Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.

Atholton at River Hill.

Unbeaten vs. unbeaten.

"I told the team, 'This is why you play,' " said Atholton coach Kyle Schmitt, who hasn't lost since taking over the Raiders this season, but now goes up against a team, and coach, who have won 36 games in a row.

Like his players, who are eager to face the toughest competition out there, Schmitt looks forward to going into battle against the best.

"I knew a little bit about (River Hill) before I got here," said Schmitt, who served as a graduate assistant at Maryland and a tight ends coach at St. Vincent College, in Pennsylvania, before coming to Atholton. "Everyone has their eye on the top team (River Hill) ... They have a system on offense and defense, and they run it extremely well."

Each team is 8-0 and has their tickets to the playoffs stamped, so the bounty on the line is the top seed in the 3A East region, and the county championship.

"You want to have that home field advantage, and there's a lot of bonus points on the line," River Hill coach Brian Van Deusen said.

Atholton plays Glenelg (7-1) in the final week of the regular season, and River Hill plays Centennial (3-5), but even if the winner of this week's game lost in Week 10, they would have the same record as the loser and at least a share of the county title.

There is no football county championship banner hanging in the Atholton gym, but River Hill has won six in a row.

"We're just getting ready for another big game," Van Deusen said. "(Atholton is) very athletic, they have great skill position guys ... (Kalvin) Seamonson is one of the best quarterbacks in the area and (receiver) Matt Robinson is a great athlete who can go up and get the ball."

The Raiders have also had great production this season from running back Andrew King, who had his third punt return for a touchdown last week, and an opportunistic defense.

River Hill's offense has been led by Wake Forest-bound Kevin Johnson (190 yards last week), and Hereford transfer Brent Kluge (112). The defense has allowed a county-low 37 points this season.

Don't expect either team to make any exotic changes for this week's game. After all, they are both undefeated.

"They're going to play what they play ... they don't have to change much," Schmitt said. "We have to do what we do best. It's gotten us this far, you dance with who brought you."

The other games

On the other end of the spectrum, Marriotts Ridge will host Oakland Mills Friday, Oct. 24 with both schools looking for their first win.

Marriotts Ridge, which won seven games in 2008, showed signs of life last week by scoring 13 points in a loss to Atholton. Armani Dixon scored on a 91-yard kickoff return and Bryce Garipay threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Connor McNeil.

In their previous four games combined, the Mustangs scored a total of eight points.

Oakland Mills, which scored on a 32-yard field goal by Neko Rynn-Mason in a loss to River Hill last week, has been slightly better than the Mustangs this season in terms of points scored and allowed. The Scorpions have averaged just over eight points per game, and allowed 35.5.

While most of the attention on Friday night will be focused on River Hill and Atholton, Wilde Lake will visit Long Reach in another good match-up. Each team is 5-3 and Wilde Lake is clinging to fourth place in the Class 3A East playoff race.

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