Football: Atholton, Glenelg try to win out for county title

For the past eight years, River Hill has won at least a share of the Howard County title. While that streak is likely to end this fall, the Hawks are still likely to play a major role in the county title race.

Entering Week 9, Atholton (7-1) and Glenelg (7-1) are tied atop the league standings. River Hill (6-2) hosts Glenelg Friday night in a game that essentially could decide the county championship.

Atholton, which has outscored its opponents 290-55 this season, closes out its season with games against Mt. Hebron (3-5) and Centennial (0-8). The Raiders won't be looking ahead to the playoffs, and barring a major meltdown, should finish the season 9-1. If Glenelg can get past River Hill this week, the Gladiators will also have a strong chance to finish at 9-1, hosting winless Marriotts Ridge in Week 10.

That is a giant 'if,' though.

Since losing back-to-back games for the first time in a decade — 14-0 to Atholton on Sept. 16 and 12-9 to Hammond on Sept. 23 — River Hill has won four in a row, outscoring the opposition 186-13.

"River Hill is playing tremendous, and they're back to the old River Hill," said Glenelg coach Butch Schaffer after his team's 35-14 win over Howard on Saturday. "They've got their guys healthy and it's going to be a big challenge for us. Hopefully our young kids will come to play and I think they will. … We're playing as well as we can play, and their effort is excellent. I can't ask for anything more from this group of kids."

Glenelg has thrived this year by protecting the ball with a deep and steady running game, playing superior defense and getting strong contributions from a host of young players, including juniors Mark Darden (QB) and Nick Crabill (RB/DB), and sophomores David Brookhart (WR) and Jared Jacoby (RB).

"It's pretty much the county championship game (at River Hill). If we can get it done we can tie with Atholton," Darden said. "We know they're a tough team. We lost to them last year in a heartbreaker (14-7 on Oct. 29) but we know we can get it done. … We don't turn the ball over on offense. We have one turnover the whole year, and we've got to just generate turnovers."

River Hill had a total of 11 turnovers in the back-to-back losses to Atholton and Hammond, so it didn't take Vince Lombardi to figure out what needed to be fixed.

"We have most of our guys back from injuries and we have been better at protecting the football," coach Brian Van Deusen said. "Our goal is the same as every year, we focus on getting better each week in practice so that we are playing our best football at the end of the season and in the playoffs."

Technically, River Hill still has a chance to win the county title for the ninth straight season. If the Hawks beat Glenelg and Mt. Hebron shocks Atholton, the three front-runners all would be 7-2 with one week remaining.

Speaking of upsets, Long Reach's stunning 33-32 win over Hammond in overtime on Saturday has created a cluster of five-win teams behind River Hill. Hammond, Howard, Long Reach and Reservoir are all 5-3 with two weeks left.

While none of those teams are likely to factor in the county championship battle, all four are fighting for playoff berths. Long Reach is a half-point out of the fourth and final seed in the 2A South region, and Hammond, Reservoir and Howard are all battling for the last two spots in the 3A East.

The Lightning, whose remaining games are home against Wilde Lake (4-4) and at Oakland Mills (1-7), would likely need some help from Douglass-PG or McDonough — the teams directly in front of them — to reach the postseason.

"We need one of those teams to lose. But that's what we're hoping for," Long Reach coach Pete Hughes said. "We're hoping to squeeze in."

To read more about Long Reach's win over Hammond, go to explorehoward.com.