Hammond's rain-slicked and fog-covered field was the scene of a battle of ball control on Friday evening. The Golden Bears (4-0), who protected the ball, defeated visiting River Hill (2-2), which did not, 12-9.
River Hill turned the ball over six times — four fumbles and two interceptions — and had three drives end inside Hammond's 5-yard line.
The game saw the return of River Hill's all-county running back Aaron Wells, who sustained a knee injury in a week one win over Reservoir, and wasn't expected back until October.
Wells' return seemed to give the Hawks offense some much-needed punch after last week's 14-0 shut out at the hands of Atholton, a game in which they gained less than 50 yards of offense.
River Hill was moving the ball with authority on the game's opening drive, but on third and goal from the 12, quarterback Austin Altman's pass was intercepted by Akili Moore who ran the length of the field for a touchdown.
"I just dropped back in coverage and the receiver came up kind of hard, so I realized it was a pass. I just peaked over and saw him cocking back, he let it go and I just jumped on the ball," said Moore, who picked off another pass later in the half. "When I was running I heard someone yelling 'Catch him Aaron! Catch him!' and I know Aaron Wells is a fast kid and I know I'm fast so I just went to my second gear."
Moore said that he and his teammates had talked in school earlier that day about what conditions would be like for the big game.
"The ball was wet, and we knew it was going to be wet. All day in school they were saying the game could be canceled, but if we play, the team with the least turnovers is going to win the game," Moore said. "We came over before the game, wetted the ball up and just practiced on holding it tight."
The Hawks might have benefited from a similar pregame routine.
River Hill's next four drives after the interception ended in a fumble, a punt, an interception and a fumble at Hammond's 1-yard line less than three minutes before halftime.
Hammond scored midway through the third quarter on an 8-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Tyler Martin to Charles Holly to go ahead 12-0 after a missed two-point conversion.
On River Hill's ensuing possession, Wells finally converted in the red zone to score from 8 yards out.
River Hill again fumbled the ball away in Hammond territory to start the fourth quarter, but the Hawks finally got a break when Hammond fumbled the ball — its only turnover of the game — back into River Hill's hands two plays later.
The Hawks next drive ended on Hammond's 1-yard line after a failed attempt on 4th and goal.
"Really the big thing was turning them back when they were on the 1-yard line, our defense carried us today, no question," Hammond coach Dan Makosy said. "We had one good run beginning of the third quarter when we pounded it down and scored."
With less than three minutes to go, Hammond purposely ran out of the back of the end zone to give River Hill a safety, and the ball back around midfield with 2:30 left.
Three plays later, River Hill's sixth and final turnover — a fumbled pitch from Altman to Wells recovered by Jared Turner — finally cost them the game.
With 15 seconds left, Evan Griffin fielded a Hammond punt on his own 30-yard line. He got into the open field, and returned it to Hammond's side of the field, but was tackled on the 30 to end the game.
"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," Makosy said. "We've got (undefeated) Glenelg next and they're going to be good as hell. We can't sleep on anybody, this whole league, Howard County has some great football right now, all the way down the line."
It was the first time that River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen remembers his team losing twice in a row since his first year as head coach in 2000.
"You can't beat a good team with six turnovers," Van Deusen said. "We couldn't make the most of our opportunities ... we've got to keep battling, we're going through some adversity right now. We've just got to get better and get a little more healthy and hopefully get a chance to get into the playoffs and make a run ... we've got to try to come up with something to beat Wilde Lake and go from there."
Last year, River Hill beat Hammond, 27-6, in the season opener. Hammond did not lose again until Nov. 19 at McDonough in the 2A South regional championship game. River Hill lost a month later to Atholton, but both teams finished the regular season 9-1 to share the county title.
RH (2-2) 0 0 7 2 - 9
Ha (4-0) 6 0 6 0 – 12
First quarter
Ha: Moore 100 interception return (kick failed), 6:47.
Third quarter
Ha: Holly 8 pass from Martin (run failed), 4:28.
RH: Wells 8 run (Grove kick), 2:31.
Fourth quarter
RH: Safety, 2:48.
Rushing leaders
RH: Wells, 30-118; Osong, 8-40; Altman, 6-21.
Ha: Jones, 15-51; Paye, 16-45.
