The Final Score - FNP Podcasts

After Linganore High football rolled to a 56-17 victory over Oakdale in the Class 3A championship game last Saturday in Annapolis to claim its seventh state championship, coach Rick Conner, senior running back Bradly Matthews and senior receiver/defensive back Chase Perry are this week's guests on The Final Score podcast. The guys chat with host Greg Swatek about the season, which will certainly b...

After ending a 32-year state championship drought for Frederick County field hockey teams, Linganore High School is featured on this week's Final Score podcast, as head coach McKenzie Ridgely, star goalie Allena Jaworski and junior midfielder Addison Ridgely join the program. The trio chats with host Greg Swatek about the Lancers' 4-3 victory over Westminster in double overtime back on Nov. 8 in t...

After leading Urbana to the Class 4A team championship in boys cross country on Nov. 8 at Hereford High School, coach Jackie Suarez and senior runner Josh Rothery are this week's guests on the Final Score podcast. Suarez and Rothery chat with host Greg Swatek and winning the championship, which was Urbana's first in boys cross country since 2003 and fourth overall. What made the Hawks such a tight...

After Linganore became Frederick County's first state champion in girls flag football, coach Brian Sweene, senior quarterback Lexi Petrie and sophomore receiver/defensive back Makenna Roberts are this week's guests on The Final Score podcast. The trio chats with host Greg Swatek about the Lancers 26-6 victory over Calvert in the state final at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. What was it like for th...

After being inducted into the Maryland Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum last weekend in Annapolis, Linganore High graduate Ben Arneson, a former state-championship coach for the Lancers and Urbana High School, is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Arneson chats with host Greg Swatek about the induction ceremony and what it meant to him to be selected for the Hal...

With the season underway and armed with a contract extension, Mount St. Mary's women's basketball coach Antoine White is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. White chats with host Greg Swatek about his contract extension, which was just announced by the school this week and keeps him as the coach through the 2030-31 season. He talks about coming to the Mount as a coaching intern from the...

With the season-opening tournament a week away and a big exhibition game this week, Hood College men's basketball coach Chad Dickman is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Dickman chats with host Greg Swatek about the Blazers hosting an exhibition game this week against Mount St. Mary's. It's incredibly rare for a Division III team to host a Division I team in men's basketball. And Mount...

As the start of another season approaches, Mount St. Mary's men's basketball coach Donny Lind is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. The Mount opens the season Nov. 4 at West Virginia. Prior to that, the Mountaineers play an exhibition game at Hood College, which marks both the rare visit of a Division I team to a Division III school and Mount St. Mary's first game in Frederick in its 11...

As his teams gears up for the upcoming playoffs, Oakdale High boys soccer coach Joe Benton is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Benton chats with host Greg Swatek about how he got his start coaching soccer. The coach talks about why he is so passionate about the sport and how he wound up at Oakdale after playing at Hood College and serving as an assistant in the Tuscarora High boys soc...

With his Los Angeles Rams set to play the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday, Linganore graduate Rob Havenstein is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Havenstein chats with host Greg Swatek about the significance of playing once again in the NFL version of his back yard. Although, a nagging ankle injury may get in the way of him doing so. The Mount Airy native is now in his 11th NFL, which al...

With his team seemingly getting better with each passing game, Linganore High girls soccer coach Mike Heller is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Heller reflects with host Greg Swatek on the Lancers' big showdown with Oakdale over the past week. Linganore did not get the result it wanted, falling to the Bears 3-2 in overtime. But the Lancers did push the Bears more than any team had so...

Following her team's big win at the Berkeley Springs Invitational in West Virginia, Urbana High boys cross country coach Jackie Suarez is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Suarez chats with host Greg Swatek about how far the Hawks' program has come over the last four years, from a team that couldn't qualify for states to one that is a top contender for the Class 4A team championship th...

