6 Maryland high school football storylines to watch in 2024

With the season set to kickoff this weekend, here’s some of the big storylines in Maryland high school football in 2024.

After one of the most successful runs in Maryland state public football history at Henry A. Wise, DaLawn Parrish has a new challenge at Westlake. 

Parrish won 179 games and six Class 4A state titles in 18 seasons at Wise, including the 2023 championship. He stepped down in February to become coach at Westlake, near his home in Charles County (Md.).

Parrish, who started the Wise program in 2006, inherits a Westlake program that finished 6-6 last season with mostly underclassmen.

“There’s a lot of talent in the SMAC and there’s a lot of involvement from the community,” said Parrish, whose two daughters attend Westlake, and whose wife is an alum. “You can tell that athletics at Westlake has a great tradition and not just in football.”

Parrish’s tenure at Westlake will start with road games at Northern-Calvert, which won the Class 3A title in 2021, and 2023 state finalists Calvert (2A/1A) and Huntingtown (2A).

With Parrish now at Westlake, Steve Rapp has the coaching reins at the Prince George’s County (Md.) powerhouse. Rapp has been the Pumas’ offensive coordinator since 2013.

Rapp, who’s been part of five Wise championships, knows expectations remain high. 

“Pressure is man-made. It’s only about us all the time,” said Rapp. “When we master us, we’ll master the situation.”

Wise will again be a title favorite in Class 4A, led by University of Oklahoma commit Trent Wilson (defensive end) and one of the state’s best two-way performers in running back/linebacker DeCarlos Young (Temple). 

With Parrish leading a Westlake program that has championship DNA (won 3A state title in 2008), the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference could be the state’s premier public league.

Last year, Calvert (2A/1A), Huntingtown (2A) and North Point (4A/3A) played for state championships. In 2022, North Point claimed its first crown (4A/3A) while Patuxent was neck-and-neck with perennial state power Dunbar in the fourth quarter in the 2A/1A title match before falling. Northern-Calvert won the 3A championship in 2021.

Since the state football playoffs expanded from four to six classifications in 2021, seven SMAC programs have reached the state quarterfinals. 

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association, the state’s largest private high school athletic league, will have several changes this season. 

The A Conference will feature eight teams with Concordia Prep and St. Mary’s joining from the B. Concordia Prep won B titles in 2023 and 2021 while St. Mary’s claimed three championships (2022, 2018 and 2017) over the previous six full seasons. 

The schools will join Calvert Hall, Gilman School, Loyola Blakefield, McDonogh School, Mount St. Joseph and Archbishop Spalding in the A. Spalding has won the last two A championships.

The B Conference will also have eight teams as St. Vincent Pallotti, who spent the previous three seasons in the A, returns to the B. After back-to-back titles in the now-defunct C, Severn School joins the B along with St. John’s Catholic Prep. 

Archbishop Curley, Boys’ Latin School, John Carroll School, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Paul’s School make up the rest of the B field. 

Annapolis Area Christian School, which was part of the C Conference, will play an independent schedule in 2024. St. Frances, another MIAA member school, has been playing as a national independent schedule since 2019. 

With senior quarterback Malik Washington back, Spalding will try for the first championship 3-peat in A play since St. Frances (2016-18). Washington, who’s committed to the University of Maryland, is undefeated as a starter in league play (16-0; including playoffs). 

The B Conference race in 2024 appears to be wide open. John Carroll reached the championship game last season while Curley may have the league’s top player in two-way linemen Skylar Harvey, who’s committed to Syracuse. Pallotti should be a factor in its return after taking lumps in the A (1-17).

St. Frances will be collecting more frequent flier miles in 2024. The Panthers, ranked 14th in SBLive/Sports Illustrated National Top 25, are set to travel over 18,000 miles over seven states including two trips to California. 

St. Frances will play Orange Lutheran (Sept. 6) and consensus national No. 1 Mater Dei (Sept. 20). The Panthers go to Dallas for a national showdown with Duncanville (Tex.) on Sept. 14.

The small Baltimore City private school will play its first 10 games on the road, with stops in Florida, Indiana, and New Jersey. The Panthers, who don’t have an on-campus field, play their first “home game” Nov. 1 against IMG Academy (Fla.) at Morgan State University.

Last season, St. Frances (5-6) traveled over 7,500 miles, playing games in California, Florida, Georgia and Utah. The Panthers played in Florida, Hawaii, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas in 2022.

If able to successfully navigate its daunting road schedule, St. Frances will have a strong case to be the nation’s No. 1 squad.

Fort Hill and Dunbar, two of the state’s most successful public programs, seek to reach rarified air in 2024. Both schools will attempt to win a fourth consecutive state championship. 

The Sentinels, who’ve won seven of the last nine Class 1A titles, ran off four in a row from 2013 to 2016 to join Urbana (1998-2001) as the only programs to accomplish the feat. The Western Maryland school is 39-1 over the last three seasons.

The Poets will start the season with the state’s longest winning streak at 38. The Baltimore City program claimed its state-best 13th championship with the 2A/1A crown last year.

Dunbar and Fort Hill will meet Sept. 13 at Morgan State University.