Wild Lake's DuVall Named Coach of the Week

Doug DuVall, head coach of the Wilde Lake High School (Columbia, Md.) varsity football team, has been named Ravens High School Coach of the Week for the second week of the 2007 season. Presented by Toyota, this is the 11th year of the Ravens’ award program.

Amidst a steady rain that required an incredible rushing attack, DuVall led Wilde Lake (2-0) to a 28-10 win over Atholton on Friday (9/14) night. The defense also did their job, holding the Raiders to only a field goal on their four drives inside Wilde Lake’s 25-yard line.

Doug DuVall led the Wildecats to a 2-0 record in Week 2.

The Wildecats ran for 340 yards, as QB Danny March distributed the ball to several options for large gains. FB Vaughn Stamper rushed for 104 yards, and RBs Ashton Hayes and Jerrel Epps ran for 100 yards (2 TDs) and 92 yards (1 TD), respectively. March, a 5’8” and 150 lb.-quarterback, ran for 45 yards and a touchdown, himself.

March, the unconventional quarterback, is used more as a blocker for his running backs, than a pocket passer. “He’s like David and Goliath,” DuVall observed about March. “He’s like a point guard in basketball. He has a real sense for the ball, and he loves to play.

“We run a balanced ball control, run-oriented offense. We try to balance it up and make our attack to the right and to the left. We’re fortunate to have a very talented offense to be able to do that.”

Trying to end a four-year playoff drought, the 2-0 start is the best way to begin the 2007 season.

“We want to go to the playoffs,” DuVall noted. “I was close friends with (former Dunbar HS Head Coach) Ben Eaton. Before he passed, I said to Ben, ‘There was a hope that we’d both get a chance to get to the playoffs.’ We have a ‘BE’ on our helmets in his honor. We started the season with the hope that we both had the chance to get down to M&T Bank Stadium.”

This is the third Ravens High School Coach of the Week honor for DuVall. He is in his 35th year as head coach at Wilde Lake. He began his coaching career as the junior varsity coach for Wilde Lake in 1972.

Each week during the season, the Ravens honor a high school coach who has made a significant impact on his athletes. Each of the season’s weekly winners will be present at a December Ravens home game, for the naming of the Ravens’ High School Coach of the Year.

A panel of area high school experts selects the coach of the week. The recipients receive:

- A $2,000 donation to the school’s football program
- An award certificate signed by Ravens head coach Brian Billick, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and Gene Washington, the NFL’s Director of Football Development
- A specially-designed hat