Anyone who heard that Atholton completed only one pass on Friday night at Hammond, and that Golden Bears running back Devon Paye ran for almost 300 yards might have assumed that the home team ran away with victory.
After all, the game was billed by some — errantly, it seems — as Atholton's pass-heavy offense against Hammond's running attack.
As it turns out, the Raiders can run the ball as effectively as they can throw it, as they demonstrated in a 40-21 victory.
"We came into the game knowing that our running game might be a little bit underestimated," Atholton leading rusher Kenny Thomas said. "We have a balanced offense. Our running game has been flying under the radar for awhile and today was my chance to prove myself."
Thomas (21 carries, 119 yards) and quarterback Brian McMahon (18-113) rushed for a pair of touchdowns each, and McMahon's one completion was a 51-yard touchdown strike to leading receiver Dequan Ellison.
Atholton coach Kyle Schmitt said that his team can pass the ball or run it, and it all starts at the line of scrimmage.
"Our offensive line has been excellent, our offensive line coach Ed Tyler does a heck of a job, and that group has been carrying us. That's the heart of any team," said Schmitt, who himself was an all-conference offensive lineman at the University of Maryland.
Hammond actually cut Atholton's lead, which was 20-7 at halftime, to six points (27-21) with six minutes left in the game after a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Martin to Akili Moore.
But on the ensuing kickoff, Atholton's Jorry Matherson collected the ball inside his own 20 and sprinted up the visitors sideline for a Raiders touchdown less than 20 seconds later.
"I was excited to see him break it," Thomas said. "That was the play of the game right there, that sealed the deal for us."
The touchdown return virtually derailed Hammond's comeback attempt.
"That put a knife in us, that killed us," Hammond coach Dan Makosy said. "But I like the fact that they didn't quit. We'll change things, we'll hopefully get to play them one more time and we'll be ready for them."
Matherson also made a big play in the third quarter when he recovered a fumble at midfield caused by teammate Josh Martin.
That was Hammond's only turnover, but Atholton did not turn the ball over at all.
"We just didn't let that happen, but we've got some things to work on," Schmitt said. "It's a bunch of things that are fixable that we can get better at, but it's a great win. The kids just keep fighting, nothing fazes them right now."
In a losing effort, Paye showed why he is one of the best running backs in the state, and has a chance to star at the Division I level next year. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior toted the ball 29 times for 283 yards, including runs of 25, 71 and 80 yards. His 80-yard dash with less than ten seconds left in the first half allowed the Golden Bears to go into the locker room at halftime on a positive note.
"We wanted to get them into prevent because we knew as soon as they did we could get him out into space," Makosy said. "That was what we planned on running."
Paye gained 138 yards on 15 carries in the first half, and 145 yards on 15 carries in the second half.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Martin was also a bright spot for the Golden Bears. Midway through the third quarter, with his team trailing 27-6 and facing fourth and goal from the Atholton 7-yard line, Martin eluded several tacklers in the backfield, and then scrambled for a do-or-die touchdown. He then calmly threw a pass to Charles Holly for the 2-point conversion, trimming the Atholton lead to 27-14.
A (6-1) 7 13 7 13 - 40
Ha (5-2) 0 6 8 7 - 21
First quarter
A: McMahon 14 run (Haas kick), 2:02.
Second quarter
A: Thomas 2 run (Haas kick), 8:44.
A: Ellison 51 pass from McMahon (kick failed), :24.
Ha: Paye 80 run (pass failed), :09.
Third quarter
A: Thomas 14 run (Haas kick), 10:05.
Ha: Martin 7 run (Holly pass from Martin), 8:34.
Fourth quarter
Ha: Moore 34 pass from Martin (Whittaker kick), 6:09.
A: Matherson 82 kick return (pass failed), 5:52.
A: McMahon 5 run (Haas kick), 1:37.
Rushing
A: Thomas, 21-119, 2 TD; McMahon, 18-113, 2 TD; Powell, 1-11; Tennessee, 2-8; Newsome, 2-6; Matherson, 1-6; Team, 45-263.
Ha: Paye, 29-283, TD; Jones, 14-33; Martin, 2-9, TD; Team, 45-325.
Passing
A: McMahon, 1/7, 51, TD.
Ha: Martin, 4/10, 52, TD; Whitlock, 2/4, 13.
Receiving
A: Ellison, 1-51, TD.
Ha: Moore, 1-34, TD; Kelley, 1-12; Hall, 1-9; Holly, 2-7; Jones, 1-4.
