As Howard coach Bruce Strunk looked at the scoreboard after his team's 39-6 win over visiting Hammond Friday night, he couldn't quite believe what he saw.
"Anytime we can walk off the field with something that looks like that, I'm OK," Strunk said. "The ball bounced our way ... but that's the nature of the game, tonight was our night."
"We're not 39-6 better than them, but tonight we were."
It was Hammond's worst loss since a 41-6 setback against River Hill on Sept. 4, 2009.
The Lions activated the running clock in the fourth quarter of a game that amounted to a playoff qualifer.
Howard (7-3) clinched the third seed in the 3A East playoffs with the win, while Hammond (6-4) was eliminated when Stephen Decatur defeated Snow Hill to capture the fourth and final spot. Howard will visit second-seeded River Hill next Friday night, while top-seeded Atholton hosts Decatur.
Hammond turned the ball over four times, with three of the giveaways leading to Howard touchdowns, including a 20-yard interception return by Andrew Young. Konner Ruggles also had an interception, and Jonathon Mbagwu had a pair of strip sacks, both recovered by Chris Mukasa.
Howard was coming off of a 13-7 overtime win against Reservoir that kept the Lions' playoff hopes alive.
"Our defense stepped up unbelievably the last two weeks. Last week against Reservoir they performed phenomenally and this week again they brought the same tenacity," senior quarterback Ryan Wade said. "They played out of their minds today. If you told us that we were going to play this well ... I know everyone is surprised."
Howard's Mbagwu, Mukasa and Noah Johnson all had multiple tackles for loss in the game.
The Lions offense also provided big plays, including an 81-yard touchdown run by Joey Bonavitacola and a 49-yard pass from Ryan Wade to Evan Jackson.
Bonavitacola's long run gave Howard a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
"I got the ball and I cut back real hard, because I saw that the linebacker had shifted over, and I took off down the field," Bonavitacola said. "I had to run my butt off because I knew somebody was going to catch up. They're a very fast team."
Bonavitacola's older brother, A.J., rushed for more than 3,000 yards at Howard and was an all-county selection as a senior in 2009.
"We've got different running styles. I'm just a small guy, 150 pounds, and he's 200 pounds and jacked," Joey Bonavitacola said. "But I'm following in his footsteps wearing his number (6) and everything."
Hammond's Devon Paye averted the shut out, and stopped the running clock, with a 60-yard touchdown run with only 15 seconds remaining in the game.
"I'm not really sure what went wrong. I guess we didn't come out with enough heart," said Paye, who had an 89-yard kickoff return called back for a block in the back. "It's my senior year, I just tried to go out with a bang."
Despite the lopsided score, Paye ran the ball hard into the fourth quarter, earning the admiration of his opponents.
"He's a beast, I think he's the best I-back to come through Howard County in a long time. He just runs over people," Strunk said. "Our whole team and all of our coaches went up to him (after the game). That kid's a warrior, as many times as they gave him the ball tonight, and he took some shots and gave out some shots. Their kids played right until the end."
Hammond was without junior running back Dionte Jones, the lightning to Paye's thunder, who had more than 400 yards and five touchdowns rushing/receiving at the season's halfway point, and had more than 100 yards and two touchdowns last week against Oakland Mills.
"We didn't really do anything special but it made our job a little easier that we're keying on one person," Strunk said.
Paye essentially was the Hammond offense. He rushed the ball 26 times for 171 yards. Accounting for negative yardage, Hammond had 165 yards of total offense on 43 plays. In all, the Golden Bears had 11 plays stopped by Howard behind the line of scrimmage and 11 more that gained two or less yards.
Howard, on the other hand, had three runners with at least 50 yards — Bonavitacola (17 for 133), Michael Anderson (16-81) and DaRon Floyd (8-54) — and each of them scored a touchdown. The Lions had only two plays that lost yardage.
"We always have fresh legs, we're always ready to go, every second," Bonavitacola said of his team's deep rushing corps.
Last year, Hammond won at Howard on the final day of the regular season to clinch a playoff berth and a share of its first county title, knocking Howard out of playoff contention.
"Last year was a heartbreaker coming up short four or five yards, knowing that we were five yards away from the playoffs," Wade said. "Then this year to come out and not only win but to win big, it's so rewarding for the work that we've put in since last years loss."
Ha (6-4) 0 0 0 6 - 6
Ho (7-3) 13 13 7 6 - 39
First quarter
Ho: Wade 2 run (Lee kick), 5:47.
Ho: Bonavitacola 81 run (kick failed), 3:33.