Early in her first season coaching girls flag football at Middletown High School, Chantal Thacker is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Thacker chats with host Greg Swatek about her interesting background with football. From playing with boys on the playground at recess, she went on to play women's tackle football for the CT Wreckers of the Independent Women's Football League and the DC...

With his team off to a good start following a blowout road win last week, Urbana High football coach Zach Shoemaker is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Shoemaker chats with host Greg Swatek about being a head coach for the first time and what that means to him. His father, Roy, was a high school football coach, and Zach has been dreaming about the job and preparing for it for a long t...

Week 1 of the high school football season across Frederick County is here, and Thomas Johnson High football coach Vince Ahearn is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Prior to that interview, host Greg Swatek and FNP sports writer Alexander Dacy provide a comprehensive, team-by-team breakdown of all 12 Frederick County high school football teams, highlighting the storylines, things to wat...

With his third season as the head football coach at Tuscarora High School set to begin, Ryan Hines is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Hines chats with host Greg Swatek about all of the optimism swirling around the Titans' program. The team feels it has the athletes, talent and the culture in place to have a winning season and earn the first playoff win in school history. The discussi...

On this week's episode, The Final Score continues its preview of the upcoming high school football season. Host Greg Swatek and FNP sports writer Alexander Dacy swing around some Frederick County football practices and talk about those team's prospects. Who is looking good so far? What does the overall pecking order in the county look like at this point? Tuscarora football coach Ryan Hines was sch...

As he prepares to begin his 16th season as the only varsity head football coach Oakdale High School has ever known, Kurt Stein is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Stein chats with host Greg Swatek about his longevity with the program and how it has evolved over the years into the perennial power that it is today. Aided by a talented group of returning players, including quarterback Al...

As he prepares to begin his 40th season of coaching high school football, Rick Conner is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. The longtime coach at Linganore High School chats with host Greg Swatek about the upcoming season and how his team expects to maintain its typically high standard. The Lancers have reached the Class 3A in six of the last eight years. But with only one championship...

As the start of another college football season draws near, Rob Ambrose, a Middletown native who just accepted the offensive coordinator position for the Shepherd University football team, is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast, alongside his wife Melissa. Ambrose chats with host Greg Swatek about how the opportunity at Shepherd suddenly came about within the last month and why it's the r...

With the start of fall sports practice on the horizon, The Final Score podcast begins its look at the 2025 high school football season this week with Walkersville High head coach Tyler Thompson. Entering his second season in charge of the program, Thompson chats with host Greg Swatek about how the Lions have prepared over the course of the summer. What is new? What is different? Who will have to e...

After recently being named the new varsity baseball coach at Catoctin High School, Will Delawter, a longtime assistant with the program, is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Delawter chats with host Greg Swatek about how he feels about taking over the program at his alma mater. After two unsettling years at Thomas Johnson High School, during which he won a state title on the baseball t...

After helping the Frederick Flying Cows reach the Final Four of The Basketball League and being named its co-Most Valuable Player, 22-years-old forward Javon Adams is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Adams chats with host Greg Swatek about his successful first season with the Flying Cows that saw him average 19 points, 10 rebounds and lead TBL in shooting percentage (70.1 percent). Ho...

After two eventful years at the University of Georgia, former Catoctin High sprinting star Brody Buffington is this week's guest on The FInal Score podcast. Buffington is coming off his best season at Georgia, during which he set personal-best times in the 100 (10.05 seconds) and 200 (20.2) meter dashes and qualified for NCAA nationals in the 200 in Eugune, Oregon. He chats with host Greg Swatek a...

In his first season as the manager of the Frederick Keys in the Major League Baseball Draft League, former Major League All-Star and World Series champion Preston Wilson is this week's guest on The Final Score podcast. Wilson chats with host Greg Swatek about his 10-year career in the Big Leagues, which included stops with the Mets, Marlins, Rockies, Nationals, Astros and Cardinals, with whom he w...