The Hammond football team accomplished the unlikely Friday night, ending River Hill's 30-game winning streak, 47-38, in Clarksville.
The Hawks, who have won the last two 3A state titles, last lost at Hammond on Sept. 23, 2011.
Hammond senior quarterback Tyler Martin threw six touchdown passes in the win: three to sophomore Deandre House (6 catches, 136 yards), two to senior Lolando Hamilton (6, 86) and one to senior tight end Brendan Urban (12, 161).
Martin completed 31 of his 41 pass attempts for 441 yards. John Mbah also had six catches for 55 yards.
"We were just trying to get our receivers the ball in space, using all of our weapons," said Martin, who rushed for the Golden Bears' seventh and final touchdown. "We changed up the pass protection a little and my teammates really stepped up to help me out a lot and I'm really proud of them … I just had to close my eyes (after the game) and think about it. It's not really going to hit me until tomorrow."
The Hawks had allowed only 24 points before Friday night. This was the most points allowed by River Hill in at least a decade.
Martin, who was also the starting quarterback as a sophomore when Hammond beat River Hill in 2011, said that facing a familiar foe helped.
"River Hill runs pretty much the exact same defense as us, so that helped our line know what to expect," Martin said.
River Hill fell to 6-1 with the loss. Hammond improved to 5-2.
"This means a lot, being in the 2A South, we've got to win out to make the playoffs," said first-year coach Justin Carey, who was the defensive coordinator at Atholton last year.
At Atholton, Carey was the defensive coordinator for Kyle Schmitt — now the head coach at Archbishop Spalding — who twice defeated River Hill. Carey said that he used his experience at Atholton — the Raiders lost, 35-27, in a playoff game at Atholton last year — and the consultation of Schmitt to create the winning game plan for Friday night's victory.
"We handled ourselves very well after the game," Carey said. "This is definitely a momentum builder."
Ha (5-2) 7 7 13 20 - 47
RH (6-1) 14 14 3 7 - 38