Richard Montgomery High School’s Nadia Estrada won the 135 lb weight class 2022 Girls’ State Championship at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro– her 2nd state title.
She won it all at 122 lbs in 2020, one week before everything shut down due to Covid-19 restrictions and was unable to defend her championship last year due to continued restrictions.
Nadia recovered from a surgically repaired meniscus in July of 2021. She tore the MCL in the same knee in September while training, but that injury did not require surgery.
The surgeon told her that her wrestling season was done and that she’d have to wait until next year. She was cleared to train on February 1st, so she decided to make a come back attempt and trained for the entire month leading up to the tournament.
She beat Brooke Bickers out of Boonsboro High School in the finals by decision,12-7.
MoCo natives Stefon and Trevon Diggs have dominated the NFL this year. The brothers, who grew up in Gaithersburg, were both recently selected as Pro Bowlers for this NFL season.
Stefon grew up in Gaithersburg and attended Good Counsel High School in Olney, where he played football and ran track. He recorded 810 yards receiving with 23 touchdowns as a junior in 2010, and was runner-up for the Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year. As a senior, he recorded 770 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns, and racked up 277 rushing yards and three more touchdowns on the ground. He was named to the All-Metro team by The Washington Post both seasons.
Following his senior season, he was named MVP of the U.S. Army All-American Junior Combine in 2011 and was invited to play in the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.A consensus five-star recruit, Diggs was viewed as one of the best players in the nation. He was considered the second-best wide receiver recruit in the nation and was rated as the No.1 recruit in the state of Maryland by Rivals.com. Though he had scholarship offers from Florida, USC, Cal, Ohio State, and Auburn, among others, Diggs chose to stay close to home and committed to the University of Maryland on February 10, 2012.
In his three seasons at Maryland, Diggs had 150 receptions for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns. During his freshman year at College Park, he recorded the second-most all-purpose yards in school history with 1,896. He finished his three-year college career with 2,227 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns, as well as two kick-return touchdowns. He was selected in the fifth round with the 146th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2015 NFL Draft, and signed a four-year, $2.5 million deal that included a guaranteed $227,000 signing bonus.
Diggs became a full-time starter for the Vikings midway through his rookie year despite his late-round draft status. In 2018, he received a 5-year contract extension, playing two more seasons in Minnesota before being traded to Buffalo in 2020. With the Bills, he became the fastest receiver to surpass 100 catches with his new team and broke Eric Moulds‘ franchise record for receiving yards in a season. Diggs led all NFL receivers in 2020 with 127 receptions and 1,535 receiving yards. He already has over 1,000 receiving yards on 82 catches with 8 touchdowns this season for the 8-6 Bills.
Trevon Diggs was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2020 draft. The Gaithersburg native currently leads the NFL with 10 interceptions.
Trevon played for the Wootton Patriots before transferring to Avalon. At Avalon, Diggs played on both sides of the ball and became a four-star recruit and was two-time All-Met as a wide receiver.
After his time at Avalon Diggs continued his academic and athletic career at the University of Alabama. By his junior year in 2018, Diggs had become a full-time starter for Coach Nick Saban’s defense until he broke his foot midseason, ending the 2018 season with 20 tackles, one interception, six pass breakups in six games.
By his senior year, Diggs started 12 games and posted 37 tackles and two fumble recoveries. (including a 100-yard score). During his senior year, he was a third-team AP All-American and second-team All-SEC.
As a rookie, Diggs played in 12 games and started 12 of them. He had 58 tackles, one forced fumble, a sack, and 3 interceptions. This year, his second in the league, he has 10 interceptions, 38 tackles, and 19 passes defended.
Photos courtesy of the NFL.
Back in October, Los Angeles Rams head coach and former Washington offensive coordinator, Sean McVay announced that Damascus alumnus Jake Funk was lost for the season with a torn hamstring. Yesterday, Funk was designated to return from injured reserve.
He will provide depth at running back behind Sony Michel and Darrell Henderson Jr., but could also take over kick return duties. When he went down with the injury, it was believed that he would miss the rest of the season, but he’ll be available on Tuesday, McVay said.
Funk has primarily played special teams for the Rams this season– he has played in 66% of special team snaps on the year. He has also carried the ball 1 time for 6 yards, in a win against the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jake Funk holds the Maryland state record for career touchdowns from when he was a student at Damascus High School. He went on to play at the University of Maryland before getting drafted by the Rams with the 5th pick of the 7th round earlier this year.
A Few Good Athletics Accomplishments
Congratulations are also in order for several MCPS teams and student-athletes for their championship wins. Among them:
- The Poolesville High School Golf team won the 2021-22 2A State Championship.
- Quince Orchard defeats Henry Wise for Class 4A title
- Olivia Cong of Poolesville High School was named the 1A/2A State Golf Champion.
- The Walt Whitman High School girls’ soccer team won the 2021-22 4A State Championships.
- Varri Higgins of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School was named 4A State Cross Country Champion and Daisy Dastrup of Poolesville High School was named 2A State Cross Country Champion.
- The Gaithersburg High School Cross Country team won the 4A State Sportsmanship award.
Below you’ll see the MoCo school games that will be in the State Quarterfinals of the Maryland high school football playoffs (public schools).
The games will take place on Friday night at 7pm and we will update scores throughout the games.
4A:
Old Mill (8-2) at Quince Orchard (11-0)
Blair (8-2) at Wise (10-0)
Paint Branch (9-1) at Northwest (10-1)
4A-3A
Blake (5-5) at Sherwood (8-2)
Arundel (7-3) at Seneca Valley (8-3)
Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores of the first round of the high school football playoffs. They’ll be updated as we receive them.
3:30 PM
Watkins Mill 0 at Seneca Valley 40
6:30 PM
Oakdale 43at Rockville 6
Richard Montgomery 14 at Churchill 20
Walter Johnson 28 at BCC 20
Wootton 0 at Magruder 16
7:00 PM
Clarksburg 13 at Northwest 38
Gaithersburg 6 at Quince Orchard 49
High Point 0 at Einstein 42
Kennedy 8 at Springbrook 28
Poolesville 28 at Walkersville 35
South Hagerstown 13 at Damascus 54
Saturday 11/6
Wheaton at Laurel (2 PM)
First Round Byes: Blair, Blake, Paint Branch, Sherwood
Forfeits: Northwood, Whitman
