by Aaron Gray
agray@digitalsports.com

(See video clips and post-game interviews below)

Winning a state championship is a surreal feeling. But for the four Hereford High School boys lacrosse players that gathered for a post-game interview after their victory, a sincere compliment from their storied coach may have been the highlight of their night.

"I think this is the best team I've had here and we've had some good ones," said the Bulls' eighth-year coach Carl Runk, whose team rolled to a 17-5 victory over Walkersville in the Class 3A-2A state championship at the University of Maryland Baltimore County on Tuesday night.

"This team is solid from the cage to the front line ... the best tribute to these kids is that it's not important who scores, it's we score. That's what makes us a great team."

Runk, who coached at Towson University for 31 years and is one of the winningest coaches in the history of college lacrosse, went on to say that Hereford's depth across the board is what guided it to a fourth state title and first since 2003. The Bulls had eight different goal scorers, a stout midfield was dominant in between the lines and three goalkeepers saw action.

"You can never put a value on the depth we have," said senior attacker Trey Hilberg, the team's leading scorer during the regular season. "Teams really can't shut one of us off because the next guy will always step up. It's like that all over the field."

Hereford (15-2), out of Baltimore County, proved that it can produce points even without Hilberg filling up the stat sheet. The Bulls dumped Kent Island in the state semifinals, 10-4, without Hilberg scoring a single goal.

Tuesday, however, was a different story.

Hilberg finished with a team-high five goals and three assists -- two points shy of tying the state record for points in the championship game. He was followed by senior Ryan Rock (four goals, two assists) and senior attacker Billy Stafford (two goals, assist).

"We're a good transition team and that just gives us momentum," said Rock, who notched a goal in each period. "We were winning a lot of faceoffs and that just kept the ball on their side of the field. We got a lot of opportunities to score."

The Bulls won twice as many faceoffs (16 to eight) as the Lions (16-3). They peppered the Walkersville cage with 23 more shots but the biggest difference in the game, according to Lions' coach David Baldwin, was the ground balls won in the midfield.

"We needed to control the middle of the field and I give a lot of credit to Hereford because they were able to do that," said Baldwin, whose team fell behind, 5-2, after the first quarter and was never able to come back from the Bulls' four-goal surge in the second.

"The team that controls the middle of the field -- faceoffs and ground balls -- typically wins the game. We did that all year long. We didn't do that tonight."

On the quick turf surface at UMBC, the Bulls scooped 56 ground balls compared to 34 from Walkersville.

Sophomore midfielder Rustin Bryant scored both of his goals in the second for Hereford, which out-scored its opponent 5-1 in the period and cruised into halftime with a 10-3 advantage.

The Bulls scored the first three goals of the second half capped by a goal from Rock, assisted by Hilberg. On the play, Lions' goalkeeper William Lane (13 saves) was pushing the ball up field but after he crossed midfield, he was pick pocketed by a Hereford long pole. The Bulls quickly transitioned a fast break and Rock scored on an empty net to open a 13-3 lead for Hereford with 4:38 left in the third.

"It was a little nerve-racking at first," said Walkersville senior attacker Shaun Baldwin, whose team made its first state championship appearance. "Playing in front of a big crowd at UMBC was a big deal. But after we got started, I think we became a little more relaxed."

Said senior Chad Benford: "We missed some opportunities that we usually would have. We just missed a lot of shots. They took momentum early and we never were able to get it back."

Benford led the Lions, out of Frederick County, with two goals and an assist. Midfielders Sam Morris and Troy Hubbard each tallied a goal for Walkersville.

The Bulls defense also came up big in the third. Junior defender Leo Hastings made a stick save on a Lions' shot when senior goalkeeper Ty Wittelsberger (seven saves) came off his line. Another Benford goal was called back because of offsides in the period.

"Our depth showed up tonight," Runk said. "I think our stopper did a nice job and our defense just pounded people constantly. We would get the ball to midfield and they gave it up to the attack. Our offense just did not shut down."

Walkersville (16-3)    2    1    1    1    -    5
Hereford (15-2)          5    5    3    4    -    17
GOALS: W - Benford 2, Baldwin, Hubbard, Morris; H - Hilberg 5, Rock 4, Stafford 2, Bryant 2, Dusek, Crosby, Pedderson, Niles. ASSISTS: W - Benford; H - Hilberg 3, Rock 2, Green, Pedderseon, Stafford. SHOTS: W - 19; H - 42. SAVES: W - Lane 13; H - Wittelsberger 7, Slechta 1, Krock. GROUND BALLS: W - 34; H - 56. FACEOFFS: W - 8; H - 16.