(Enlarge) River Hill's Malek Redd could be a big factor in the Class 2A state championship if senior Mike Campanaro can't play. (Photo by Brendan Cavanaugh)

For most teams heading to a state championship game, losing its top running back -- two-time Offensive Player of the Year Michael Campanaro -- midway through its semifinal against an undefeated opponent would be cause for panic. And if its third-best runner, Leron Eaddy, was unavailable to play offense because of a fractured rib, it might really be time to scramble.

Not so for River Hill. As a testament to the Hawks' depth, Malek Redd -- normally the No. 2 back -- stepped in and stepped up, rushing for 278 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries leading his team to a 48-14 win over Century in a Class 2A state semifinal Nov. 28 at River Hill.

"A lot of teams key on Mike and they just forget about me, and I just wanted to show them we have more than one back, and I can step up too, so I had to step up this game," Redd said.

River Hill (13-0) will face Eastern Tech (13-0) in the 2A state championship Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3:30 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium, in Baltimore. The game will be a rematch of the 2007 state title game, which River Hill won, 14-7.

"It's going to be a dogfight," Eaddy said.

River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said Campanaro's pulled hamstring has been getting better each day since the win over Century and he will try to run on it today.

Against Century, Ryan Griffin and Thomas Neuberth also helped, each scoring a touchdown, while quarterback Luke Hostetler kept the Century defense honest by gaining two first downs with his feet.

Luckily for River Hill, by the time Campanaro headed to the sideline with a pulled hamstring, the Hawks were up, 28-7, late in the third quarter. Soon after he left, Century scored its second touchdown of the game on a pass from quarterback Josh Bordner to Luke Wright to cut the lead to 14.

It was the first time since the 2006 state championship loss to Friendly (37-18) that River Hill allowed more than one touchdown in a game.

Early on, it looked like the Hawks might allow two touchdowns, and trail, in the first half. After Campanaro scored from 10 yards out, set up by Redd's 51-yard run on the first play of the game, and then intercepted a Bordner pass on Century's first play, it looked like business as usual for River Hill.

But then Century stopped River Hill on a three-and-out, and after punting on the ensuing drive, stopped the Hawks again with a fourth down interception by Tyler Chavis. That turnover set up a 16-play, 65-yard, 8-minute touchdown drive (Cory Anderlik run) spanning the first and second quarters.

Century twice converted on third and long on that drive, and once on a fourth-and-one screen pass where Anderlik broke several tackles behind the line of scrimmage to keep the drive alive.

"It was just two bad plays that I can think of that hurt us," River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said. "But that's an offense that's been scoring 40 points a game, so we did a pretty good job on them."

With the game now tied, River Hill was forced to punt again after three plays. Century meanwhile continued to tear up the field on offense. Two quarterback keepers by Bordner and two rumbles by Anderlik put the Knights on River Hill's 20-yard line with a chance to take the lead. After an incomplete pass, Bordner took the ball himself again and weaved 20 yards into the end zone, but the run was called back for holding.

Eaddy took advantage of the second opportunity and sacked Bordner for a 17-yard loss on the next play.

"We woke up and realized we had to play harder defense," he said. "I was blitzing outside and reading which way it would go, and throwing off the tight end."

Three plays later, after a Century punt, Redd used a stiff arm to break free for a 71-yard touchdown run up the sideline.

River Hill went into halftime with a 14-7 lead and came out in the second half a different team. Scott Trench pinned the Knights on their own 20 after a kickoff into the end zone, and then River Hill's relentless pass rush forced Bordner into three incomplete passes and a punt. Two plays later Campanaro ran 62 yards for a score and the rout was on.

"The thing that really stopped us was the blitz, we couldn't get time to throw the ball," Century coach Tony Shermeyer said.

Kevin Moore (two), Patrick McCleaf (two), Eaddy, Sean Hull, Thomas Neuberth, Andrew Gluck and Eric Kohr combined for eight sacks and three more tackles for loss as River Hill outscored Century, 34-7, in the second half.

"What we were able to do in the second half is wear them down on the line," Van Deusen said. "The other big thing was keeping the ball away from them ... getting a lot of yards, eating up some clock and keeping that 21-point lead. That took some of the offense away. They weren't able to run the ball as much cause they were down three scores."

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