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Schools

Fetters, Garey Reunite on Gridiron

Boyhood teammates now competitors on the brink of a State Championhip

As members of the Montgomery Village Chiefs, Gaithersburg quarterback Zack Fetters and Urbana running back Wes Garey shared the same backfield. Fetters was the team's quarterback and Garey lined up at fullback.

"I remember the last game we played together," Garey recalled, "He threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to me."

However, when the former youth league teammates meet on Friday night, they will be on opposing sidelines and competing for much higher stakes – the chance to play for a state championship.

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The Gaithersburg High School football team will face a formidable opponent this weekend when Urbana comes to town tonight to battle the Trojans in a 4A state semifinal clash at John Harvill Stadium.

The unbeaten Urbana Hawks are a traditional Frederick County powerhouse, boasting four state championships since the school opened in 1996. Urbana enters Friday's contest with an 11-0 mark under first-year head coach Ryan Hines and will be making its first state semifinal appearance since 2001.

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Meanwhile, Gaithersburg will be making its first appearance in a state semifinal game since 2002. The Trojans are looking to capture the school's first state championship trophy since 2000 and their fourth overall crown. Gaithersburg also won state titles in 1986 and 1992.

Urbana has run roughshod through their 2010 schedule, outscoring opponents 398-35. The Hawks earned a trip to this weekend's state semifinal game by capturing the 4A North Region title with a 34-0 pasting of Patterson, marking the program's school-record eighth shutout this season. In fact, the Urbana defense has given up fewer points than any other team in the state.

Urbana's defensive line is anchored by Colton Kmetz, a 6-foot-5, 240 pound junior defensive end. Kmetz, a Division I prospect who has drawn interest from Boston College, Nebraska and Duke, has registered 16 tackles for losses and seven sacks. Urbana senior Jude Merkel has recorded 18 tackles for a loss and 12.5 sacks from the other defensive end position. 

The Urbana offense has been paced this season by the stellar play of senior running backs Garey and Blake Gatewoo.

Garey, who has rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 18 touchdowns, had a season-high 214 yards rushing against Tuscarora in the regular season. In Urbana's two postseason games, Garey has rushed for nearly 300 yards including 107 yards in the victory over Patterson last weekend. "He's gotten better each week," said Hines.

Garey, Urbana's leading rusher this season, is a Montgomery County native and has Gaithersburg ties. He was born in Silver Spring and grew up in Germantown. He attended Stedwick Elementary School in Montgomery Village and played youth football in the Montgomery Village Sports Association.

"He's a good running back," said Gaithersburg head coach Kreg Kephart. "He's a tough kid, he runs well, he's got good balance, he's got good vision. He's got good agility. He's somebody we've got to deal with."

His cousin, David Garey, was a standout running back at Watkins Mill High School in the 1990s and played on the Wolverines' 1993 4A state championship team.

Wes Garey was months old at the time that then-sophomore David Garey was leading Watkins Mill to its first and only state crown, a 10-6 Wolverines victory over Churchill at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium. In that game, Garey rushed for 141 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown.

Although Wes Garey never saw his first cousin play football during his heyday, he does try to emulate him. For instance, Wes wears the same No. 5 jersey that David once wore for Watkins Mill. David Garey has also become a frequent spectator at Urbana's games to watch his young cousin perform on the gridiron.

"It's good to have him come out to my games," Wes Garey said about his cousin who earned second team All-Met honors as a Watkins Mill senior in 1995.

Garey also has fond memories playing youth football with Gaithersburg High standouts Fetters and Kris Westphal.

"He can make a cut," Fetters said about Garey's running style, "but he'll also lower the shoulder and run you over."

And Garey would love nothing more than to be the latest person in his family to lead a Maryland high school football team to a state title.

"I would love to win a championship game," he said. "That would be awesome, especially [my] senior year [of] high school [in the] 4A. That would be big."

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