Football Players of the Year: Cosh, Furman took games to new levels

Billy Cosh and Josh Furman spent more than three hours last week trying to outdo one another, either punctuating two years of dominance or providing all in attendance a glimpse of the future.

Or both.

Together, Cosh and Furman suspended time for a moment, while they put their arms and legs on display to create one of the greatest Anne Arundel County football games in recent memory. And together, they'll share the Capital-Gazette Communications' Football Player of the Year honor.

"It's hard to have anyone be second place," Old Mill coach Damian Ferragamo said.

Cosh completed a record-setting career with Arundel on the short end of a 58-55 loss to Old Mill in the Class 4A East Region final - a bitter end to a brilliant two years.

And he's got Furman to thank for it.

Old Mill's dynamic running back spoiled Cosh's 445-yard, six-touchdown performance - including two 1-yard rushing scores - by slashing his way through Arundel's defense. Furman took 42 carries for 414 yards and six touchdowns to force ties at 48 and 55 before watching Brad Cummings' 29-yard field goal land.

"Josh Furman played extremely well that game," Cosh said. "He's an incredible player."

Cosh would know. He's played with a few, and he's a large factor in their successes.

After replacing Nick Elko in 2008, Cosh had questions to answer: Who is this guy? Can he do what Elko did? Is the offense going to lose its step?

It took Cosh one game to answer all of them. He threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns - one of a then-single-season record 23 to Alec Lemon and R.J. Harris' first career touchdown - to beat Broadneck, 28-13. During his last 24 games, Cosh was 22-3 and gained less than 169 yards only twice.

"We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth thing because R.J. and Cosh have such a good chemistry," said Randy Spann, Old Mill's linebacker and fullback. "You could put the best corner back on R.J., and Cosh would find a way to put it in there."

The two of them combined to set nine records. Cosh, who threw for 55 scores this season - one short of the record he set last year - became Maryland's career leader in completions (594), attempts (909), passing yards (7,433) and touchdowns (112).

Harris erased former teammates Brandon Johnson-Farrell and Lemon from the book this year with single-season records in receptions (114), 1,655 yards and 28 touchdowns.

"He's the perfect guy," said Harris, whose career touchdowns (48) and receptions (190) are both records. "With our offense, there's a lot of passing and reading the zones, and he's really great at that."

Cosh, who owns 11 individual state records and a share of three team marks set last year, played one fewer game than he did in 2008, but still managed to throw for 55 touchdowns and 3,360 yards.

Cosh's 55th touchdown, a 15-yard strike to Harris, gave Arundel a 41-40 lead over Old Mill to cap a 14-point comeback in 2 minutes, 10 seconds at the start of the fourth quarter.

"When they took the lead," Furman said, "I was kind of a scared that we might lose the game because they can pass the ball and very well."

The only stumble Cosh had this season was in an 18-6 victory over Annapolis in the Class 4A East Region semifinals, while he had to battle a strong secondary and a steady downpour.

"It's funny," Wildcats coach Chuck Markiewicz said. "Last year, he was perplexed because he felt he had to win the football game. Against Annapolis in that weather, he came full circle. He was frustrated because he couldn't do what he wanted to do."

Furman's done exactly what he set out to do.

After transferring to Old Mill from Annapolis prior to last season, Furman rushed for 796 yards and 14 touchdowns alongside fellow Division I-caliber running back Jason Clements. In the same amount of games this year, Furman has 2,071 yards and 29 touchdowns - more scores than any other two Anne Arundel County backs combined.

"This season, the defense was down a couple times, just had a bad game and having problems," Patriots cornerback A.J. Butler said. "I can always count on those two to bust a big play, and 90 percent of the time, they'll bust it. It's a relief."

Furman has made it a more than a habit. It's just a matter of time.

He's taken 15 of his touchdown carries 35 yards or more, including 12 of at least 50. Against Broadneck, Furman scored three times - once from 50 and another 59 - and he ran for 51- and 65-yarders against Northeast.

Of his three 85-plus touchdown runs, Furman's taken two against Arundel to bookend his season for the moment.

"It's the downfield blocking," said Furman, who's narrowed a long list of Division I programs to Michigan and Virginia Tech and will announce his decision at the Crab Bowl on Dec. 19. "When I get the 60-, 70-, 80-yard runs, it's always the route receivers that are blocking out or in, and they're reading off my routes. It's hard to tell where they should block because I'm cutting everywhere."

Furman, who missed a Week 6 game against South River, ranks second on Old Mill's single-season marks for yards and touchdowns. With his 414-yard, six-score outburst last week, Furman moved ahead of Brashaad Mayweather, who ran for 1,895 yards in 2002, and Kelvin Coates' 24 touchdowns in 2000.

Had Ferragamo not limited Furman's carries against the weaker teams on the schedule - he had three touches for 113 yards and two scores against Northeast and put six rushes for 148 and a touchdown on Glen Burnie - Ryan Callahan's 2004 records of 2,303 yards and 36 touchdowns might not be standing.

"We saved him for this reason right now: So when we play Arundel, we can give him the ball 40 times," Ferragamo said. "If we'd have lost to Arundel, we'd have looked stupid. But it worked out."

Furman understood the point. He's just making up for lost time.

In order to break Callahan's records, he figures he'll need a win tomorrow against Sherwood in the Class 4A state semifinals to ensure another game. If he can maintain his average of 10.1 yards per carry, he'll need only 23 touches to become Old Mill's single-season leader.

That wouldn't be a bad parting gift to remember his career as a running back.

"I just knew my senior year, I was going to play running back, and I know I'm not going to play running back in college," said Furman, who's being recruited as a safety and an outside linebacker. "I just knew I had to do it big on the offensive side."

Just like Cosh has done.

After nearly perfecting Arundel's offensive system, Cosh is taking his career to Kansas State. He'll graduate on Jan. 15 and leave soon afterward to begin working out with his teammates and coaches and should compete for a starting spot once.

Cosh has aspirations of coaching once he's done playing - which might be a while.

"I think he can play on Sundays," Markiewicz said. "The game moves so slowly for him."

If Cosh does make the jump, he expects to one day see Furman there with him, staring back into his eyes. The two can do battle once more and continue what they started in 2008.

For now, though, Furman's still got at least one game left, and he has one job - run.

"That's all he's got to do," Ferragamo said. "I don't want him to do anything else."