

SPEAKER_04: 27:31

Yeah, and and we did win, we did beat a team one year. Okay. 80 to uh what was the final score? 12. 80 to 12. Wow. I ran it up. That is awesome.

SPEAKER_08: 27:41

Tell the story why you ran it up, though.

SPEAKER_04: 27:43

Well, I ran it up. I hope this guy's not listening up. I I tried to I tried to change the game the year that I had my parents' 50th anniversary. Right. And the guy refused to change it on me. So I said, alright. So then years later, I end up playing this guy in the championship, and he comes to me. And once it changed, I was going to be nice and changed. Because I felt like we could beat him no matter what. Right. Then I found out the guy started recruiting some players to make up his team.

SPEAKER_03: 28:10

There it is.

SPEAKER_04: 28:11

There it is. So then we kept the game, we played them, and we just ran it out. We ran it out.

SPEAKER_03: 28:16

Do you have pictures of Sean playing? I do. I would love to get some of those. How old were you, Sean? Eighth grade. Oh god.

SPEAKER_04: 28:25

You played your eighth grade too on our team? We played little arts.

SPEAKER_08: 28:28

Yeah, we ate we did. Okay. Because we had like playoff issues because everyone had lacrosse.

SPEAKER_04: 28:34

Ah, that's right.

SPEAKER_03: 28:36

But if you get a chance to come out and then uh the middle school.

SPEAKER_04: 28:39

Well then I want an update.

SPEAKER_03: 28:41

Oh, well, we might have to do another girls' flag football.

SPEAKER_04: 28:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 28:45

So it's eighth grade? It's eighth, seventh, and six. All of them. How many? Sixty-eight girls trying to grade? Sixty eight girls trying to find it. Let me tell you something, Disney. These girls are legit. They can fly. I'm like. Yeah, this one girl can throw the ball about 60 yards, and I was like, are you like nine? I'm like, I don't get this.

SPEAKER_04: 29:02

And are we playing other schools? We are.

SPEAKER_03: 29:06

We start um sometime. I don't know. We got trying to pay attention to the varsity football guys.

SPEAKER_04: 29:11

Let's get that big first.

SPEAKER_03: 29:12

But uh we play Crofton. So we we play in our little cluster, yeah, and there's six games. It goes to December 15th. Oh, it starts next week? Next week. Next week. It's it's gonna be like 12 degrees in uh December, and we're gonna be out there. We're outside. Yeah, and uh it'll go good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 29:27

All right, so we'll be covering the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade girls' flag football teams. That's right. CMS Cobra.

SPEAKER_03: 29:33

And I don't know if you do all sports, but Lucas was there, and these guys all were in the Annapolis Capitol uh last week.

SPEAKER_04: 29:40

Yeah, last week.

SPEAKER_03: 29:42

The puppy parade 2002.

SPEAKER_04: 29:44

I saw about the puppy parade.

SPEAKER_03: 29:45

Did you see it? That's me. Did you know that's me?

SPEAKER_04: 29:47

No, I did not. Tell us a little bit about the puppy parade.

SPEAKER_03: 29:49

The puppy parade's amazing. Um, this is my third year doing it. I I'm the PE teacher at Edgewater Elementary School. So um we kind of challenged the kids to see how much uh donations we have. We can get for the shelters with dogs, cats, and and then uh over the years I've I've got like 30 dogs that come through the car rider line in the morning. I give them treats, and I said, I gotta do something with this. So around Halloween, I was like, hey, let's dress these dogs up and put them through the car rider line. And the news was there, it was it was gigantic. Um, it's grown every year, and we we take it to the shelters and just fill up their whole pantries with food. So it's the kids get to know the you know the importance of it, and it's uh it's really gut. I mean, what there were two hundred and thirty-five cars and two hundred and seventy-eight dogs. It was crazy. A man of many talents. And the football team does it. I involved South River football. They they all have to bring something in, or they get Coach Lame Dog for a week. They don't want that. They don't want that. You know what a lame dog is? I know what a lame is now, yeah. Well, I hear him. I heard you heard the great yeah. I brought that to South River, and uh it's not a it's it's a hundred percent fitness oriented and it is absolutely fitness oriented. And it's it's a hundred per it it works all the major components, but um anyways, that's that's my spiel.

