Glenelg football snaps Howard 32-game county win streak with 25-20 victory

Glenelg football coach Butch Schaffer has been around long enough to know how much the Howard game means to the community.He was getting phone calls and emails all week from alumni, asking him to bring the &quot;Elgard&quot; Trophy back home and end the Lions' 32-game county winning streak that dated back to October 11, 2013.On Friday night on their home turf, the Gladiators mauled Howard from start to finish and raised the trophy after a 25-20 victory.&quot;Our kids know the history of this and we got a lot of phone calls from people in the past, saying to end the streak, and our kids bought into it,&quot; Schaffer said.The key for Glenelg was its offensive line, a massive group of upperclassmen who set the tone early and often. Running back Wande Owens took advantage, rushing for 186 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries, including the game-winning score on a 6-yard run with 5 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.&quot;We challenged [the offensive line] all week,&quot; Schaffer said. &quot;We're a senior-laden team up front and we put the onus on them. They stepped up and they knew this was likely the last chance they get to play here and we wanted to make it count.&quot;Lions coach Bruce Strunk credited the play of the Gladiators' offensive line as well, saying it was the difference in the game.&quot;They came out and they did what they had to do. My hats off to them,&quot; he said. &quot;We knew it was going to be a tough game. We have a smaller line on defense and our biggest fear was that we couldn't duplicate what they did all week in practice. They just mushed us.&quot;Quarterback Hunter Forsyth, who made some of the game's biggest plays in the clutch moments, had heard enough of the criticism. He finished 5-for-6 passing for 106 yards and a rushing touchdown, and afterward he dedicated the win to his mom.&quot;I hear [the criticism] all the time. It's nice finally breaking away from that,&quot; he said. &quot;It was a team win. ... Teams stack the box on us, which makes it hard on our run game, so I just need a few passes.Added Forsyth: &quot;This is huge, especially for my mom. She had brain surgery Tuesday night and it turned out that she is completely healthy. She was supposed to be at Johns Hopkins until Saturday, but she's here. On senior night having her here, it's a huge deal.&quot;Forsyth, who is a wide receiver who had to convert to quarterback this season because of necessity, earned praise from his head coach as well.&quot;Hunter had a tremendous game and he did a lot of things tremendously well,&quot; Schaffer said. &quot;That's the way he's capable of playing, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year if he plays like that. I'm really proud of him sticking in there. He's a true receiver who had to move to quarterback because we didn't have anyone else.&quot;Howard needed just four plays to go 45 yards for its first touchdown less than two minutes into the game, as quarterback Robby Porter found the end zone on a 1-yard plunge.Glenelg (7-2) answered, just as it would do all night. It went 72 yards on a methodical 12-play drive, in which Owens carried the ball nine times for 56 yards and scored on a 3-yard run. The touchdown was the first the Lions have allowed in the first quarter all season.&quot;We can't do anything without our line,&quot; said Owens, who added that he had a good feeling about the game all week. &quot;The line got the right surges at the right times. My success is a credit to the line and the coaches.&quot;Howard (8-1), though, scored on its following possession, as Porter completed his second pass of the drive to Anthony Reid for a 26-yard touchdown.The Gladiators weren't done in the first half. They put together a 15-play, 86-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters and took 9:07 off the clock. Owens finished things off with an 8-yard run, and after the extra point failed, Howard led at the half, 14-13.&quot;We have to play that style of football, especially against a team as explosive as Howard, which had tremendous athletes all over the field. We don't have a choice,&quot; Schaffer said. &quot;We have to play our style and the kids have to buy into that.