Hancock football: Panthers are two-dozen strong in 2024

With the 2024 Maryland high school football season set to kick off soon, we're taking a quick glance at each Washington County team.

Hancock Panthers

Coach: Ron Hare, fourth year

Last season: 1-7, opted out of 1A West playoffs.

Top returners: Aiden McCarty, Sr., RB/LB; Shawn Thomas, Sr., WR/DB; Jayten McCarty, So., RB/LB; Brody Stratton, Sr., OL/DL; Jacob Anderson, Sr., QB/DB; Nicholas McCusker, So., OL/DL.

Key losses: Waylon Leach, OL/DL; Isaiah Demory, QB/LB; Brayden Younker, OL/DL; Logan Trumpower, RB/LB.

Notes: Hancock, which was outscored 354-108 last year, is 2-23 over the last three seasons. … The Panthers snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 28-22 win over Hundred last October. … Their last winning season was in 2015, when they went 6-4. … There are 24 players on this year's roster, a solid number for the smallest public school in Maryland. … Running back Aiden McCarty scored 10 of Hancock's 16 touchdowns last year. … Jayten McCarty recorded a team-high 43 tackles last fall as a freshman. ... Anderson is switching from receiver to quarterback this season.

Washington County football: The top 28 seniors

Biggest challenge: "Obviously, the fact that we are a small school, and we play a lot of bigger schools, that's always going to be a challenge," Hare said. "And experience, because when they come to me, they have no tackle experience. They come from the flag league."

Reasons to be optimistic: "We have a lot of players that have been in the system now for three or four years, so our starters are going to be good tacklers and good on both sides of the ball," Hare said. "We've got a lot of experience, and we're changing the offense up a little bit to use the big weapons that we have in the McCarty boys and some others that are stepping up. … This was one of our more productive groups in the weight room. We had great numbers in the weight room all summer long. That's going to help us this year. We just have to get on the field and see what happens."

Washington County football: The top 21 sophomores and juniors

Hancock football schedule

Sept. 6, vs. Valley, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13, at Southern Garrett, 7 p.m.

Sept. 20, vs. Northern Garrett, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27, at Hundred, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4, at Clay-Battelle, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10, at Stonewall Jackson, 7 p.m.

Oct. 17, vs. SEED, 6 p.m.

Oct. 25, vs. Brownsville, 7 p.m.

Nov. 1, at Clear Spring, 6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hancock football: Panthers are two-dozen strong in 2024