Second quarter
Ho: Anderson 4 run (Lee kick), 9:13.
Ho: Jackson 49 pass from Wade (kick failed), :56.
Third quarter
Ho: Young 20 interception return (Lee kick), :36.
Fourth quarter
Ho: Floyd 1 run (kick failed), 4:30.
Ha: Paye 60 run (run failed), :15.
Rushing leaders
Ha: Paye 26 carries-171 yards, TD; Lashley, 2-1.
Ho: Bonavitacola 17-133, TD; Anderson 16-81, TD; Floyd 8-54, TD; Wade 2-4, TD.
Passing leaders
Ha: Martin 2/10, 36, 2 INTs.
Ho: Wade 2/4, 54, TD.
Receiving leaders
Ha: Hall 1-25; Moore 1-11.
Ho: Jackson 1-49; Payne 1-5.
First downs
Ha: 8
Ho: 15
Time of possession
Ha: 19:06
Ho: 24:30
Third-down efficiency
Ha: 2/10
Ho: 5/10
Fourth-down efficiency
Ha: 1/2
Ho: 1/3
Penalties
Ha: 4-45
Ho: 4-20
Around the league
Atholton (9-1) shut out Centennial (1-9), 49-0, to clinch its first ever full county title. The Raiders shared the county title in 1988 and 1976.
Brian McMahon completed six of his eight pass attempts for 73 yards and two touchdowns: 15 yards to Austin Tennessee and 25 yards to Dequan Ellison. Kenny Thomas (67 yards, 3 TDs) and Jorry Matherson (57, 1) led the Raiders rushing effort. Brett Haas was 7-for-7 on extra point attempts.
Ean Katz (five tackles, forced fumble), Steve Whiting (forced fumble), Patrick Mullens (five tackles, sack, two fumble recoveries), Jamal Washington (sack), Cameron Fogle (three tackles, fumble recovery), Tennessee (interception), Morgan Powell (four tackles), Matherson (five tackles), Wade Lee (five tackles) and David Bell (four tackles) led the Raiders to their third shut out in a row and fifth of the season.
A (9-1) 21 21 0 7 - 49
C (1-9) 0 0 0 0 - 0
First quarter
A: Thomas 5 run (Haas kick), 9:15.
A: Thomas 23 run (Haas kick), 4:15.
A: Tennessee 15 pass from McMahon (Haas kick), :01.
Second quarter
A: Thomas 1 run (Haas kick), 11:05.
A: Ellison 25 pass from McMahon (Haas kick), 9:05.
A: Mullens 1 run (Haas kick), 5:56.
Fourth quarter
A: Matherson 6 run (Haas kick), 1:20.
River Hill (8-2) shut out Mt. Hebron (3-7), 42-0. It was the Hawks' third shut out this season.
Raamah Vaughn scored twice, on a four-yard run and a five-yard pass to Randall Lawson. Lawson also scored a second time, on a 27-yard interception return. Davis Grove was 5-for-5 on extra point attempts.
The Hawks won the battle of first downs, 19-4. Vaughn completed three passes for 65 yards, and Lawson caught two passes for 46 yards. Stephan Osong also caught two passes, for 39 yards.
Evan Griffin (97 yards), Osong (67), Auctavius Bennett (56) and Lawson (46) led the Hawks running game.
Zach Nicholas led the Mt. Hebron offense with 71 rushing yards and a 13-yard reception from Michael O'Rourke.
RH (8-2) 7 14 14 7 - 42
MH (3-7) 0 0 0 0 - 0
First quarter
RH: Vaughn 4 run (Grove kick).
Second quarter
RH: Lawson 5 pass from Vaughn (Grove kick).
RH: Osong 1 run (Grove kick).
Third quarter
RH: Griffin 3 run (Grove kick).
RH: Lawson 27 interception return (Grove kick).
Fourth quarter
RH: Howell 6 run (Griffin kick).
Reservoir (6-4) defeated defending state champion Wilde Lake (4-6) to secure a winning record. The Gators won five of their last six games.
Re (6-4) 0 6 6 2 - 14
WL (4-6) 8 0 0 0 - 8
First quarter
WL: Barnes 48 run (Barnes run), 8:51.
Second quarter
Re: Armstrong 2 pass from Montgomery (run failed), :49.
Third quarter
Re: Montgomery 1 run (pass failed), :09.
Fourth quarter
Re: Safety (Motta tackled punter in end zone), 7:27.
Glenelg (8-2) defeated Marriotts Ridge (0-10), 40-7.
The Mustangs, whose last win was Nov. 7 of 2008, have now lost 30 games in a row.