Manchester Valley

Two Washington County high school football teams will kick off postseason play this weekend. For one, it's a return to the playoffs after an extended layoff. For the other, it's becoming a routine. North Hagerstown (9-1) is in the postseason for the first time since 2006, qualifying as the No. 3 seed in Maryland Class 3A West. The Hubs will go on the road to face second-seeded Seneca Valley (9-1) at 7 p.m. Friday. North enters the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak after edging city rival South Hagerstown 14-12 last Friday night.

The Williamsport girls soccer team didn't stay down for long. Five days after falling 1-0 to Boonsboro in the final of the Washington County tournament - in what Williamsport's Tim Salvagno called “the most disappointing game I've coached” - the Wildcats finished their regular season on a rainy Thursday night at home with one of their biggest victories in years. Williamsport defeated Smithsburg 1-0 to capture the MVAL Antietam title, completing a 7-0 run through the conference while handing the Leopards (6-5-2, 3-1-2)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 BOYS SOCCER HAMPSTEAD, Md. - Owen Marx and Quentin Watson each scored in the second half for Williamsport in a 2-1 win over North Carroll on Tuesday. Tiago DeSouza had two assists and Corey Ellis had nine saves for the Wildcats (7-4). JV: North Carroll, 5-1. North Hagerstown 6, FSK 0 Ryan Byard scored two goals as North Hagerstown shut out Francis Scott Key. Dereck Cermeno and Mark Grunberg each had a goal and an assist, Connor Troxell and Steve Idegwu each had a goal, Yusuf Bodirov had two assists and Max Ober had four saves for the Hubs (7-6)

Monday, October 15, 2012 GIRLS SOCCER CLEAR SPRING - Caylin Reid drew first blood with a goal in the first half for Clear Spring en route to the Blazers 4-0 shutout of St. Maria Goretti on Monday. Jenna Lipinski, Lexi Albert and Victoria Lulciuc each added a goal in the second half for Clear Spring (7-4). Lulciuc also had two assists. Tori Albert and Jen Bowers combined for the shutout in goal. Megan Rock had 14 saves in goal for Goretti (2-10-4). Boonsboro 5, FSK 0 UNION BRIDGE, Md. - Leah Cadigan netted a hat trick to lead Boonsboro in a shutout of Francis Scott Key. Jordy Bingaman and Emily Cronise also scored for the Warriors (7-1-4)

Caroline Schemel knew where she was going this time. The Greencastle-Antrim sophomore was the girls champion Saturday at Smithsburg's 23rd annual Don Stoner Cross Country Invitational - a year after she took a wrong turn at the meet, which cost her a second-place finish and cost the Blue Devils a team title. “That was awful. I was pretty upset last year,” she said. “But I know the course really well now. I paid close attention during the (pre-race) course walk.” Schemel passed North Hagerstown's Emily Ward midway through the hilly 3.04-mile race to take the lead, and she held on to win in 19:51.4.

Saturday, September 29, 2012 PREP FOOTBALL WASHINGTON - The Hancock football team found out you have to be careful what you wish for. The Panther defense wanted to make Sidwell Friends throw the ball on Saturday. The Quakers did ... and very successfully. Sidwell Friends connected on three TD passes and intercepted a Hancock pass for a fourth in a 34-14 win over the Panthers. “We wanted to force them to pass,” said Hancock coach Dave Mahaffey. “They did and did it very well.

Friday, September 28, 2012 BOYS SOCCER Clear Spring 3, Manchester Valley 2 CLEAR SPRING - Bradly Mills scored two goals to lead Clear Spring past Manchester Valley. Nick Brandt had a goal and Jonathan Henesy had an assist for the Blazers (7-1-1). Brunswick 2, N. Hagerstown 0 BRUNSWICK, Md. - Max Ober had 11 saves for North (4-4, 1-3) in an MVAL Antietam loss to Brunswick. JV: North, 1-0. PREP VOLLEYBALL N. Hagerstown 3, Oakdale 1 IJAMSVILLE, Md. - Peyton Wallech had 26 kills and nine digs to lead North Hagerstown in a 25-27, 25-23, 25-11, 25-20 win over Oakdale.

Washington County games Fort Hill Sentinels (2-1) at North Hagerstown Hubs (2-1) When: Friday, 7 p.m. Series: Fort Hill leads, 35-5-1. Last meeting: 2003 - North Hagerstown, 33-12. Last week: The Sentinels beat MATHS, 70-6. ... The Hubs beat Oakdale, 22-19. Notes: The last meeting between the schools was in the Class 2A West semifinals in 2003. The Sentinels won the previous 13 meetings (from 1984 to 1996) in the series. ... The Sentinels led MATHS (Maryland Academy of Technology and Health Sciences of Baltimore)

IJAMSVILLE, Md. - Both teams struggled to move the ball most of the game on Friday night, but late in the fourth quarter Oakdale and North Hagerstown each had opportunities to make plays to win. The Hubs got it done on offense and defense, scoring with 37 seconds left to take the lead before intercepting a pass after Oakdale moved within striking distance to hang on for a 22-19 victory. The Bears (1-2) limited the production of North Hagerstown's pair of talented running backs, Isaiah Keyes and Kyle Hewlett, for much of the game as both offenses struggled to get anything going.

I have never been so embarrassed in all my life. I got a call to meet with the NFL commissioner the other day. I feel like I'm being called to the principal's office. I don't really know what he wants with me. I could be positive and figure he wants to commend me for my outstanding work in the world of football prognosticating. I've been an under recognized stalwart in that field for such a long time. Those Herald-Mail hacks don't know what they have. Maybe he wants to pick my brain to see just how I figure out so many games successfully.