ANNAPOLIS, Md. (DC News Now) — Linganore’s first loss of the 2024 season came in the MPSSAA 3A state championship, falling to Arundel, 35-7.
Arundel jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first half and the Lancers couldn’t battle back.
Despite the loss in the title game, Linganore’s success under long time head coach Rick Conner continues to be impressive. Conner has led the Lancers to ten state title appearances and six appearances in the last eight years. The Lancers won titles in 2003, 2009 and 2017.
This is the second straight year that Linganore has fallen in the state title game. They lost to Oakdale in the title game last season.
“For them to accomplish what they did this year, one game doesn’t define your season, but they came a long way,” Conner said. “They won thirteen games, that’s the second most in school history, so credit to these guys and our seniors.”
This season, the Lancers managed to make it back to the title game, despite returning only four starters from last season. In the postgame press conference, Conner discussed the impact of his seniors.
“Nobody gave us a real shot after last year’s team and everybody graduating. [Senior quarterback Shawn Pelovitz] was on varsity for two years and didn’t get a whole lot of snaps and just played great the whole season,” Conner said. “[Senior running back and cornerback] Amir [Short] is a playmaker, he’s just a difference maker for us.”
While their careers at Linganore are coming to an end, the seniors believe next year’s team can build on what they’ve accomplished.
“It’s gonna run through these guys next year and they’re gonna take what happened today and I think they’ll have a very good chance of getting back here,” Pelovitz said. “And having a better outcome than it was today.”
