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Atholton football does enough to beat Wilde Lake | Howard County sports roundup

The result worked out for Tra Evans, but he wasn’t happy.

The Atholton cornerback didn’t play the pass correctly, but Wilde Lake’s receiver couldn’t haul in what would have been the game-winning touchdown late in Friday’s season-opening contest.

“It was enough,” said Atholton’s John Prajka to Evans after the play. “That’s all that matters.”

Atholton coach Eric Woodson echoed the same sentiment after his team’s 7-6 victory over the Wildecats. The Raiders didn’t score an offensive touchdown, threw two interceptions and muffed a punt.

But it was enough to win.

“We take it anyway we can and move on,” Woodson said.

The Raiders’ lone touchdown was an 18-yard interception return from cornerback Jerome Colbert in the third quarter. Wilde Lake quarterback Kofi Boampong rolled out to his left and threw an errant pass right to Colbert, who sprinted untouched into the end zone.

“That was huge,” Woodson said. “That’s when the tide turned for us.”

While Atholton’s offense didn’t score, the Raiders did dictate the flow of the game thanks to 5-foot-11, 230-pound running back Dillan Watkins. The bruising junior totaled 105 yards on 23 carries.

“We controlled the clock,” Woodson said. “He’s a very powerful runner. We’ve got about four backs, but I featured him tonight. Coming into his junior year, he’s that big back at 230 [pounds] who can carry the load.”

The win is Atholton’s first over Wilde Lake since 2017, and six months ago, the Raiders lost 26-0 to the Wildecats.

“It feels great to get this win, first time in five seasons,” Colbert said.

Wilde Lake (0-1) started off the home contest with something it did often last season — intercepting the opposing quarterback. Watkins barreled Atholton (1-0) down the field before quarterback Harrison Feldman, who split time with Miles Scott, was intercepted by Wilde Lake cornerback Max Richardson in the red zone. Feldman was picked off again on Atholton’s next drive, this time by sophomore safety Nazir Fell.

The Cats’ offense couldn’t capitalize on either mistake, though, as both drives stalled out.

“There are no excuses, but we’re a young squad,” Henderson said. “We’ve got to learn how to take advantage. This is a learning experience, and we’ll push forward to next week.”

After a scoreless first half, Colbert’s pick-six was the first touchdown of the game. The interception was the first of Colbert’s varsity career.

“I saw him rolling out and he waved his wide receiver,” said the senior corner. “I kept following him, and I just looked the ball in with my eyes.”

Atholton forced Wilde Lake to punt on its next drive, but the Raiders’ returner gave the Wildecats a gift by muffing a punt. Boampong then scored from two yards out to put the Cats down 7-6.

Without a kicker this season, Henderson went for two, but Boampong’s pass was incomplete. Wilde Lake has been rich in kicking talent the past few seasons, with Sam Nason — who was a first-team All-County selection in 2019 — and Grant Gladden this past spring.

“We’re rebuilding in a couple areas, and that’s one of them,” Henderson said. “It would’ve been nice to be able to put it up there, but that’s just not where we’re at.”

Wilde Lake had two chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter but couldn’t find the end zone. Early in the fourth quarter, the Wildecats were on Atholton’s 12-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. Then, with only a couple minutes left and the ball in Atholton’s territory, Korede Sogsbean sacked Boampong on third down and pressured him on fourth to force an incompletion.

“The defense played their tails off tonight,” Woodson said.

Watkins then sealed the victory with an 8-yard run in the final minute.

• Atholton defensive lineman Deacon Watkins, Dillan’s brother, recovered a fumble in the third quarter.

• Wilde Lake defensive lineman Elijah Queen led the Wildecats’ pass rush with two sacks.

• Wildecats running back Sean Barnes displayed his elite speed on a few runs, totaling 107 yards on 17 carries.

A: Jerome Colbert 18-yard interception return, Benjamin Gershuny kick [7-0]

WL: Kofi Boampong 2-yard run, Boampong pass failed [7-6]

Seven different Oakland Mills players scored in the Scorpions (1-0) blowout win at Centennial (0-1).

Cyrus Thomas Ray ran for a 1-yard score in the first quarter and then capped off the Scorpions’ scoring with a 13-yard pass to Shane King. After going into halftime up 8-0, King’s 36-yard rushing touchdown put Oakland Mills up 14-0.

Centennial’s Praise Bright then scored the Eagles’ lone touchdown with a 7-yard run. Kanye Holland then ran for a 33-yard touchdown and threw for a 29-yard score to Kylik Perry.