SPEAKER_04: 31:09

All right, so we're gonna end with this.

SPEAKER_03: 31:10

Can I say one more? Oh, you can say as much as you want. I just want to thank you because Tom, I know I've uh I said I wanted to come on Hawk Talk like 30 times and you did, and it goes back and forth, and I know Eric's brought some other people on, and you know the the schedules get mixed up. But I just uh I thank you for having Lucas and I on and these guys and and I love what you're doing. I listened to the Hawk talk, and I think you're amazing in grace and you two for what you guys are doing. So I just want to say thank you.

SPEAKER_04: 31:37

Well, thank you, and you are definitely coming back on because if this guy's right, we got a couple more weeks left here.

SPEAKER_03: 31:43

Oh, we 100% do.

SPEAKER_04: 31:45

And so we need we might have to have a weekly touch base.

SPEAKER_03: 31:48

Well, you know.

SPEAKER_04: 31:49

We might have to do this because I got I gotta get the uh I gotta get the scouting report from you guys.

SPEAKER_03: 31:54

It's only gonna get a little tougher. More than welcome to uh come back.

SPEAKER_05: 31:59

Uh Coach D, I we we got a proposition for you. Oh, I like it.

SPEAKER_03: 32:05

We're not dancing on TikTok tiki toker or whatever that is.

SPEAKER_05: 32:08

If we win states, you have to do a 50 dog win or 50 yard lame dog. I'll do it. All right.

SPEAKER_03: 32:15

You heard it here.

SPEAKER_05: 32:17

All right. Oh, yeah. There it is.

SPEAKER_04: 32:18

I like it.

SPEAKER_03: 32:19

Now we got something to play for. It'll be better than Johnny Bravo, I'll tell you that much.

SPEAKER_04: 32:23

And and maybe we record the whole thing so that we can have it in memory forever. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 32:28

Those things are painful too. Can we add Lucas to it too?

SPEAKER_02: 32:33

No.

SPEAKER_03: 32:34

Luki, what do you say? Me and you?

SPEAKER_02: 32:36

I'm in. I'm in. Shirts on, shirts on. Shirts on, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 32:42

I like it. So Thursday night, people, get out of here. Thursday, please come support us. We hope many, many games.

SPEAKER_08: 32:49

We don't have a theme yet.

SPEAKER_04: 32:51

Well, you better come up with a theme. That's one you'd race.

SPEAKER_08: 32:54

Blue out. I blue out. Everyone show up in blue.

SPEAKER_04: 32:56

All right, we're announcing it right now. I blue out on Thursday night.

SPEAKER_03: 33:00

This is gonna be history. This is gonna be a great run. This is gonna be a fun run.

SPEAKER_04: 33:03

So hey, so South Rivers never won a state championship in football, right? They made it to the semi-championship game. Coach Saple's team made it to the semifinals. That's what's the beat, guys. You got something to beat. You could be the first ever. Yep. Every game.

SPEAKER_03: 33:20

Ever, ever. Going to states. There's been no team.

SPEAKER_04: 33:22

No teams done it. We got there's some good teams out there, though. I did look at the There's some real good teams.

SPEAKER_03: 33:27

These guys are at the top. And uh, you know, we're gonna make history. That's the way I look at it. We're gonna take one game at a time. Yeah, one game at a time. And we're gonna we're gonna put a beatin' on anyone that comes near us. All right.

SPEAKER_04: 33:38

Let's do it. All right, guys. Thank you, sir. You have anything else to add there, Greg?

SPEAKER_08: 33:43

Nothing. Let's just let's kill Thursday night.

SPEAKER_04: 33:46

All right. Thank you guys. Good luck on Thursday. And for as long as this train continues, enjoy the ride, South River Nation, for both our football team and our field hockey team. Please don't hesitate to contact us through Instagram at SRHTalks. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to the podcast. Leave us a rating on Apple and spread the word to Seahawk Nation. I'm your host, Tom Frank. I'm Grayson. And until next time, I leave you with a cheer from our South River cheer team. Go seehawks.

SPEAKER_01: 34:10

Go blue, go lie, ready. Go blue. Go by.