From here on out, for nearly every team in the D.C. area, you win or you’re out.
There’s plenty of praise to heap on the teams that find themselves inside the Top 20 at this juncture. Seven ranked teams (four from Virginia, three from Maryland) finished the regular season undefeated. Two Washington Catholic Athletic Conference powers (Good Counsel and DeMatha) separated themselves from the pack with one-loss seasons, as did the usual pair of Prince George’s County heavyweights (C.H. Flowers and Wise), a reigning Virginia state finalist (Madison) and two Maryland upstarts (Churchill and Calvert). Others with multiple losses earned their spots with challenging schedules and impressive wins.
Alas, surviving one more week, and extending seniors’ careers with each victory, likely takes precedent for these 20 programs — at least over any cachet that comes with a spot in the Top 20. With the Maryland public school playoffs having kicked off, and most of the remaining postseason slates set to begin this week, all 20 teams that appeared in last week’s iteration of the rankings remain there. The same cannot be promised for next week’s rankings, with every week after this one almost certain to knock out local programs as competition stiffens.
On the bubble, Westfield drops out following a loss to South Lakes and is replaced by Class 3 power Brentsville District, which snapped Kettle Run’s 28-game regular-season winning streak. Elsewhere, Flint Hill clinched the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title with a 27-7 win over St. James.