Wilde Lake coach Mike Harrison saw the elusive playoff win on the road dangling in front of him and decided to go for it.

After scoring on a 5-yard run by E.J. Gilman with 30 seconds left, Wilde Lake trailed, 14-13, and opted to go for the two-point conversion and the win.

The Wildecats (7-4) lined up for the potential-tying extra point, but holder Joe Kelly — also the team’s quarterback — took the snapped ball, rolled to his right and threw across his body for Gilman, who was uncovered in the back of the end zone. The ball was just out of Gilman’s grasp, and Atholton was able to take a knee to run out the clock after an unsuccessful onside kick attempt by Wilde Lake.



With the 14-13 victory, second-seeded Atholton (10-1) advances to play at top-seeded River Hill (11-0) next Friday at 7 p.m. for the 3A East regional championship. River Hill won, 35-14, when the teams played on Oct. 30. The Hawks (11-0) advanced to play Atholton with a 70-0 win over J.M. Bennett Friday night. 

Wilde Lake had missed nine extra points this season, so sending Friday night's game to overtime with a PAT was no certainty.

“We figured we’re going to go try to steal the win and get out of here," Harrison said. "If we play in overtime, I’m not sure I could have stopped Andrew King or (Kendall Newsome). We had a chance, we called a play … it was close.”

The Raiders' King (191) and Newsome (23) rushed for more than 200 yards in Atholton's Power-I formation.

“We found a formation that was working for us a little there; we thought we had an advantage," said Atholton coach Kyle Schmitt. "Our fullback Aaron Nance did a really nice job."

Atholton won by an identical 14-13 score last week in the regular-season finale over Glenelg. In each game, the Raiders trailed, 7-0, at the half.

Wilde Lake scored first Friday night on a 5-yard run by Gilman with six minutes left in the first half. Atholton answered on its first drive of the second half with a 17-play, 70-yard, nearly eight-minute drive, capped by a 4-yard pass from Kalvin Seamonson to Matt Robinson in the corner of the end zone.

“They stopped us two times on our inside run. I just ran to the corner of the end zone and Kalvin put it on target, and I was able to get one foot in bounds,” Robinson said.

It was the only connection on the night for a pair that teamed up for almost 800 yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season.

“Matt’s becoming a big-time influence (even) when he’s not seeing the ball. He’s decoying them a little, and that’s kind of what we found," Schmitt said. "They were putting two guys on Matt so we figured we’ll play nine-on-nine inside.”

Atholton stopped Wilde Lake and then drove the length of the field to start the fourth quarter, this time with a 10-play, 55-yard, four-minute drive punctuated by an 11-yard Seamonson touchdown run to take the lead. But Wilde Lake still had plenty of time.

The Wildecats' first attempt to tie or win the game stalled on their 37 with a turnover on downs. But Wilde Lake's defense — which had allowed an average of 6.66 points per game since the beginning of October — made a last stand and gave the Wildecats' offense the ball back on their 29 with 2:41 left.

It took Joe Kelly only 2:10 to orchestrate the nine-play touchdown drive — including passes of 12, 15 and 15 yards and a 17-yard run — but the Wildecats came up just short.

“I thought we were going to win,” said Gilman. “We played great this season. We’ve got a young team and everybody stepped up at the end.”



For more video from this game, visit youtube.com/user/ExploreHoward


CLASS 3A EAST SEMIFINAL
ATHOLTON 14, WILDE LAKE 13
Wilde Lake  0  7  0  6 - 13 
Atholton      0  0  7  7 – 14

Second quarter
WL: Gilman 5 run (Seidell kick), 5:52.

Third quarter
A: Robinson 4 pass from Seamonson (Haas kick), 2:04.

Fourth quarter
A: Seamonson 11 run (Haas kick), 8:28.
WL: Gilman 5 run (pass failed), :31.

CLASS 2A SOUTH
NO. 3 DOUGLASS 24, NO. 2 GLENELG 12

Third-seeded Douglass built a 24-0 lead as senior Emmanuel Paul rushed for more than 150 yards, scored two touchdowns (including a 74-yarder) and three two-point conversions by the third quarter as Douglass doubled up No. 2 Glenelg, 24-12, Friday night.

Colin Osborne scored twice in the fourth quarter for the Gladiators, a 3-yard run and an 8-yard reception from Gage Trawik.

Glenelg's season ends at 8-3. Douglass advances to the Class 2A South Region title game against either top-seeded Gwynn Park or No. 4 McDonough. Their semifinal is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, at Gwynn Park.

This story has been updated.

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