Football Power Poll: Week 12
Zack Fetters and his Trojan's will travel to Sherwood for a second round playoff matchup
Stefon Diggs has been unstoppable with his partner in-crime Wes Brown back in the lineup
Week 12 GamedayMD Football Power Poll
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Good Counsel and Damascus continue to hold onto the top spot in our polls. The public school poll's top four are the remaining playoff contenders and have a chance to shake things up a bit. In the private school poll only Good Counsel and Dematha remain active, and the two will meet this Sunday for the WCAC Championship at Navy Stadium. The toughest debate we had this week was in regards to the final two spots in the private school poll. All three schools, St. Albans, Landon, and Prep are deserving of a spot and because they have all beaten each other we had to make a decision based on end of season performance. So here are our Week 12 rankings.
The private school top 5 ranks the private schools only in Montgomery County, Washington D.C., and Prince Georges County.
Private:
1. Good Counsel (Olney, MD) - (9-2) The Falcon's have looked unstoppable since the return of Wes Brown to the lineup. A very impressive 44-0 victory over Gonzaga has believing the Falcons will repeat as WCAC Champs.
Next Up: Dematha (WCAC Championship @Navy Stadium)
2. Dematha (Hyattsville, MD) - (9-2) Escaped with a win last weekend over a strong finishing St. Johns team. Dematha will have their hands full with a Good Counsel team they beat in the regular season.
Next Up: Good Counsel (WCAC Championship @Navy Stadium)
3. Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) - (7-4) Three straight losses to end the season was not how Coach Brady had envisioned this year ending, but Gonzaga made their presence known in the WCAC this season. We will see if the Eagles can overcome the loss of Kevin Hogan next year.
Season Complete
4. St. Albans (Washington, DC) - (9-1) A great win over Landon gave the Bulldogs the IAC title for the second straight year. Only a prior loss to Prep had us debating where to rank Coach Schnell's team. Season Complete
5. Landon (Bethesda, MD) - (7-3) After an upset win over Prep two weeks ago, Landon hosted St. Albans in a game to decide the IAC title. St. Albans pulled out a close game and made our decision on the rankings virtually impossible.
Season Complete
Outside Looking In: Georgetown Prep and St. John's
The Public School rankings are for Montgomery County only:
Public:
1. Damascus (Damascus, MD) - (11-0) The Hornets will look to stay undefeated in a rematch of the regular season contest against the Cougars they won on the road.
Next Up: Home - Quince Orchard
2. Sherwood (Olney, MD) - (10-1) The Warriors will face the team that gave them their toughest test of the season outside of their one loss to undefeated Damascus.
Next Up: Home - Gaithersburg
3. Gaithersburg (Gaithersburg, MD) - (10-1) The Trojans want to avenge a loss at Sherwood early in the year in which they led until the final minute.
Next Up: @Sherwood
4. Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, MD) - (9-2) No team put more of a scare into undefeated Damascus this year than the Cougars. This time the game will be played up in Damascus.
Next Up: @Damascus
5. Seneca Valley (Germantown, MD) - (8-3) It seems that Coach Kim has settled on Tanner Vallely as his quarterback. They lost to Quince Orchard a month ago, but played well in the second half of that game. Special teams and turnovers were the difference that night and will likely be this week as well.
Season Complete
6. Whitman (Bethesda, MD) - (7-4) The Vikings have had trouble playing at their best against top competition late this season. We've seen them play well and their talent is undeniable, so this week would be as good a time as any for Whitman to step up and beat Gaithersburg. Not an easy matchup at all but Whitman is talented enough for us to give them a shot on the road.
Season Complete
7. Springbrook (Silver Spring, MD) - (7-4) Springbrook has won the games the needed to win and have been rewarded with a playoff spot after holding off Paint Branch last week in a classic. We certainly don't expect an upset at Sherwood this week, but any team with Devon Pestano has a shot.
Season Complete
8. Paint Branch (Burtonsville, MD) - (6-4) Mike Nesmith's team was so so close to a highly contested 4A playoff spot, but it wasn't to be in 2010. A year after PB's first playoff win in over a decade the Panthers improved dramatically in the second half of the season. This young team will likely be a playoff pick heading into 2011.
Season Complete
9. B-CC (Bethesda, MD) - (6-4) In his second year with the program, Rich Noland has his team in contention until the final week. The Baron's put up points on the Gaithersburg defense last week like nobody else had all year, but unfortunately for them could not hold down the Trojan's offense. Regardless, the Barons impressed and will graduate a senior class that has several All-Gameday candidates.
Season Complete
10. Walter Johnson (Bethesda, MD) - (6-4) The Wildcats completed their best season since 1998. While the program graduates prolific offensive performers like Cole Ahnell and Ryan Davis there is still plenty left in the cabinet for Coach Jon Kadi. Look for Andrew Pittsenberger to emerge as a top linebacker in Montgomery County next season.
Season Complete
Outside Looking In: Rockville (2A Playoff 1st Round Loss), Churchill, Clarksburg
