Mervo tackle Tavon Terry hadn't met many of the other offensive linemen selected to play in today's Maryland Crab Bowl all-star game until the team gathered for its first practice Monday night.

That doesn't mean he didn't know anything about them.

“We mostly only know each other from Twitter and highlights, so we do know something about each other, but we'll get to know each other better with each practice. I feel the chemistry coming along there,” Terry said.

For the seniors playing in the ninth annual Crab Bowl at Bowie State today at 1:30 p.m., perhaps the biggest challenge is merging their talents to create cohesive units. Developing that chemistry in three practices isn't the easiest thing for guys who've never played together.

They worked hard to blend their considerable talents so they can drive Team Baltimore to back-to-back wins for the first time in Crab Bowl history. Last year, Baltimore beat Team Washington, 31-28, for its first win since 2012. Washington leads the series 5-3.

Mount Saint Joseph offensive tackle Anthony Ruffin said he was eager to play with Terry and the other linemen.

“The biggest challenge for me is learning the double team,” Ruffin said, “because at St. Joe, I know each guy's techniques and how we can come off the ball and how we work with each other. Now, with the guys I'm playing with, it's a little challenging because I don't know their first step or how aggressive they are.”

After one practice, however, Ruffin said the chemistry was already developing — even with Archbishop Spalding's Devin Miller, the center for the Gaels' rival in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.

“I like playing with Devin. He's aggressive,” Ruffin said. “After the games, we would always talk about how we're going to play with each other one day.”

The defensive line faces a similar challenge, Milford Mill defensive tackle Darrien Laboo said.

“With everybody being from a different school and being coached by coaches with different styles, we have totally different ways,” Laboo said. “So far, we're doing good. We've got easy calls to make it more streamlined. Our calls are supposed to be universal-type calls that everybody should know.”

As a linebacker, Mount Saint Joseph's Ahmad McCullough said it's all about being able to depend on your teammates.

“As a defense, we don't get as many plays as the offensive players,” McCullough said. “So it's kind of like left, right, strong, weak side and middle. It's not really as hard as you think it is, but for this challenge right here, can you trust the guy beside you? And I think I can because I'm playing beside a lot of great players.”

Coaches are keeping things fairly basic for the linebackers, too, Milford Mill's Marcel Allen said.

“We're playing man-on-man coverage,” he said. “We're not playing any zones or blitzes, so that's a challenge because we're going against much faster linemen.”

One of the biggest thrills for the players was getting a chance to practice at the Ravens' Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills on Monday night.

“It was a beautiful experience,” Terry said. “The Ravens are, of course, my favorite team. Being there, I just felt like a big-time player. It made you feel special.”

Said Ruffin: “I really felt like I was part of something. I just loved the atmosphere, seeing the [Super Bowl] trophies and I felt like, ‘Wow, I could be here someday.'?”

This year's game moved from McDaniel in Westminster, where it had been played for three straight years, to the Washington suburbs at Bowie State.

“As the years go by, we try to split it between the Baltimore and the Washington area as much as we can,” said Tony Kennedy, director of the Crab Bowl. “We've had it in the Baltimore region a lot, so it was time to move it back to the D.C. region. We thought we had to do that because … we've never gone more than three years in one area.”

The players don't really care where the game is. For each of them, it's a big accomplishment to earn a spot on the roster of Maryland's premier high school all-star football game.

“I'm blessed to play in the game,” Laboo said. “I've always dreamed about it and now I'm getting the chance.”

For some of the players, including Mount Saint Joseph quarterback Christian Carter, the game has come full circle, reuniting them with former recreation or middle-school teammates and opponents.

“A lot of these guys, I played with them or against them in rec,” Carter said, “and now to see them at this next level and get to play our last high school football game together is great. I grew up with these guys, and now to see them ball out in our last game is going to be a great experience.”

katherine.dunn@baltsun.com

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