OM: Cyrus Thomas Ray 1-yard run, Charles Ngansi two-point pass from John Tatum [8-0]

OM: Shane King 36-yard run, kick no good [14-0]

OM: Praise Bright 7-yard run, kick good [14-7]

OM: Kanye Holland 33-yard run, Tatum two-point run [22-7]

OM: Kylik Perry 29-yard pass from Holland, Ngyuen kick [29-7]

OM: King 13-yard pass from Ray, Nguyen kick [36-7]

Long Reach 14, River Hill 7

The Lightning (1-0) scored touchdowns in the second and third quarters to stun River Hill (0-1), which went undefeated during the shortened spring 2021 season. The win is Long Reach’s first over River Hill since its 20-10 victory on Oct. 7, 2016.

Glenelg quarterback Bisi Owens led the Gladiators to victory in their home opener. The senior signal caller totaled 120 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries. He also threw for 71 yards on 4-of-8 passing with one interception.

Running back Ethan Sotka also eclipsed the 100-yard mark, totaling 114 yards and two scores on 17 carries. On defense, Glenelg (1-0) was paced by Kian Payne and Christian Chen.

Hammond (0-1) quarterback Jordan Campbell ran for a 7-yard touchdown in the second quarter to go down 7-6 at halftime. But Owens opened up the second half with a 31-yard rushing touchdown, scored on a QB sneak later in the quarter and capped off the game’s scoring with a 32-yard scamper.

G: Sotka 41-yard run, Fernandes kick

Ha: Jordan Campbell 7-yard run, kick no good

G: Owens 31-yard run, Fernandes kick

G: Owens 1-yard run, Fernandes kick

G: Sotka 4-yard run, Fernandes kick

Ha: #3 1-yard run, 2-point attempt

G: Owens 32-yard run, Fernandes kick

Howard 23, Marriotts Ridge 0

In his first start as Howard’s quarterback, Tyler Sabatini threw two touchdowns — one to Zamir Herald and one to Edward Stanley. Sabatini completed 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards in the win. Travis Thompson’s kickoff return touchdown to open the second half broke the game open, while the Lions’ defense stymied the Marriotts Ridge (0-1) offense. Darryl English led the Lions in rushing with 71 yards on 13 carries.

Ho: Mitchel Dickson 31-yard field goal [3-0]

Ho: Zamir Herald 15-yard pass from Tyler Sabatini, Dickson kick [10-0]

Ho: Travis Thompson 95-yard kickoff return, kick no good [16-0]

Ho: Edward Stanley 32-yard pass from Sabatini, Dickson kick [23-0]

Mt. Hebron 7, Reservoir 6

Goals: A — Asha Derstine 5, Bella Konrad 2, Avery Doyle, Ashlyn Donaldson.

Assists: A — Konrad 2, Derstine, Kendall Dean.

Wilde Lake 6, Oakland Mills 0

The visiting Wildecats didn’t allow a shot on goal in the season-opening triumph. Floyd, the Wildecats’ senior captain, led the team with four goals.

Goals: WL — Bri Floyd 4, Sandra Stachel, Debbie Perez-Rivas.

Assists: WL — Perez-Rivas, Hannah Ehrlich.

Glenelg def. Atholton — 3-0 [25-17, 25-15, 25-16]

The Gladiators earned the decisive season-opening win behind Mackenzie Calhoun’s 18 kills and Lindsay Kelley’s 27 assists. Atholton was expected to be one of the better teams in the county this fall, so the win for Glenelg is a nice first step after the Gladiators went 3-4 this past spring.

Glenelg stats: Mackenzie Calhoun (18 kills, 2 assists, 10 digs), Lindsay Kelley (27 assists, 5 kills, 2 service aces, 2 digs), Sarah Parker (6 kills, 1 ace, 11 digs), Sydney Yoon (2 assists, 3 aces, 10 digs), Liesl Walter (4 kills).

Marriotts Ridge def. Hammond — 3-0 [25-21, 25-18, 25-9]

In her setting debut, Eva Hull recorded 22 assists to lead the Mustangs to the season-opening victory. Vivian O’Brien and Rhisen Davis both tallied double-digit kills for Marriotts Ridge.

Marriotts Ridge stats: Olivia Kuznetsova (4 aces, 4 kills, 1 dig), Leah Liu (1 ace, 6 kills, 4 digs), Vivian O’Brien (3 aces, 11 kills), Eva Hull (2 kills, 22 assists), Rhisen Davis (10 kills).

Hammond stats: Safi Hampton (17 kills, 1 block, 2 assists, 11 digs), Erin Peters (1 ace, 4 kills, 8 digs), Jenna Kreh (1 block, 24 assists, 6 digs), Rylal Koroma (1 block, 9 digs).

