File:Football 2018, Michael Souders, left, and Jake Remsberg, October 2018.jpg

Summary

Brunswick football back on track Railroaders are a long shot to make playoffs, but they are glad to be back in conversation. By Greg Swatek from the Frederick News Post, November 1, 2018

In Photo: Brunswick’s Michael Souders, left, and Jake Remsberg celebrate a play in their early- season win over Clear Spring. Staff file photo by Bill Green

BRUNSWICK — Brunswick’s football team will play Thursday night for a chance to make the Class 1A West playoffs.

Five seasons, including the two worst in program history, have passed since that was even a remote possibility.

And, despite winning four straight games to raise their record to 7-2 overall, a lot still has to happen for the Railroaders.

They must first find a way to beat arch-rival Catoctin (8-1) for the first time since 2012 and then hope for numerous other outcomes to fall in their favor, including a victory by heavily favored Southern Garrett (7-2) over Northern Garrett (3-5).

And even that might not be enough. Other things still have to happen.

“If we beat Catoctin and Southern beats Northern, it’s going to come down to bonus points,” Brunswick coach Jerry Smith said following Wednesday’s practice.

Regardless of whether the Railroaders make the playoffs, the real news is they are back in the playoff conversation.

After the program hit rock bottom with the only winless seasons in program history in 2015 and 2016, they are finally back to playing games that matter.

“Now that we are winning, we are actually bringing the school and the community back together,” senior fullback and linebacker Jake Remsburg said. “The people in the town are actually coming out and supporting us and things like that. And, of course, we are getting closer [as players].”

In 2017, Brunswick began playing an independent schedule, which allowed it to play more teams of similar profile and ability rather than butt heads annually with some of the Frederick County heavyweights, such as Middletown.

But the program was also lifted around that same time by a man with a deep passion for it, someone who once wandered around the same halls as a student and played and coached for the school for many years.

That would be Smith, who some players described as “the heart and soul of the program.”

“We wouldn’t have a football team if it wasn’t for him,” senior running back and defensive back Layne Harich said. “He organizes everything. He is determined to do everything the way it should be.”

After going 20-20 in four seasons as the head coach at Thomas Johnson High School, Smith fully understood what he was getting himself into at Brunswick when he accepted the job in January 2017. The Railroaders were riding a 21-game losing streak.

“[The program] was dead,” he said. “There were like 30 total kids. They hadn’t won a game in two years.”

Smith immediately made himself a man about town. He visited middle school gym practices and youth wrestling practices, making connections and searching for athletes who wanted to play for him.

He demanded accountability from his players right from the start and pushed them to their limits in practice.

Brunswick’s motto this season is “Demand Respect.” The Railroaders want their opponents to know they have been in a real battle.

“These [players] have been amazing. There is nothing else to say. They are amazing,” Smith said. “They put everything they had into it. They bought in and revitalized this program by their effort and their sacrifices.

“Through what they have done, they have made it important to be part of something. The only thing we can do is hope the younger crowds can see that and follow.”

Last week, the Railroaders went to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and beat James Buchanan High School 41-17.

The Rockets (4-5) were another small program that had fallen on hard times, much like Brunswick. They had gone through a pair of winless seasons, and were similarly on the rebound.

In the postgame handshake line, Buchanan coach David Miller told Smith that the Brunswick program was the blueprint he would like his team to follow.

“For the coach of another team to say it,” Smith said, “that’s one of the biggest compliments that you could get.”