Around the league
Reservoir (4-3) won in overtime on the road at Glenelg (6-1), handing the Gladiators their first loss of the season, and opening the door for Atholton (6-1) to move into a tie for first place in the county.
Nick Crabill got Glenelg on the scoreboard first with a short run from two yards out, but Reservoir responded on its next drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass from E.J. Montgomery to Kenny Frazier. Austin Marsh then gave the Gators a 10-6 halftime lead by kicking a 25-yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the second quarter.
Marsh struck again with a 15-yard field goal late in the third quarter, but Glenelg managed to tie the game, 13-13, when Mark Darden tossed a 35-yard touchdown pass to David Brookhart with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.
In overtime, Montgomery's short quarterback keeper was the clincher for the Gators.
Reservoir came into the game with momentum. The Gators were coming off of a pair of shutouts, 42-0 and 34-0, against Mt. Hebron and Centennial.
Glenelg had won its last two games by a field goal, 17-14 at Hammond and 23-20 at Long Reach.
Re (4-3) 0 10 3 0 6 - 19
G (6-1) 0 6 0 7 0 - 13
Second quarter
G: Crabill 2 run (kick failed), 10:06.
Re: Frazier 19 pass from Montgomery (Marsh kick), 8:33.
Re: Marsh 25 field goal, 1:53.
Third quarter
Re: Marsh 15 field goal, 1:20.
Fourth quarter
G: Brookhart 35 pass from Darden (Brister kick), 4:31.
OT
Re: Montgomery 1 run.
River Hill (5-2) pulled into a tie with Hammond by defeating Oakland Mills (1-6), 59-6.
The Scorpions briefly tied the game at 6-6 in the first quarter on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Kurtis Coleman to Dershone Hayman, but River Hill reclaimed the lead on one of Aaron Wells' three first-half TD runs and never looked back.
After losing two games in a row in mid-September — to Atholton and Hammond — River Hill has now won three games in a row by a combined score of 139-13.
OM (1-6) 6 0 0 0 - 6
RH (5-2) 14 27 6 12 - 59
First quarter
RH: Wells 1 run (kick failed).
OM: Hayman 31 pass from Coleman (kick failed).
RH: Wells 10 run (Vaughn run).
Second quarter
RH: Wells 9 run (Grove kick).
RH: Griffin 31 run (Grove kick).
RH: Vaughn 10 run (kick failed).
RH: Vaughn 30 run (Grove kick).
Third quarter
RH: Ball 22 pass from Vaughn (kick failed).
Fourth quarter
RH: Osong 1 run (kick failed).
RH: Kinkead 5 run (kick failed).
Howard (5-2) bounced back from its week six loss to River Hill — a loss that ended a three-game Lions winning streak — by upending Marriotts Ridge (0-7), 33-7.
Michael Anderson rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, while Chris McElligott caught a TD pass from Ryan Wade, and rushed for another.
MR (0-7) 0 0 0 7 - 7
Ho (5-2) 7 13 13 0 - 33
First quarter
Ho: Anderson 6 run (Lee kick).
Second quarter
Ho: Anderson 47 run (Lee kick).
Ho: McElligott 6 run (kick failed).
Third quarter
Ho: Anderson 18 run (Lee kick).
Ho: McElligott pass from Wade (kick failed).
Fourth quarter
MR: Bart 23 pass from Stevens (Carson kick).
Wilde Lake (4-3) defeated Centennial (0-7), 30-0. The Wildecats led, 6-0, at halftime, but broke out with three TDs in the third quarter on three big plays: a 70-yard run by Antoine Barnes, a 55-yard interception return by Jordan Mynatt and a 45-yard fumble recovery by Thomas Lah. Barnes rushed for more than 100 yards and had one of his team's eight sacks (Russell Rollow had three). It was Wilde Lake's second consecutive shutout.
WL (4-3) 6 0 18 6 - 30
C (0-7) 0 0 0 0 - 0
First quarter
WL: Hutcherson 18 run (run failed).
Third quarter
WL: Barnes 70 run (pass failed).
WL: Mynatt 55 interception return (run failed).
WL: Lah 45 fumble recovery (pass failed).
Fourth quarter
WL: Long 12 run (kick failed).
Saturday's game
Long Reach (4-3) defeated Mt. Hebron (2-5), 26-6.
Allen Cross rushed for more than 200 yards on 22 carries for Long Reach, scoring one touchdown, while Daquan Dixon scored twice, gaining 70 yards on 14 attempts.
Jackson Porter scored Mt. Hebron's lone touchdown on homecoming.