River Hill def. Wilde Lake — 3-0 [25-11, 25-13, 25-8]

River Hill stats: Grace Leska (10 kills, 2 digs, 1 block), Shreeni Chikyala (4 kills, 3 blocks, 7 aces, 2 digs), Shannon Hill (6 kills, 2 digs, 1 block), Merine Billey (4 kills, 1 dig), Abby Chicorelli (4 killds, 2 blocks, 2 digs), Molly Xu (18 assists, 4 aces, 5 digs); Sungeen Ghuman (14 assists, 8 aces, 12 digs).

Mt. Hebron def. Oakland Mills — 3-0 [25-16, 25-12, 25-17]

Ava Bradley and Emerson Rose both set career-highs in the Vikings’ season-opening road win. Bradley’s 10 kills and Rose’s 18 assists were both career-highs.

Mt. Hebron stats: Ava Bradley (10 kills, 4 digs), Emerson Rose (18 assists, 4 digs, 2 aces), Rachel Swigart (7 kills), Caroline Zheng (7 digs).

Oakland Mills stats: Jasmine Amroo (6 blocks), Kathryn Rogan (3 aces, 1 kill, 40 assists), Micaela Murray (1 kill, 1 block, 3 digs), Paige McPhillips (4 kills, 1 block, 1 dig), Zhenzhu Nelson (8 kills, 1 block, 5 digs).

Reservoir def. Long Reach — 3-0 [25-8, 25-13, 25-12]

Long Reach stats: Allison Brown (3 kills, 2 digs), Hayley Norton (1 ace, 1 kill, 9 assists, 6 digs), Mia Rubio (2 aces, 1 kill, 7 digs), Kailey Young (3 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs).

Long Reach 10, Milford Mill 0

Marriotts Ridge 92, Reservoir 51 (Tuesday at Waverly Woods)

MR (2-0): Jonathan Moon 26, Daniel Tuma 25, Jay Farrell 23, Zach Vernick 18.

Re (0-2): Justin Gutierrez 26, Sean Kim 13, Keiran Green 7, Harrrison Davlin 5.

Oakland Mills 50, Atholton 43 (Tuesday at Fairway Hills)

OM (1-1): Heath Franklin 21, Mason Cowell 11, Alex Tamai 10, Dominic Fernandez 8.

A (1-1): Andrew Christiansen 20, Ivan Cho 11, West Peterson 9, Boston McKellar 3.

Centennial 56, Glenelg 44 (Thursday at Cattail Creek)

C (2-0): Dustin Stocksdale 27, Ty Beck-Winter 11, Mason Roque 11, Domnic Trojillo 7.

G (1-1): Michael Gloth 19, Ellis Waak 10, Aaron Rocklein 10, Ilssa Mansour 5.

River Hill 80, Wilde Lake 32 (Thursday at Hobbits Glen)

RH (2-0): Benjamin Siriboury 28, Collin Regan 18, Cole Spies 17, Nishan Sandhu 17.

WL (0-2): Henry Hilger 24, Adam Parker 5, Asher Flippen 3.

Marriotts Ridge 69, Reservoir 36 (Tuesday at Waverly Woods)

MR (2-0): Alana Alexander-Giles 28, Lila Becker 24, Charlene Pak 11, Ella Ugiansky 7.

Re (0-2): Riyana Patel 18, Payton Pullen 14, Kaitlyn Ro 3, Alicia Swirsky 1.

Glenelg 53, Centennial 29 (Thursday at Cattail Creek)

G (2-0): Megan Kirkpatrick 19, Lauren Paik 13, Norah Vanderpool 13, Amber Kostick 8.

C (1-1): Hannah Fang 11, Regan Hubbard 10, Sanika Shah 5, Cloe Moon 3.

River Hill 54, Wilde Lake 53 (Thursday at Hobbits Glen)

RH (2-0): Helen Yeung 26, Mehar Sandhu 15, Simran Mulchandani 9, Sydney Lynott 4.

WL (1-1): Shreya Suresh 16, Jane Mhonda 16, Laurel Sands 12, Lindsay Sands 9.

Oakland Mills 32, Atholton 32 (Tuesday at Fairway Hills)

OM (0-1-1): Chloe Koh 13, Kylee Hoffman 11, Isabella Fernandez 8.

A (1-0-1): Cate Lee 17, Kavya Shah 9, Saili Khorjekar 5, Clara Kadingo 1.

**The Mt. Hebron vs Long Reach and Hammond vs Howard matches were postponed because of rain**

Don’t see scores or stats from your favorite team? Send results and any game information to Jacob Meyer at [email protected].