Glenelg senior running back Kevin Ganascioli continued to run roughshod over the Howard County League yesterday afternoon, and he also added another dimension to his expanding repertoire.
Ganascioli rushed for 155 yards on 16 carries, including a 76-yard touchdown on his first attempt, and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to lead the host Gladiators to a 28-26 victory over River Hill.
With the victory, seventh-ranked Glenelg (10-0 overall, 8-0 county) earned a share of the county title with fellow unbeaten Wilde Lake. The Gladiators also won the Class 2A West regional title to ensure they will open the playoffs at home at 2 p.m. Saturday. Glenelg has won 27 consecutive regular-season games and 24 straight in the county. The Gladiators' last loss came in last season's 2A quarterfinals, 7-0, against Middletown of Frederick County.
River Hill (7-3, 6-3) suffered its third narrow defeat of the season and was eliminated from 3A playoff contention. The Hawks lost to Glenelg, Wilde Lake and Oakland Mills by a total of 12 points.
Glenelg senior fullback Bryan Walsh added 106 yards rushing on 11 attempts, including a 56-yard touchdown. Senior Randy Gardner also had a 95-yard kickoff return to give the Gladiators a 21-13 lead in the second quarter.
But the decisive play for Glenelg came on fourth-and-seven from the River Hill 13-yard line with 5:53 left in the third quarter. Ganascioli took a pitch from senior quarterback Tim Phelps, then threw back to Phelps to cap an 11-play, 72-yard drive and put Glenelg up 28-19.
"We run it all the time in practice," said Ganascioli, who has rushed for 1,114 yards and 10 touchdowns. "That was a perfect situation for it. I've thrown a couple, because I was a quarterback in 10th grade."
There was plenty of offense throughout, as both teams rushed for 319 yards and neither team turned the ball over.
River Hill senior quarterback Chris Martin rushed for 91 yards on 16 carries and completed six of nine passes for 74 yards. His 39-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Tyler Martin brought the Hawks within 21-19 with 33 seconds to play in the half.
"If it wasn't for a couple plays over the season, we could have been the county champs," River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said. "It's tough. Seven and three is an OK year, but we were hoping for more. Our goal is a county championship."
No. 1 Gilman 35, McDonogh 14: Ambrose Wooden rushed for 194 yards and scores of 25 and 61 yards, and passed for 210 yards and scores of 30 and 40 yards to Anthony Triplin as the Greyhounds (10-0, 4-0) clinched their fifth straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference crown over the visiting Eagles (3-6, 1-3).
Wooden accounted for 404 of the Greyhounds' 485 yards of offense and leads the state in career total offensive yards with 7,261 -- 4,033 rushing for 46 touchdowns and 3,228 passing for 30 touchdowns.
No. 8 Wilde Lake 43, Mount Hebron 22: The host Wildecats (10-0, 8-0 in Howard County) rushed for 472 yards on the Vikings (5-4, 3-5) to earn the victory, coach Doug DuVall's 250th of his career.
"It's a point I never thought I'd get to, but I've had great assistants that stayed with me a long time and good kids who play hard," said DuVall, who started at Wilde Lake in 1972.
Long Reach 13, No. 14 Oakland Mills 6: On the first play of overtime, junior Jeremy Scott rushed in from 10 yards, then the host Lightning (7-3, 6-3 in Howard County) stopped the Scorpions (7-3, 6-3) on four straight downs to clinch the victory.
Staff reports contributed to this article.