Northwestern District playoff hopes

[Shruikan]

Sherando will make the playoffs, but what about Millbrook and James Wood? Is it possible on points for all three Frederick County schools to make the playoffs?

The last I heard James Wood and Millbrook were #9 and #10 as far as power points go. They still have to play one another, and Millbrook still has to play Sherando.

The remaining schedule for the three schools are listed below:

Sherando
vs. Handley
vs. Fort Hill (Md.)
@ Skyline
vs. Millbrook

Millbrook
BYE
@ James Wood
vs. Handley
@ Sherando

James Wood
@ Skyline
vs. Millbrook
vs. Spring Mills (WV)
@ Handley

 

[bombardn]

That's a good question. Both Millbrook and JW are much improved from last year, but it's hard to tell just how good they really are. Handley and Skyline are so bad this year that they offer nothing in the way of SOS points.
I think that if Wood beats Skyline, Spring Mills & Handley, they are in for sure. I think Millbrook has to beat Handley AND either Wood or Sherando. That could be a tough task with both games on the road. We saw that Wood's defense was fast and disciplined against Sherando.
Of course, there are many other variables, but I'd like to see all 3 teams in the playoffs!

 

[schoolboard]

I wish I knew what to make of the closeness of the game between James Wood and Sherando. That "so bad" Skyline team actually had more total yards of offense than Millbrook in the first half, before everything went so wrong. I was most surprised by the small Millbrook home crowd. They are a very good team this year, and it was a sea of empty seats. Two years ago when they weren't as good, I had to fight through the crowd to get to the rest room. Not this year. I won't be surprised if Millbrook beats Sherando, and I won't be surprised if Sherando blows them out.

 

[bombardn]

I heard that the crowd at Millbrook was sparse. That's really too bad. I've only been to a handful of Millbrook games and the turnout was always pretty good. There was a huge crowd at JW Friday night, making it that much more exciting a game.
I really shouldn't have said "so bad" for either of those teams. I haven't actually seen them play. They've just taken such big losses this season.

 

[Shruikan]

I wish I knew what to make of the closeness of the game between James Wood and Sherando. That "so bad" Skyline team actually had more total yards of offense than Millbrook in the first half, before everything went so wrong. I was most surprised by the small Millbrook home crowd. They are a very good team this year, and it was a sea of empty seats. Two years ago when they weren't as good, I had to fight through the crowd to get to the rest room. Not this year. I won't be surprised if Millbrook beats Sherando, and I won't be surprised if Sherando blows them out.

I agree with this.

Sherando has a played a lot of close games with James Wood over the years, but usually when it happens it seems like Sherando makes a lot of mistakes to keep them in games. That definitely wasn't the case here, even if Sherando did have five starting linemen out. It reminded me a lot of the 2007 matchup between both schools, where James Wood went up 14-0 on a Ross Metheny-led Sherando team in the playoffs.

James Wood is good this year, much better than I thought they'd be. Millbrook might be even better, and they've been on a roll lately. Skyline isn't as good as they usually are, and Rock Ridge is a new school, but even so winning two games back to back by 50+ does wonders for confidence, as does seeing a cross county rival struggle against another.

Not sure what's up with the James Wood and Millbrook crowds. I thought maybe the threat of rain had something to do with it, but Sherando probably had more supporters there than Wood did. This is the first year in a while that either of those schools have been competitive, so I thought the turnouts would be higher on average.

 

[shauntclair]

Sherando will make the playoffs, but what about Millbrook and James Wood? Is it possible on points for all three Frederick County schools to make the playoffs?

The last I heard James Wood and Millbrook were #9 and #10 as far as power points go. They still have to play one another, and Millbrook still has to play Sherando.

The remaining schedule for the three schools are listed below:

Sherando
vs. Handley
vs. Fort Hill (Md.)
@ Skyline
vs. Millbrook

Millbrook
BYE
@ James Wood
vs. Handley
@ Sherando

James Wood
@ Skyline
vs. Millbrook
vs. Spring Mills (WV)
@ Handley

because most of these games are amongst each other, I don't think getting them all in is likely. Somebody's got to get bumped. I know Sherando will be in and think James Wood gets in. But MillBrook has to play Sherando and will be hard pressed against JW. But the scenarios are not impossible, especially if both beat Sherando. Could get interesting in the NWD.

 

[bombardn]

because most of these games are amongst each other, I don't think getting them all in is likely. Somebody's got to get bumped. I know Sherando will be in and think James Wood gets in. But MillBrook has to play Sherando and will be hard pressed against JW. But the scenarios are not impossible, especially if both beat Sherando. Could get interesting in the NWD.

Looking at the ratings released today, it looks like JW will likely need to win out. I still think Millbrook needs a win over Sherando OR JW.