The Sherwood Warriors (10-0) came into Friday night’s playoff matchup against Bel Air (9-1) thinking that it would be a much easier game than it ended up being. The Warriors have a much more difficult schedule throughout the season and have faced much stronger opponents than Bel Air has. However none of this matters in the playoffs, anything can happen at any time.
The Warriors got off to a fast start, as a beautiful deep ball was caught by WR Marcus Simms who blew by the coverage over the top for the score. The following drive was a simple goal line run by Sherwood as they led 14-0 after the first quarter, feeling confident and comfortable.
The second quarter told a different story as Bel Air made its move. #7 Christian has a goal line run of his own to cut into the Sherwood lead and momentum (missed XP). Following that score, Bel Air moves down field where a one-handed catch (with defensive pass interference) and a quick 2 point conversion tied the game up. Sherwood players and the crowd were getting aggravated. This was a game they felt was over and done with in the first quarter.
With under a minute to go, the Warriors offense looked to get ahead of Bel Air right before the half. They moved the ball all the way to the Bel Air 20 yard line where a debatable fumble halted the drive. Players and Coaches were upset with the call and went into the half tied 14-14.
In the second half, Sherwood looked to repeat its efforts in the first quarter as Simms hauled in 2 more TD’s in the third quarter putting Sherwood up 27-14 (blocked XP).
Just when Sherwood felt comfortable again, Bel Air would claw its way back into the game. A 2 yard TD run (2 point conversion good) with a little over 7 minutes left put Bel Air back in reach and a shot at pulling off the upset. Bel Air knew Sherwood would try and burn the rest of the clock out and had to shut down Marcus Simms somehow to stay in the game.
The Warriors were in striking distance, and with a 27-22 score, any type of scoring play would put this game away. The Sherwood QB rolled out right on third down and tried to force a pass to Simms in the end zone where it was intercepted. With a great return back to the Warriors 32 yard line, Bel Air had the final chance in the game. With under 3 minutes in the game, Bel Air was on the move until the Sherwood coach put in WR Marcus Simms as Safety. The Bel Air Quarterback threw the ball into the end zone where Simms would come up with the game winning interception to seal the game for the Warriors.
The 6’1′ WR had himself a day, tallying 8 receptions for 181 yards and 3 TDs with the game clinching INT. At halftime, Simms was the leader in the locker room as he has been all season as he urged his teammates to keep their heads up and not to stray away from the gameplan.
Talking to Sherwood Head Coach Chris Grier after the game, he said his team has been battle-tested like this in the regular season before where his team has always responded when they needed too. This close game experience should help them tremendously as they move on in the playoffs, as the task at hand only gets tougher down the road.
Sherwood continues there undefeated season at 11-0, taking on Howard in their next playoff game.
