After three straight weeks of games decided by three points or less, Wilde Lake made sure it didn't happen again.

Two Jarrel Epps touchdowns in the second half and a fourth-quarter interception helped the Wildecats remain unbeaten with a 27-13 win over Howard Friday night at Wilde Lake High School.

The win keeps Wilde Lake (6-0) unbeaten on the season and was the Wildecats' second of the season by more than three points. Howard (4-2) had won four in a row coming into the game after a season-opening loss.

Wilde Lake took the lead for good in the third quarter on a 45-yard run by Epps, capping an 85-yard drive on its second possession of the second half. Epps then scored again from 6 yards out to give Wilde Lake a 15-point cushion.

Howard had the ball inside Wilde Lake 20-yard line with 6:44 to go, trying to get back into the game when Epps picked off a pass to kill the Lions' last scoring threat.

"I wasn't playing good last week, so I had to step it up," Epps said.

The Lions stepped it up in the first half, taking a 13-12 lead at halftime. Mark Covington scored for Howard to give the Lions the lead, coupled with his 80-yard return for a score on the opening kickoff.

"We spotted them the opening kickoff, and I said to (assistant coach) Mike (Harrison) 'we'll find out what we're made of right now' and the kids just bit down on their mouthpieces and played (great)," said Wilde Lake coach Doug DuVall, who earned his 302nd victory.

Howard coach Bruce Strunk faced his former team for the first time in the game. Strunk was an assistant coach at Wilde Lake before moving to Howard this year.

"That was the best (Wilde Lake's) played all year. They put together their best game," Strunk said.

Mike Fields had a game-high 112 yards on six carries. Wilde Lake held Howard to 23 yards in the first half and 116 for the game. Epps had 87 yards on 13 carries and Christian Hough 72 on 13 carries.

The two teams split games last season. Howard won the regular-season contest while Wilde Lake won at home with a shutout victory in the playoffs.

Wilde Lake goes for seven in a row when it travels to Oakland Mills Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. Howard will try to get back on the winning track Saturday, Oct. 18 when it hosts Reservoir at 2 p.m.

In other Howard County games Friday night, River Hill had no problem beating Reservoir, 55-0; Centennial stunned Glenelg, 42-21; and Mt. Hebron blasted Oakland Mills, 49-12. In today's action, Hammond (0-5) is at Marriotts Ridge (4-1) at 1:30 p.m. while Long Reach (2-3) travels to Atholton (1-4) for a 2 p.m. contest.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUNDUP
RIVER HILL 55, RESERVOIR 0
River Hill, Howard County's other undefeated team, dominated at Reservoir. The Hawks led, 49-0, at halftime as Malek Redd scored on touchdowns of 6, 8 and 10 yards and also caught a 56-yard scoring pass from Luke Hostetler. Michael Campanaro, the county's leading touchdown producer, scored on runs of 7, 6 and 10 yards. Kevin Moore rushed for a 5-yard score in the second half and had 10 tackles and two interceptions. The Hawks forced the Gators into five turnovers.

The win, River Hill's 20th in a row, keeps the Hawks (6-0) in a first-place tie with Wilde Lake. Reservoir (3-3) dropped to .500 and has lost three of its last four games, scoring a total of six points in those three losses.

The Hawks look to keep the win streak alive Friday, Sept. 17 by hosting Marriotts Ridge. Reservoir travels to Howard Saturday, Oct. 18 for a 2 p.m. kickoff.

CENTENNIAL 42, GLENELG 21
Centennial rode a horse named Kyle Young and his five touchdowns to a stunning win over visiting Glenelg to improve to .500. The loss dropped Glenelg to 2-4 on the season as the Gladiators dropped their fourth in the past five games.

The Eagles (3-3) had a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter when Glenelg scored twice as Gage Trawick tossed scoring passes to Ricky Dubois (who also scored a rushing touchdown) and Taylor Sones.

Glenelg started to get a bit of momentum at the end of the first half when Shannon Maura broke off a 35-yard run and Trawick completed two passes, but the Gladiators' drive stalled and went into halftime down, 13-0. Dubois' short TD run was set up by a 20-yard, Trawick-to-Sones connection and a 40-yard run by Maura. Trawick also completed a 35-yard pass to Colin Osborne to set up Glenelg's final score.

The Eagles try to move above .500 for the second time this season when they host Long Reach Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. Glenelg will try to snap a two-game losing streak when it hosts Atholton Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1:30 p.m.

For more on these games, read Thursday's editions of the Howard County Times and Columbia Flier.

CENTENNIAL 42, GLENELG 21
Centennial (3-3)    7  6  15  14  -  42
Glenelg (2-4)         0  0   7  14  -  21
Scoring Summary
First quarter
C: Young run (Hugel kick)
Second quarter
C: Young 17 run (kick failed)
Third quarter
C: Young 5 run (Young run)
G: Dubois run (Rosenthal kick)
C: Jaeger run (Hugel kick)
Fourth quarter
G: Sones 20 pass from Trawick (Rosenthal kick)
C: Young 5 run (Hugel kick)
G: Dubois pass from Trawick (Rosenthal kick)
C: Young run (Hugel kick)

WILDE LAKE 27, HOWARD 13
Howard (4-2)         7  6  0  0  -  13
Wilde Lake (6-0)    6  6  8  7  -  27
Scoring Summary
First quarter
Ho: Covington 80 kick return (Rohrbaugh kick), 11:45
WL: March 2 run (kick failed), 5:29
Second quarter
WL: Gilman 2 run (run failed), 9:36
Ho: Covington 3 run (kick blocked), :10
Third quarter
WL: Epps 45 run (Epps pass from March), 3:08
Fourth quarter
WL: Epps 6 run (Spicer kick), 9:57

---

user comments (0)