&quot;Glenelg opened the second half and started to break off bigger plays, as Owens broke free for runs of 12 and 31 yards, while Forsyth had a 26-yard carry and the 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak to give his team a 19-14 lead after a failed two-point conversion.The Lions re-took the lead two possessions later, as running back Devin Dawkins (14 carries, 125 yards) got loose for a nifty 33-yard touchdown run, but their conversion also failed.Down 20-19 entering the final quarter, Glenelg once again imposed its will on the Howard defensive line. The Gladiators went 78 yards on 10 plays, which included a miraculous catch by Garrett Mills, who ripped the ball out of a defender's hands for a 35-yard reception, and the game-winning score from Owens.&quot;When he caught that, I was going crazy,&quot; Owens said. &quot;I saw [Howard's James Payne] caught it, but Garrett ripped it out. That was amazing.&quot;Glenelg forced the Lions to go three-and-out and punt, but it would turn out to be the last time they touched the ball. The Gladiators rode the back of their offensive line once again and picked up a pair of first downs, including a 4-yard quarterback sneak from Forsyth on a fourth-and-1, to ice the game and bring the &quot;Elgard&quot; Trophy back to Western Howard County.&quot;The offensive line at the end of the game, we did our jobs,&quot; said Gladiators senior lineman Dakota Davis.The win is the first for Glenelg over Howard since a 35-20 victory on October 4, 2013. The Lions started their county winning streak two weeks later.&quot;We had to match their intensity. Those kids play so hard, we had to bring it up a level,&quot; Schaffer said. &quot;That's a tremendous program and for us to match them snap for snap was an unbelievable effort from our kids.&quot;In the playoff race, Howard got some help in that Bel Air, which was the No. 3 seed behind the Lions and top-seeded Sherwood, also lost. The defending regional champions will likely stay in the No. 2 spot and qualify for the postseason, but they will need a win over Atholton to make it happen.&quot;We knew they were going to move the ball on us; we just couldn't let them have the big play, and they did. And they kept the ball a little longer than they usually do,&quot; Strunk said. &quot;I thought the county this year was going to be more of a meat grinder this year ... We've got to win next week to get a share of the county title.&quot;Glenelg, meanwhile, is likely still the No. 2 seed in the 3A East regional playoffs, despite Long Reach falling for a second straight week to Reservoir, 20-13. The Lightning loss means Howard can win the county title outright next weekend with a victory.Glenelg (7-2) – 7 6 6 6 – 25Howard (8-1) – 14 0 6 0 – 20 Scoring plays:First quarterHo: Robby Porter 1-yard run, Michael Gillespie kick [0-7]G: Wande Owens, 3-yard run, Hunter Forsyth kick [7-7]Ho: Porter 26-yard pass to Anthony Reid, Gillespie kick [7-14]Second quarter G: Owens 8-yard run, kick failed [13-14]Third quarter G: Forsyth 1-yard run, conversion failed [19-14]Ho: Devin Dawkins 33-yard run, conversion failed [19-20]Fourth quarter G: Owens 5-yard run, conversion failed [25-20]Other scores:Wilde Lake (6-3) – 2 0 6 6 – 14Centennial (1-8) – 6 0 0 6 – 12 Scoring plays:First quarterC: Matt Shoenberger 1-yard run, kick failed [0-6]WL: Defensive safety [2-6]Third quarterWL: TJ Bright 55-yard pass to Darius Nicholas, conversion failed [8-6]Fourth quarterWL: Malcolm Moore 26-yard run, kick failed [14-6]C: Michael Klein 34-yard run, conversion failed [14-12]Atholton (6-3) – 10 7 7 0 – 24Oakland Mills (4-5) – 0 13 0 6 – 19 Scoring plays:First quarterA: Ben Lovera 37-yard field goal [3-0]A: Jelani Dula 68-yard run, Lovera kick [10-0]Second quarterOM: Shallon Robinson 9-yard run, kick failed [10-6]OM: Jorie Kolliegbo 5-yard run, kick good [10-13]A: Dominic Totaro pass to Greg Harris, Lovera kick [17-13]Third quarterA: Totaro 70-yard pass to Jacob Waterworth, Lovera kick [24-13]Fourth quarterOM: Robinson 49-yard pass to Jordan Hopkins, kick failed [24-19]Reservoir (3-6) – 20, Long Reach (7-2) – 13Marriotts Ridge (5-4) – 40, Mt. Hebron (2-7) – 14 Saturday's game:River Hill (4-4) at Hammond (0-8)

Glenelg football snaps Howard 32-game county win streak with 25-20 victory

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