Quarterback Malik Washington galloped down the sideline with his Maryland handwarmer bouncing at his waist as the final seconds ticked in Spalding’s MIAA championship win.
The Terps’ commit met a pack of celebrating Cavaliers following the handshake line, including Maryland recruit Jayden Shipps. The school’s third Maryland commit, Delmar White, was the last to unite with the group after missing the game due to an injury.
The senior trio led Spalding to a perfect 12-0 season and its third straight MIAA championship with a 31-7 win over McDonogh. Their next stop: College Park.
“We’re going to go into Maryland off a win,” Washington said. “We’re going to try to bring the culture that we had here out there and just keep it going.”
Washington tossed two touchdowns and added a rushing score. The combination of Shipps, a three-star cornerback, and the Cavaliers’ defense allowed their first touchdown since August.
“Those guys will be major impact players,” coach Kyle Schmitt said. “They’re going to be leaders — part of the foundation that coach [Michael Locksley] is trying to build.”
Washington and Shipps committed together on June 28 on a 247Sports live video. The cornerback’s decision was a surprise on the stream, which was billed to be Washington’s announcement.
Shipps first told Washington of his looming commitment after his official visit on May 30. The quarterback reached the same conclusion almost a month later.
When the quarterback was asked where he’d be headed during the stream, Washington paused and scooted to his right. He motioned to his teammate off-camera to join.
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Shipps sat beside him and the two flipped on matching red Maryland hats.
“We haven’t seen nobody do it yet,” Shipps said. “ We wanted to be the first people to try to do something new.”
White’s commitment followed the next day with an Instagram announcement.
The Cavalier trio began a splurge of Terps’ commits over the summer, with the Terps’ four other four-stars announcing their commitment to Maryland after Washington.
With each commitment, Washington tweeted #freegrandma — a response to a fan’s joke on X, formerly Twitter. It quickly became the Terps’ recruiting motto.
“I knew the hometown people were really gonna love it,” Washington said. “I didn’t expect it to become this whole thing. Now, when everybody commits or we’re trying to get anybody, it’s #freegrandma.”
White met Washington in elementary school. When the defensive lineman transferred to Spalding for his junior year, Washington was entering his second year as the Cavaliers’ starting quarterback.
The defensive lineman had only been playing football for three years when he was approached by coaches at Chesapeake High School to join the team as a freshman. White has since become the No. 54 recruit in Maryland and was named the Capital Gazette Wrestler of the Year.
“It was very exciting for me because when I go [to Maryland], I’ll already have friends I know,” White said. “I have known Malik for about seven years now and Jayden Shipps, he’s a really cool guy too.”
Washington met Shipps when he tried out for the defensive back’s eighth-grade team, where Shipps played tight end. Washington told him to run a go-route, a simple straight deep route.
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The quarterback waited for Shipps to run farther — he had never caught a pass deeper than 30 yards — and finally threw it when Shipps was 70 yards downfield. The ball flew deeper than his receiver had run, Shipps said.
“I wasn’t used to that,” Shipps said. “He’s a different caliber athlete.”
Washington remembers Shipps’ talent flashing during their freshman year. The cornerback flipped a physical running back when he tried to cut inside in his first varsity game.
The quarterback celebrated the hit on the sideline while Shipps returned to the huddle like nothing happened.
“Freshman year … we really had each other,” Washington said. “It was something new. It was right after COVID. [We were] just trying to figure out how we were going to navigate our way around the school and through class.”
Washington was drawn to Maryland for its familial environment, noting the coaching staff genuinely cared about him as a person, not just a player.
Shipps shared this sentiment and said the trio could be a missing piece for the team.
Rumors have spread that other schools, namely Michigan, have tried to flip Washington’s commitment. Schmitt shot those down Saturday. He said the senior is loyal to Maryland.
The quarterback solidified his coach’s claim, posing with a custom black jersey following Spalding’s win.
The back bore his number, four, and his last name positioned under red cursive lettering reading “Terps.”
