Coming into the 2011 football season, one might have looked at the schedule and circled River Hill's trip to Wilde Lake on Sept. 30 as a game to watch. What that generic Howard County football fan probably wouldn't have predicted was that the two teams — winners of a combined eight state championships, including three in the past five years — would both be .500 (2-2) going into the game.
Or that across the county, Glenelg (4-0) would be visiting Hammond (4-0) in a showdown of the last two undefeated teams in the league. Those two teams combined for just four wins only three seasons ago, and that season, the fall of 2008, Hammond finished 0-10.
But it would be safe to say that the Hammond of 2011 is nothing like the Hammond of 2008.
Led by the running back tandem of Devon Paye (443 rushing yards, four touchdowns) and Dionte Jones (324 yards of offense, 5 TDs ) on offense and linebackers Rasheed Lashley and Humphrey Anuh on defense, Hammond has never been better.
"This year we put it in our heads that we want to win every game," said defensive back Akili Moore, who intercepted two passes, one returned for a 100-yard touchdown, in last week's 12-9 win over River Hill. "Last year, first game of the season, we came out and lost to them then went 9-1 the rest of the way and shared the county title with them … we made sure that we beat River Hill as a milestone."
The Golden Bears forced six turnovers in the win and over the past two seasons are 7-0 in games decided by eight points or less. That's not a coincidence, as Hammond has proven itself to be a team that finds ways to win close games.
"They hadn't beaten River Hill since River Hill opened," coach Dan Makosy said. "This is a big step for us as a program. We're eyeing up the playoffs. We made it last year and this year we want to make a serious run at it."
Last year's shared county title and playoff win over Southern–Anne Arundel were firsts for the program. This year, they are hoping to accomplish some more firsts: sole possession of the county championship, a regional title and a trip to the state final four, at least. But many obstacles stand in their way, starting with undefeated Glenelg on Friday night.
The Gladiators entered the season with some uncertainty after graduating offensive Player of the Year and Navy recruit Colin Osborne (1,882 yards, 18 TDs). But several young players have emerged on offense to fill the void. Juniors Nick Crabill (RB) and Mark Darden (QB) and sophomores David Brookhart (WR) and Jared Jacoby (RB) have helped the Gladiators average more than 34 points per game over the past three weeks.
Defensively, Glenelg has been bolstered by the arrival of senior linebacker John Warfield, a Good Counsel transfer who has been excelling this season.
Beyond this week, Hammond still has tough games with Atholton (Oct. 14), Long Reach (Oct. 22) and Howard (Nov. 4) looming on the horizon.
"We can't sleep on anybody, this whole league, Howard County has some great football right now, all the way down the line," Makosy said.
River Hill and Wilde Lake, meanwhile, will be playing in what each team will approach as an elimination game.
"We're preparing like we prepared last year for the playoff game," said Wilde Lake coach Mike Harrison, whose team defeated River Hill for the regional title last November en route to a state title. "What I had hoped is that we'd be 4-0 coming into this game … it's not a position you want to be in. Whoever loses this game is going to be behind the eight-ball. They're pretty much going to have to win out to even be mentioned in the playoff conversation."
Each team has had their share of injury woes. River Hill's all-county running back Aaron Wells (1,500 yards, 16 TDs in 2010) just returned from a bruised knee in Week 1 and Wilde Lake running back/linebacker Antoine Barnes is questionable for this week with a seperated shoulder from a 28-8 loss to Glenelg Sept. 16.
"We've got to try to come up with something to beat Wilde Lake and go from there and try to get better each week," said River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen, whose team hadn't lost twice in a row since his first year as head coach in 2000. The playoffs "are still out there. We've got two losses, but we've got to finish the season strong."