Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Oakland Mills senior Neko Rynn-Mason scored on a 32-yard touchdown run against River Hill. Rynn-Mason kicked a 32-yard field goal.

The first half of Wilde Lake's 21-0 shutout of Howard Friday night looked more like a game of hot potato than football. No one seemed to want the ball.

There were nine turnovers: four by Wilde Lake and five by Howard. The teams fumbled (Howard lost the ball on fumbles on three consecutive drives), threw interceptions and dropped punt returns.

"I guess it was a little bit wet, (but) we played last week and there was a whole lot more water than that and there were like two turnovers the whole game," Wilde Lake coach Mike Harrison said. "It's high school football, that's going to wind up happening. You never know (how) that ball's going to bounce."

There was a light rain before kickoff, and for a short time in the second quarter, but the precipitation was never heavy.

"It was crazy. All week we've been working for dry weather. We usually know when it's going to rain, so we dip the ball in buckets. But this week we just weren't ready for the rain. Most of the time (the ball) was slippery," said Wilde Lake junior running back E.J. Gilman, who rushed for two touchdowns but also let two punt returns get away, and recovered two Howard fumbles.

As his team walked back to the locker room at halftime, Howard defensive end Trey Jackson rallied a small group of his teammates.

"Hey, if you keep thinking about it, it's going to keep getting you. It's over," Jackson told them.

Neither team fumbled in the second half, although Howard did throw two interceptions while playing from behind.

Brian Anderson had two interceptions for the Wildecats.

Wilde Lake started its three touchdown drives on Howard's 32-, 49- and 8-yard lines -- one after a fumble, one after a short punt and one after an interception.

"Defensively, we played outstanding, (Wilde Lake) didn't move the ball," Howard coach Bruce Strunk said. "We did everything we wanted to do, and the only reason they did move the ball is because our offense kept our defense on the field with all those fumbles."

The Wildecats rushed for 180 yards and 13 first downs.Gilman was the leading rusher with 58. Greg Meighen caught three of Joe Kelly's four passes for 56 yards. Howard managed only 55 total yards (54 rushing) and three first downs.

Going into the game, Howard had given up the second-fewest points in the league, trailing only River Hill (97-34).

"We just play defense. When we're on the field, we just do what we've got to do," said captain Quinn Porter.

Porter was one of several players called on to chip in more on offense because the top two running backs, A.J. Bonavitacola (more than 1,000 yards in 2008) and DaRon Floyd, were out with injuries. Floyd is expected back next week.

"We played with what we've got. When one player goes down, another one steps in," Porter said. "We just weren't in the game. We weren't playing Howard football."

Coming into the game, Wilde Lake was fourth and Howard fifth in the 3A East playoff standings.

Strunk was an assistant at Wilde Lake before taking over as head coach at Howard in 2008.

"We knew that coming into the game that they were the second-best defense in the county. And we knew that we would have some issues trying to run certain plays that we really favor in our offense, because they (Howard) see them every day in practice when they're practicing against their offense," Harrison said. "First half, it didn't work out the way we wanted it to, (but) I felt real good about how we were able to move the ball and get first downs in the second half."







For more video, go to www.youtube.com/user/ExploreHoward

Howard        0  0  0  0 - 0
Wilde Lake  0  7  6  8 - 21

Second quarter
WL: Gilman 2 run (Seidell kick), 6:07.

Third quarter
WL: Viera 22 run (kick failed), :34.

Fourth quarter
WL: Gilman 5 run (Kelly run), 4:06.

Around the league

Atholton 49, Marriotts Ridge 13

Atholton scored five touchdowns in the first quarter, including two in 20 seconds, on the way to its eighth win Saturday afternoon.

Kalvin Seamonson completed all five of his pass attempts for 105 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring passes of 31 and 27 yards to Matt Robinson, in the homecoming win.

The Raiders also scored on special teams and defense, contributing to a season-high 49 points.

Andrew King returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown, Morgan Powell returned a fumble 50 yards and Zach Deal returned one 96 yards, both for touchdowns. Powell also had an interception.

For the Mustangs, Armani Dixon scored on a 91-yard kickoff return, and Bryce Garipay threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Connor McNeil.

Marriotts Ridge (0-8)     7  6  0  0 - 13
Atholton        (8-0)    35  7  7  0 - 49

A: Robinson 31 pass from Seamonson (Haas kick), 9:04.
MR: Dixon 91 kickoff return (McNeil kick), 8:57.
A: Newsome 4 run (Hass kick), 5:07.
A: Robinson 27 pass from Seamonson (Haas kick), 2:54.
A: King 55 punt return (Haas kick), 1:24.
A: D'Amico 25 pass from Seamonson (Haas kick), 1:04.
A: Deal 96 fumble recovery (Haas kick), 2:28.
MR: McNeil 43 yard pass from Garipay (kick failed), 1:36.
A: Powell 50 fumble recovery (Haas kick), 8:20.

River Hill 48, Oakland Mills 3

Kevin Johnson scored on two runs of more than 50 yards, and Adam Brookhart recovered a fumble in the end zone, leading the Hawks to a homecoming win Saturday.

Neko Rynn-Mason kicked a 32-yard field goal for the Scorpions.

Oakland Mills (0-8)   0  3  0 0 -  3
River Hill    (8-0)  13 14 14 7 - 48

RH: Johnson 53 run (Shahegh kick failed)
RH: Bonhag 7 run (Shahegh kick)
RH: Johnson 55 run (Shahegh kick)
RH: Brookhart fumble recovery in end zone (Shahegh kick)
OM: Rynn-Mason 32 field goal
RH: McMichael 35 run (Shahegh kick)
RH: McLaughlin 17 run (Shahegh kick)
RH: Emerson 1 run (Tajalli kick)

Glenelg 13, Long Reach 7

The Gladiators improved to 7-1 with a homecoming win over Long Reach to solidify their position in the 2A South playoff race, while hurting the chances of Long Reach (5-3).

Centennial 23, Hammond 22

The Eagles (3-5) won their homecoming game over Hammond (2-6), which has lost three in a row. Centennial has won two games by one point, and lost two games by two points or less.

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