And then there was one: Sherwood. The Warriors are the only Montgomery County team left standing as the Maryland State Playoffs move to the semi-final round this weekend, where Sherwood will host Howard County’s Old Mill high school on Friday night at 7:00 pm.
For Sherwood, this is just another in a series of trips to the semifinals, but it came the hard way. Down 7-5 with just over three minutes to go, they rallied and drove 54-yards for the winning score. Big players come up big when it matters, and A.J. Pignone, who’s grown into his quarterback and leadership role all season, combined with Alex Cole on a huge third down play to keep the drive alive. Cyrus Britt finished it off with a 12-yard run in the mud. For Paint Branch, it was a difficult defeat, as they more than held their own for almost 35 minutes. Coach Mike Nesmith has a program in Burtonsville that’s going to be good for quite some time.
As for Montgomery County's other playoff team, Quince Orchard, and their game against Linganore (Quince Orchard vs Linganore), let me say this: Linganore is very, very good and deserved the win. I covered ten games this season, and saw almost all of the best backs in the county: Cecala, Quinn, Sasu, Dixon; I did not get to see Britt, Lucas or Gongbay. Linganore’s Zach Zwinak is the best back I personally saw all year. He combines incredible power with speed you would not expect from a guy 6’3” 235 pounds. Quince Orchard has outstanding linebackers who hit and tackle with the best of them; Zwinak was difficult to bring down, and once he found an opening, he got through it and was gone. His 91-yard and 50-yard touchdown runs were cases in point.
Defensively, Linganore shut down the Quince Orchard offense with a simple skill: tackling. They did not miss open-field tackles, and they eventually controlled the line of scrimmage, keeping Ben Sasu, who by the way had an outstanding game, from breaking long runs. QO’s passing game was always a weak link, and playing from behind was a difficult chore.
Coach Dave Mencarini’s team, as he told them after the game, had no reason to be embarrassed; they are the best team in this county, and had a tremendous season. They will be back again next year.
With two more weeks (maximum) remaining, the Montgomery County Monday (MCM) Top Ten rolls on, although there are no changes from last weekend. As always, the MCM Top Ten from last week is in bold, and The Gazette Power Poll rankings are in italics.
Quince Orchard (1) (2): Coach Dave Mencarini’s guys just got beat by a better team, maybe the best in the state regardless of classification. Why are they still my Number 1? Because they beat the Number 2, and this is not the BCS. Next Game: Season complete.
Sherwood (2) (3): The only Montgomery County team still playing, and playing well. A home game win against Old Mill is all that stands between them and a chance to win back-to-back state championships. Next Game: Home Maryland State Semi-Final vs Old Mill
Paint Branch (3) (6): A valiant effort all around by the Panthers, and deep bows to their stars: Tagoe, Martin and Willis. Next Game: Season complete.
Damascus (4) (4): Season complete
Whitman (5) (9): Season complete
Springbrook (6) (8): Season complete
Clarksburg (7) (10): Season complete
Churchill (8) (NR): Season complete
Rockville (9) (NR): Season complete
Seneca Valley (10) (NR): Season complete
MCM Players of the Weekend:
Zach Zwinak, Linganore
A.J. Pignone, Sherwood
MCM Honorable Mentions:
Cyrus Britt, Sherwood
Tracy Martin, Paint Branch
Karim Jones, Quince Orchard
Nicholas Marth, Linganore
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