FROSTBURG — Over the past five seasons, Frankfort and Mountain Ridge wrote new chapters of their histories. Tonight, the Falcons have a chance to make area history.
Winners of 32 straight, a No. 1 Frankfort (4-0) victory tonight would break the previous area consecutive win mark set by Fort Hill between 2015 and 2017.
Standing in the way is No. 3 Mountain Ridge (3-1), winners of two straight after a three-point loss to last year’s Maryland Class 1A semifinalist Boonsboro.
Kickoff at Miner Stadium is 6:30.
“It’s going to be a test,” said Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman. “They have a good team. They beat Allegany a few weeks ago at the end.
“It’s always a big game when we play Mountain Ridge. It’s really almost somewhat of a rivalry. Both teams and both communities get fired up for the game. We’re hoping for a big crowd and an exciting night.”
Fort Hill’s win streak, which the Falcons equalled last week, started Sept. 18, 2015, with a 63-19 win at Chesnut Ridge — one week after Keyser took down the Sentinels, 48-41 — and ended in D.C. on Oct. 21, 2017, with a 24-6 loss to Friendship Collegiate Academy.
“The streak hasn’t even been talked about amongst our program,” Whiteman added. “I’m sure the kids see stuff on social media. But the whole time this thing’s been going, we haven’t mentioned a word about it. Our focus has just been on getting better and trying to win our next game.”
“It hasn’t been bulletin board material for us,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said of the winning streak. “We’ve had a great rivalry with Frankfort, even dating back to the Beall days. I think the rivalry exists with or without the win streak. We don’t feel any pressure or motivation from the streak. We’re just preparing like we would for any other big game.”
Coming out of its bye two weeks ago, the back-to-back West Virginia Class AA champions handled Northern, 37-13, to tie the area win mark.
“You don’t win 32 straight by accident,” said Shipe.
“They’ve got a lot of really good players and they’re really well polished. Everything they do is crisp. Even some of the more complex plays they run, it’s so crisp. That’s the thing that I think has jumped off the page more than any individual player. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They don’t miss assignments. They run to the ball really well on defense.”
The Falcons are led offensively by the 1-2 punch of 2025 co-Player of the Year Braydn Tyler and Cole Shanholtz.
After not dressing in Frankfort’s season-opening 34-12 win over Moorefield, Tyler has racked up 318 yards and six touchdowns on just nine carries.
Shanholtz has a team-high 49 totes for 288 yards and four scores.
“They’re averaging nearly 300 yards a game rushing and he’s a big part of that,” Shipe said of Tyler. “Sometimes you watch film and it looks like the defense has played Tyler perfectly, but he’s just able to outrun everyone to the corner and make something out of nothing.
“I think the biggest thing for us is knowing your assignment, don’t try to do too much and trust the other 10 guys on the field. Everyone has to run to the football and have good discipline with their angles and responsibilities. Coach Whiteman does a good job spreading the ball around.
“They take calculated shots in very calculated situations. It says a lot about the trust Coach Whiteman has in his players to make calls like that. So we have to be prepared for every part of their playbook that they may throw at us.”
Levi Clise has been the star of the Mountain Ridge offense, hauling in 24 passes for 419 yards and five touchdowns, including a 45-yard receiving score with 15 seconds remaining to take down Allegany, 27-26, two weeks ago.
Clise is also the team’s leading rusher, carrying the rock 31 times for 271 yards and three scores.
Junior quarterback Brayden Glass is 53 of 78 for 782 yards and 11 touchdowns with just two interceptions.
“I think our defense has done a good job this season,” Whiteman said. “Our defensive coaches work hard putting in good gameplans. I’m proud of their effort.
“Mountain Ridge is definitely going to throw out multiple sets, different looks. They’re going to mix run and pass.
“They’re going to present us with some challenges. We just have to be ready to play.”
The Falcons have picked off six passes over four games, with Tyler intercepting a pair of passes in his two appearances.
Chase Opel and Jed Evans both have eight tackles for loss and Anthony Smith leads the team in tackles with 24.
Clise leads the Mountain Ridge defense with 30 tackles, 10 more than the next closest — Jasper Crissman and Daniel Swindle have 20 tackles apiece.
A win tonight would not only break the area win streak, but give Frankfort a big boost heading into a strong second half of its schedule that includes John Marshall (4-1, No. 8 in Class AAA playoff ratings), Petersburg (2-2, upset Moorefield last week), Wahama (5-0, No. 1 in Class A playoff ratings), Independence (2-2, No. 8 in Class AA playoff ratings) and, of course, the Mineral Bowl against Keyser (4-1, tied for ninth in Class AAA playoff ratings).
“Every week is big and tonight is no different,” Whiteman said. “It’s an area opponent. We don’t look ahead, but we have our work cut out for us down the road.
“But Mountain Ridge is very well-coached in all three phases of the game. It’s very obvious playing them each year and by watching them on film. We will definitely have to be ready to play.”
The Miners will need to move on quickly — regardless of result — as they host Fort Hill next week.
“With everyone making the playoffs in Maryland, it’s hard for us to put too much emphasis on any one regular season game,” Shipe said.
“But it would be an amazing feat for our kids. It’ll be a great environment and I’m sure it’ll be a packed house. It’ll be a really tough challenge for us. But I think the amount of confidence the kids have gained over the past couple of weeks would amplify tenfold if we can execute and play well tonight.”