MMU Season Finale – Dancing With The Stars.
Ok, so now it comes down to the last week in regular season play and in both leagues, MoCo and Metro we have two teams in a tie for 1st place. Good Counsel and QO are tied with 4 wins and 2 losses in the MoCo while QO and Stone Bridge is tied with 5 wins and 1 loss in the Metro.
Whose Star will shine the brightest?
A closer look at the distance of separation between the top contenders shows that in the MoCo League – Good Counsel has a slight advantage over QO by 39 Total Mythical Points (MP). Where as in the Metro League QO has a commanding lead in Total MP over Stone Bridge by over 480 points.
So it is off to the playoffs for 6 of the 7 teams in the Mythical Match-Up (MMU) Challenge Leagues inaugural season. As I laid out the scenario last weekend the MMU will need to create some separation between all teams using the 7th game as a means to flush out each Challenge champion.
Basically, it is structured much like a County Playoff system, except not all teams play. It’s a 6-team playoff where the best team plays the last place team (6th of 7 teams) in a one game playoff. Based on the week 7 standings and MP the playoff will look like this. MMU Standing Team 1 versus 6; Team 2 versus 5; and Teams 3 and 4 face off for the last game. The last/lowest team in MMU play (#7) is dropped from the playoff.
Here goes – in the MoCo League it will be Good Counsel up against Seneca Valley; Quince Orchard against Northwest; and Churchill against Sherwood; Bullis didn’t make the cut – they had 4 losses in MMU Challenge play.
For the Metro League it will be Quince Orchard against Friendship Collegiate; Stone Bridge faces Westfield; and Good Counsel takes on the 2011 MD State Champ Old Mill. Wise didn’t make the cut either – they had 5 losses in MMU Challenge play.
Looking at the Washington Post’s Top 20 teams as released on Tuesday, October 30th I have 7 of the 8 area top 20 teams in the MMU Challenge playoff, with Wise the only non-participant. This brings me to my next point. Wise, as #3 in the Washington Post.
Wise (1-5) has been beating up on everyone in actual regular season PG County 4A division play this year and should have made the MMU Challenge playoff since they generated nearly 1200 Mythical Points. However, they could not get key wins against stronger Metro League competition. Friendship Collegiate (2-4) got the benefit of better schedule timing – and picked up its decisive tiebreaker win against Wise in challenge play back in week 4.
Could scheduling be a flaw in the MMU Challenge design? Not really. I believe that both FC and Wise are the weakest teams in this inaugural season play – and that neither would have fared well in this one game playoff – they wouldn’t be champion of the league from where they sit.
Looking ahead to the Maryland State playoffs the real challenger for Wise – whom I have seen practice – will be Washington Post’s #13 – Suitland – whom Wise will not meet in PG 4A play. If they get past Suitland and face the 4A West champion team (either from Frederick or MoCo) – the glow bestowed on them in the Post’s rankings will be dimmed.
Next week, I will share my perspective on the Concorde and Liberty AAA division leaders over in Virginia where we have Westfield and Stone Bridge heading for a playoff collision. Admittedly, I know little of the rest of the Dominion states’ HS football leagues – I just know that these two teams in the MMU Metro League Challenge have a long road ahead of them for the Virginia State AAA championship.
This past weekend I watched 4 teams play – Friday night it was Churchill against Wootton (or as I called it – Dove versus Diggs) and then on Saturday afternoon I saw Quince Orchard play at Gaithersburg. I brought my camera to only one game – guess which one.
By the way – the county has done a marvelous job with the new Harvill Stadium field and facility-to-be at Gaithersburg – what a setting. What a field!!! It soon will be the best place for a FNL (Friday-Night-Lights) game in all of the MoCo, or to see a track meet, or see a lacrosse game.
The natural bowl that surrounds the field will be converted into stands – while keeping the old seating in place. I know what that field and crowd was like in the 70’s – I watched my brothers play for Harvill and Thomas– watched them and Kreg Keppart play – watched how those “farm boys” from Gaithersburg built a legacy that no other down county communities will ever replicate. The football seeds they grew there – is now seen in the upcounty communities like Damascus, Seneca Valley, Clarksburg, Northwest and Quince Orchard (oh and by the way at Good Counsel, too). I only hope that with their new field comes greater success for GHS.
Quince Orchard 48 – Gaithersburg 13
QO’s D’Andre Johnson follows his blockers through Gaithersburg’s defense
Choi to St. Regis for 6
Gaithersburg will score on this play to make it 21 to 7
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