Huntingtown secures first-ever State Championship with win over rival Northern
December 6, 2025
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Huntingtown a late 82-yard touchdown run and its defense turned away Northern‘s drive deep into their territory, as the Hurricanes (11-2) defeated Calvert County rival Northern (9-5), 24-21 to win its first ever state title in the MPSSAA Class 2A State Football Championship game on Saturday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
With Northern holding all of the momentum and the lead following overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit, all the Patriots needed to do was hold off the Hurricanes for the final five minutes to complete an improbable run through the playoffs and pick up the win. But Huntingtown freshman running back Joshua Walter broke free up the middle and ran 82 yards for the game-winning score with 4:45 remaining in the game.
Both teams relied heavily on the run game, with Northern gaining 251 total yards on the ground, while Huntingtown racked up 175 yards. Overall, Northern actually outgained the Hurricanes, 324-302, but the Canes got big plays when they needed them on both offense and defense.
The Hurricanes started the scoring in the first half as running back Gabe Copeland took off downfield and scored from 55 yards away. The extra point was added by Max Hall to give Huntingtown a 7-0 lead, which it would carry into the second quarter. Hall would add a 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter to extend the Hurricanes lead to 10-0.
The Patriots got on the board first with just over three minutes to play in the first half. Running back Dylan Allafi scored his first of three touchdowns on the night, this one from two yards away, but the extra point was wide left, and the Huntingtown lead was at 10-6.
Copeland picked up his second score of the evening with only 38 seconds remaining before halftime, running in from 12 yards out to give the Hurricanes a 17-6 halftime advantage.
Northern received the kickoff to start the second half, and embarked on a 15-play, 64 yard drive with chewed up 6 minutes and 38 seconds of clock – over half of the third quarter – and culminated in a 3-yard touchdown run by Allafi. The Patriots added a two-point conversion to cut the Hurricanes lead down to just three at 17-14.
Momentum had shifted entirely in Northern’s favor, as two plays into the next drive, Huntingtown quarterback Blake Marlowe’s pass was intercepted off of a deflection and returned 49 yards by Cam Williams up to the Hurricanes 4-yard line. Two plays later, Allafi scored from two yards away, and the Patriots took a 24-21 lead after the extra point from Archer Strutt.
Allafi amassed up 179 rushing yards on 35 carries to go along with his three scores, and was the focal point of the Patriots offense out of the backfield all night.
The Patriots defense seemed to have figured out Huntingtown, and the Hurricanes went three and out in their next possession. As play entered the fourth quarter, Northern had another long drive going, this time for 57 yards on 13 plays, but the Canes defense turned the Patriots over on downs. Two plays later, Walter broke his 82-yard run to give the Hurricanes the lead for good.
Northern had one last chance to take the lead and win the game, but their 13-play drive stalled as they were stopped short of the line to gain at the Huntingtown 25-yard line, and were unable to stop the clock again.
With the win, Huntingtown finally gets over the hump and wins its first state championship title in five attempts, after having lost the last two seasons to Stephen Decatur, and also in title games in 2009 and 2012. Northern picks up its first-ever loss in a state championship game, having made it only one other time, in 2021, when the Patriots defeated Linganore that season.
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