I’m not sure if anyone in Thurmont realizes how unique it is to have their very own radio station. Radio stations don’t belong to individuals. They are licensed to individuals and businesses by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) on behalf of the local community. In Maryland, WTHU is very unique. It is the smallest AM only radio station at 500 watts licensed to a population of around 6,300 in Thurmont. WTHU was founded by Vic Leisner in 1967. He was upset because he couldn’t get Orioles games on the radio way out in the boonies. Aberdeen has a radio station with a smaller signal but a larger population. Pocomoke City has the same signal in a smaller population, but it’s AM and FM. WTHU stands alone in northern Frederick County reaching all the way from Gettysburg to Brunswick and Hagerstown to Mt. Airy during the daytime. Station owners will come and go, but WTHU belongs to the community and it serves that community in many ways.
Vic Leisner, WTHU founder
Catoctin High School Logo
WTHU cannot expand its signal because it is sandwiched in between other radio stations at the same frequency in D.C., Pennsylvania and West Virginia. So how did the smallest AM radio station in Maryland, with no ability to grow it’s physical footprint become the biggest radio station broadcaster of high school sports in the State, with 62 games on air last year? The answer: The Catoctin Cougars 2009 State football championship.
That championship game galvanized our love for Catoctin and local high school sports. When our broadcast team came to Thurmont from Braddock Heights (WJTM) in June of 2008, I approached Catoctin Athletic Director Tom Sherald and made him a proposal. I offered to broadcast all 5 home Catoctin football games on WTHU that year on the radio. Tom was excited and gave us the go ahead. In August of 2009, I went back to Tom and asked him what he thought about broadcasting all 10 games, home and away.
Former Catoctin Athletic Director, Tom Sherald
He was equally enthusiastic about our effort and green lighted the project.
Fourteen games later our broadcast team was standing in an NFL professional football pressbox sending the signal back to Thurmont where the community exploded with the news of a 37-12 victory over Joppatowne and its first ever 1A Maryland State football championship in Ravens stadium!
Ray Lewis, former Baltimore Ravens Linebacker, standing next to his Cadillac Escalade
Catoctin destroyed all competition that season with five shutouts and a thrilling win in the playoffs over Dunbar by one point. That Dunbar game was the famous Ray Lewis – Cadillac Escalade game. Baltimore Ravens players Ray Lewis and Ray Rice showed up with their entourage in a Cadillac Escalade and stood on the Dunbar sidelines. Little, no count Catoctin, ended Dunbar’s 10 game winning streak, and their cocky attitude, with a stunner in Thurmont 13-12 and the home team fans traded a lot of Ray-Ray jokes that day.
A week later, on championship day, it snowed eight inches and we barely made it out of the McDonalds in Mt. Airy where we picked up one of our interns on our way to Ravens stadium. In our first full year broadcasting football on a little AM station from Thurmont, we were watching our team win a State championship, and from a professional NFL pressbox! We never imagined in our wildest dreams in September that we’d be in Baltimore in December.
DREAMS CAN COME TRUE!
And that brings us to 2025 and new Catoctin football head coach Brady Ridenhour. The game has changed a lot since he and his teammates hoisted that trophy which still sits in the case just outside the Catoctin basketball gym 16 years ago. It’s run and gun, wide open, spread formation football with no huddle offense and plays called from the sidelines using exotic hand signals, big cardboard signs and fancy color codes. It’s demanding parents, youth leagues and recruiting players. It’s HUDL films with all night tactical meetings. It’s opposing teams in the stands with sophisticated scouting capabilities. How can little Catoctin high school compete with all these big, fancy schools and their resources? Why would anyone want that kind of stress, hard work and politics?
Catoctin Cougars 2009 State Football Championship
I am certain I know the answer
Every August, Catoctin football coaches and players hit the practice field with a dream. Dreams of winning. A dream of hard work that pays off. They dream of making memories with their best friends. There are dreams of making the big play, the diving catch, the fumble returned for a touchdown. Coaches dream of scheming up that one trick play that goes all the way. Bus rides after a big win. The fans going nuts in the stands after a pick six.
Cool Oldies 1450AM WTHU Logo
We’ve come a long way at WTHU since 2009. Not only did we broadcast 62 games last year, football, basketball, baseball and softball, but we broadcast 11 playoff games and 3 State championships. We brought video into the formula several years ago so the fans can see and hear the game. Family and friends from all the country can watch our games on the internet. I remember getting a phone call from a woman during a Catoctin football game on my cellphone. She told me her grandson was a Catoctin lineman and that I was pronouncing his name wrong and that I’d better straighten out and do it right. I asked her where she was calling from and she said: “Michigan”. Wow! She’s right, I’d better get it right since the fans from all over the country are counting on us. But, you understand. It’s a “Cougars” thing. The dream is bigger than Thurmont.
And now, we’ve expanded our coverage. Our newest project Frederick County Sports Connection is up and running. Just head over to our new website: fredcosports.com for news, predictions, stats, interactive blogs, scores, standings, player and coach interviews and more. All 10 Frederick County high school sports teams in one location!
Catoctin Football Head Coach Brady Ridenour
Coach Brady Ridenhour doesn’t have to dream it…he lived it. Now, its time for our Cougars players and coaches to take the field on opening day against TJ and show their opponents what Dunbar and Fort Hill learned the hard way. I love this quote by Muhammad Ali. “Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions are made by something deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.”
Just suiting up and playing Catoctin Cougars varsity football IS a dream come true.