Dry runs Glenelg football to playoff victory over Century

The 100-yard performance is Dry’s sixth of the season. The 5-foot, 8-inch, 145-pound scat back has totaled 1,239 yards and 13 touchdowns on 213 carries in his senior campaign. When asked to carry the ball 29 times on Friday, Dry didn’t question whether he can handle the workload.

“I’m just a football player playing football,” Dry said. “I’m just getting the ball and running for my life. Whatever happens, happens.”

Glenelg (7-3) will play No. 3 Liberty, which defeated Oakland Mills 51-13, next week in the second round. The winner of that game — along with the other seven teams remaining in the 2A playoffs — will be re-seeded by regular season winning percentage.

Despite the slightly sub-freezing temperature, Dry started the game at Glenelg High School hot. The senior returned the opening kickoff to Century’s 48-yard line and then ran for 46 yards on four straight handoffs to start the drive. Mason Davis then scored on a 2-yard QB sneak to put the Gladiators up 7-0.

“That first drive was all him,” Cullen said. “That was what we talked about needing to do against them. They’re a good team, and they’re well coached.”

After a Cooper Sancomb interception, Dry toted the ball on eight of Glenelg’s nine plays, capping the scoring drive with a 3-yard touchdown to give Glenelg a 14-0 lead.

“That was huge,” Dry said of Sancomb’s interception that set the up on Century’s 41-yard line. “Earlier in the season we’d start slow and it would come back to bite us. When you come out with two scores to go up 14-0, that’s huge.”

Dry then put the Gladiators up 21-0 late in the first half with another 3-yard touchdown. The score finalized a 15-play, 79-yard drive that took up 12 minutes, 35 seconds of clock.

Century (6-4) got on the scoreboard with less than 30 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Landon Bruce started the drive with a 61-yard run and ended it with a 5-yard plunge to put the Knights down 21-7 at halftime. Bruce ended the game with 124 yards rushing on 23 carries.

“The positives were that we fought back,” said Century head coach Todd Edmondson. “The first quarter didn’t go our way. They smacked us in the mouth. The score there at the end of the half was big, but we had two bad turnovers in the second half that hurt us.”

A Century ball carrier fumbled early in the second half inside its own 20, and Glenelg took advantage of the short field. Davis scored his second TD on a QB sneak — this one a 1-yard plunge in fourth-and-goal.

Kicker Chris Retzbach then sealed the victory with a 32-yard field goal to put Glenelg up 31-7 late in the third quarter. Century’s Dereik Crosby scored the final touchdown of the game on a 47-yard run late in the contest.

“They’re great kids,” Edmondson said of his senior class. “They bought in. They laid a footprint with two straight years in the playoffs. They’re going to go on to do great things in life.”

Glenelg’s second-round game against Liberty is on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. The game will be a reunion between Cullen and Liberty coach Larry Luthe, who coached Cullen at Hammond.

“Larry was my line coach at Hammond,” Cullen said. “Me and Larry go way back. He’s a great guy. It will be fun. We’ve kept in touch over the last couple of years. We know we’re going to have our hands full with them.”

Box score:

C — 0 7 0 7 — 14

G — 14 7 10 0 — 31

Scoring plays:

First quarter

G: Mason Davis 2-yard run, Chris Retzbach kick [7-0]

G: Kyle Dry 3-yard run, Retzbach kick [14-0]

Second quarter

G: Dry 3-yard run, Retzbach kick [21-0]

C: Landon Bruce 5-yard run, Kevin Hackett kick [21-7]

Third quarter

G: Davis 1-yard run, Retzbach kick [28-7]

G: Retzbach 32-yard field goal [31-7]

Fourth quarter

C: Dereik Crosby 47-yard run, Hackett kick [31-14]