Football’s 12th Man while the “Doctor” makes a house call.

High School Football in Montgomery County is nearing its conclusion as both Damascus and Quince Orchard advance to their respective class semi-final rounds.  Damascus plays at home against Glenelg of Howard County and Quince Orchard takes to the road to visit North Point in Waldorf, Maryland.  Thursday’s Turkey bowl games aside it’s showdown time on Friday night at 7 p.m. across the DMV.

Damascus Swarming Hornets enter the semi-final shadowed in controversy.  They had 12 men on the field when they scored the game winning touchdown against Walkersville last week.  Really, the controversy is swarming over the MPSSAA officiating that occurred during that play.  Damascus later admitted they had 5 players in the backfield and 7 on the line when they scored.  However, two officials threw penalty flags which were later waved off after the entire officiating team collaborated, but could not confirm the Hornet player count.

The play stood.  MPSSAA made a mistake.  It happens.  Damascus prevailed in the 4^th quarter, 7-3. Therefore, at this point there is no sense in debating the “what if”.  Rest assured MPSSAA officiating will be more intense for all playoff games this week.  Consequently, that could be a good or bad thing.

Gage Dickens turns corner to score as official tosses penalty flag

Quince Orchard (QO) Cougars travel to Charles County “on the wild side, where Eagles soar”.  Fortunately, for the Eagles of North Point (NP), they get to host the semi-final because of their higher in-state 4A MPSSAA rating.

The QO/NP game will be a colorful one if for the only reason that both teams share mutual school colors.  Color QO black, white and red.  NP has the same three colors plus gold, thus replicating the Maryland state flag colors.

It will be fun to see how QO’s Red Army supports it’s QB “Doc” Bonner and the team in this crucial away game.  If they succeed in making themselves the 12^th man on the field, negating the Eagles home crowd, they could be the difference in helping QO advance to next week’s state championship game in Annapolis.

All eyes on QO QB Doc Bonner

I make no winner predictions or comparative assessment of team personnel at this point of the season.  Teenager emotions run high, mistakes happen and football challenges are overcome on the faintness turn of luck like a tipped ball.  I have seen it happen too many times.  Some are lucky enough to have been there before and maybe even more experienced at this competitive level.  Just know that these teenagers practice all season long for a chance to remember games like this.

Finally, what matters most is that they are supported no matter the outcome.  If the visitor standing room only crowds last week at Damascus and Quince Orchard are any indication of support then we are in for a couple of great hours of Friday Night Light (FNL) football.

Friday, I will be in Waldorf for the Cougars versus Eagles game, follow me on @Photoloaf and @Mymcmedia.

2A MPSSAA Semi-Final between Glenelg and Damascus, 7 p.m. in Damascus.

4A MPSSAA Semi-Final between Quince Orchard and North Point, 7 p.m. in Waldorf, Maryland

Phil Fabrizio

@PhotoLoaf®

About Phil Fabrizio

Phil Fabrizio is an event, news and sports photographer in the Washington D.C. Metro area. He lives in North Potomac and has operated Sugarloaf Photography since 1985. He is a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc in Glen Echo. Stop by Phil's PhotoLoaf site or follow him on Twitter @Photoloaf. Find Phil's blog on MyMCMedia here.

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