Touchdown Club Honors Standouts

By Kevin Bradford and Bill Wagner

The Meade High School football team has been named Anne Arundel County Team of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Annapolis.

Meade will receive the Jerry Mears Memorial Trophy as the county’s top high school football team during the 48th annual Touchdown Club of Annapolis Football Awards Banquet Thursday at the Sheraton Barcelo in Annapolis.

Glen Burnie senior quarterback Keith Williams, Old Mill senior defensive lineman Kerry Blake and Fort Meade Cougars youth football coach Reginald Leach will also receive awards Thursday.

Williams will be presented the Jim Rhodes Memorial Trophy for the county’s top high school football player. Blake will be handed the Laramore Award for the county’s top lineman. Leach will receive the Vince DePasquale Award for service to youth football.

The Mears Trophy is named after the late Meade and Arundel football coach Jerry Mears, who compiled a 129-68-2 record in 20 seasons.

Mears, who is the fourth winningest football coach in county history and an Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Famer, led Arundel to a state championship in football land basketball.

Third-year Meade coach Kenny Gray, who won the Rhodes Trophy while playing for Mears at Meade in 82, was name Capital-Gazette Newspapers’ Coach of the Year for turning the Mustangs around after going 5-5 and 2-8 in his previous two seasons.

If Maryland and Navy had played football this past season, you can bet Brian Madden and E.J. Henderson would have knocked heads a few times.

Henderson, Maryland’s hard-hitting middle linebacker, terrorized opposing quarterbacks en route to setting a single-season school record for tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Madden, Navy’s hard-nosed quarterback, often ran over opposing linebackers en route to becoming the school’s seventh-leading rusher.

Madden and Henderson will be honoree Thursday at the 48th annual Touchdown Club of Annapolis Football Awards Banquet.