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Once the Glenelg High football team actually got a chance to put its feet on the ground, it had no trouble running off with a 28-12 win over host Howard on Friday.

The Gladiators (3-0, 3-0 Howard County League) held onto the Elgard Trophy for the second straight year, thanks to Shannon Maura and Colin Osborne, who rushed for two touchdowns each.

"That's where I like to see the offense," Osborne said. "The first two wins, we did it with defense, but it's nice to finally get things working."

The Elgard trophy, a bronze bull, is named after the last three letters in both school's names. The rivalry between the two oldest Howard County high schools dates back to the 1960s.The tradition of the trophy was recently re-introduced to the rivalry in 2007.

Initially, Glenelg's offense was limited by a lack of playing time. The Gladiators had only three drives in the first half, limiting head coach Butch Schaffer's squad to 4 minutes and 59 seconds of possession.

"We just didn't have a lot of opportunities in the first half," Schaffer said. "Howard's a real good team. They did a great job of controlling the clock."

Some of the initial Glenelg drives are scripted out ahead of time by coaches, but with only 16 plays from scrimmage in the first half that script was severely edited down.

The Gladiators' first drive, a modest three-and-out, was their longest time-wise. It was followed up by 7 minutes and 26 seconds of Howard offense covering 92 yards in 15 plays. And when the Gladiators were able to set up a 44-yard touchdown run from Maura in four plays, the Lions (1-2) followed with 16 plays, taking 7:57 off the game clock and traveling 80 yards for their second score. That forced Glenelg into a 1-minute drill, which resulted in a missed field-goal attempt.

When the Gladiators opened the second half with a 63-yard drive that ended only feet from the goal line, they could have lost their momentum. Howard, up a score, had the ball and was driving it back up the field. But a quarterback keeper from Calvin Ford turned into a fumble and sparked three gains from Maura and Osbourne. Maura opened with a short gain, then Osbourne went 39 yards on a sweep right, finishing out of bounds on the 1-yard line.

"I [bobbled] the ball for a second and I started to worry," Osbourne said. "I cut right, then I saw open field to the left and I just cut back that way."

Maura then punched in the score, giving Glenelg a 13-12 lead. Three minutes later, Osbourne broke out an 8-yard run for his first touchdown. In the fourth, he added a 57-yard scoring burst.

"It's real fun now. "It was fun last year because we were playing football, but winning is so much more fun," said Maura, a three-year starter.

"We knew going in that we had a lot of talent on the field," the senior added. "We've trained hard all off-season. It's been three [tough] years for us. We can only be bad for so long."

Maura finished with 94 yards rushing on 19 carries. Osbourne was named the Elgard Player of the Game after rushing for 133 yards on seven carries and catching two passes for 54 yards.

Glenelg quarterback Gage Trawick was nearly flawless in the second half, completing all five of his passing attempts. He finished 7 for 11 with 114 yards.