Passing
RH: Altman, 4-6, 68.
Ha: Martin, 3-5, 26.
Receiving
RH: Lawson, 1-28; Vaughn, 1-26; Wells, 2-14.
Ha: Moore, 1-10; Holly, 1-8; Jones, 1-8.
Around the league
Glenelg 41, Oakland Mills 14
Like Hammond, Glenelg also won this week to improve to 4-0, setting up a showdown between the county's last two undefeated teams next Friday night at Hammond. Brandon Britton rushed for more than 100 yards for the Scorpions in the loss.
G (4-0) 21 0 14 6 - 41
OM (1-3) 0 14 0 0 - 14
First quarter
G: Crabill 83 kick return (Brister kick).
G: Brookhart 37 run (Brister kick).
G: Crabill 3 run (Brister kick).
Second quarter
OM: Coleman 3 run.
OM: Drew pass from Coleman.
Third quarter
G: Darden 31 run (Brister kick).
G: Crabill 7 run (Brister kick).
Fourth quarter
G: Jacoby 9 run (kick failed).
Atholton 24, Reservoir 14
Reservoir put a scare into Atholton, taking a 14-10 lead in the third quarter, but the Raiders controlled the fourth quarter to improve to 3-1. E.J. Montgomery connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass to Joey Usher just before halftime to get Reservoir on the board, and then Abraham Mbide rushed for a score early in the third quarter to give his team the lead.
Atholton turned the ball over four times in the game, but Kenny Thomas (164 yards) delivered a pair of second half rushing touchdowns to lead the Raiders to victory. Kendall Newsome (73 yards, touchdown) and Brian McMahon (70) also gained significant rushing yards.
Patrick Mullens led the Raiders defense with 10 tackles, while Brandon Anthony, Cameron Fogle, Steve Whiting and Paul Federinko each recorded sacks.
Re (1-3) 0 7 7 0 - 14
A (3-1) 7 3 7 7 - 24
First quarter
A: Newsome 5 run (Haas kick), 6:18.
Second quarter
A: Haas 28 field goal, 2:23.
Re: Usher 46 pass from Montgomery (Marsh kick), 1:27.
Third quarter
Re: Mbide run (Marsh kick), 11:44.
A: Thomas 14 run (Haas kick), 8:02.
Fourth quarter
A: Thomas 9 run (Haas kick), 11:10.
Wilde Lake 40, Marriotts Ridge 12
Wilde Lake bounced back from a loss to Glenelg last week to handle winless Marriotts Ridge, 40-12. Wilde Lake's three-headed rushing monster of Chancy Waters (75 yards, 2 TDs), Chase Hutcherson (107, 1) and Anthony Miller (71) led the offense.
WL (2-2) 14 14 6 6 - 40
MR (0-4) 0 6 0 6 - 12
First quarter
WL: Waters 25 run (run failed).
WL: Waters 2 run (Miller run).
Second quarter
WL: Long 5 run (run failed).
MR: Stevens 1 run (pass failed).
WL: Klotz 5 pass from Ampofo (Hutcherson run).
Third quarter
WL: Hutcherson 50 run (kick failed).
Fourth quarter
MR: Smith 1 run (run failed).
WL: Brown 8 run (kick failed).
Mt. Hebron 21, Centennial 14
The Vikings edged the Eagles by a touchdown to win the annual Ed Holshue Cup game. Holshue coached and taught at both schools, and typically visits each sideline during the game. The series is now even at 5-5.
Centennial led, 7-6, at halftime after a 3-yard touchdowns run by Karon Hickman (3-yard rush).
Mt. Hebron scored first when the Vikings recovered their own punt deep in Centennial territory and Zach Nicholas caught a short pass from Malik Gilmore.
With less than five seconds left in the fourth quarter, Pat Zarek caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Morris to give the Eagles a 14-6 lead. The Vikings tied the game in the fourth when Jackson Porter caught a short pass from Gilmore and rumbled 31 yards for a touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion by Gilmore.
With only 40 seconds left, Nicholas broke the tie with a 20-yard run and dive into the corner of the end zone.
Sophomore Walter Fletcher had a breakout performance for Centennial, rushing for 206 yards on 26 carries.