Mid-Atlantic football playoffs continue

Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) left its mark on the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference with a 21-13 victory over Archbishop Curley to claim its fourth title in six years.

Junior running back Steve Manders made two of his three carries count, scoring two first half touchdowns for the Cavaliers. Senior K.K. Smith added what would prove to be the winning touchdown on a 6-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Spalding (9-3), which lost to Curley 17-7 during the regular season, is moving to the MIAA A Conference next year.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Maryland football playoff brackets.



GOOD COUNSEL HAMMERS DEMATHA FOR WCAC TITLE
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) dominated every facet of the WCAC championship game and avenged its regular-season loss to DeMatha with a surprisingly easy 42-3 victory over the Staggs on Saturday at Navy Marine-Corps Stadium in Annapolis.

Counsel's two star players, senior quarterback Zach Dancel and senior wide receiver Marsean Diggs, connected for three touchdowns (50, 23 and 19 yards) in the final game of their stellar careers.

PHOEBUS CONTINUES TO ROLL
Scoring on its first three offensive possessions, Phoebus (Hampton, Va.), No. 12 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Rankings presented by the Army National Guard, continued its unbeaten season with an easy 35-6 win over Great Bridge in the Virginia High School Division 5 Eastern Region semifinals. Tyree Lee rushed for 297 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Phoebus (12-0) will now face Hampton, a 24-0 winner over Norcom in the other semifinal game, in the Division 5 Eastern Region Championship on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Virginia football playoff brackets.

DELAWARE SEMIS ARE SET
Ryan Kilpatrick and Matthew Claudy each scored two touchdowns to lead No. 4 Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) to a 34-7 rout over No. 5 Caesar Rodney in a Division I first-round game of the DIAA Football Tournament. Salesianum (9-2) moves on to play top-seeded St. Mark's (Wilmington, Del.) (10-0) Friday at 7:30 at Baynard Stadium.



The schools met two weeks ago in their annual season finale and St. Mark's came away with a 28-14 win in a game that was closer than the score might indicate, leaving St. Mark's coach John Wilson with several items in his game plan to improve.

"We will need to play better on special teams," Wilson said after learning of his opponent. "Aside from the punt return that gave us our first score, our kickoff coverage team cannot afford to give Sallies good field position with long returns.

"We must continue to swarm on defense and eliminate the big plays. Offensively, we need to be able to sustain long drives and keep their offense off the field for as long as possible."

In the other Division I first-round game, Concord (Wilmington, Del.) (9-2) downed Sussex Tech, 35-26, and moves on to face No. 2 Middletown (Del.) (8-2) Saturday at Billings Stadium at 7:30.

Sixth-seed Archmere Academy (Claymont, Del.) upset No. 3 Lake Forest 21-20 in a Division II first-round game. Lake Forest scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to pull within a point, but placekicker Logan King slipped on the extra-point attempt to give Archmere the win and a berth in the semifinals.

Archmere (8-3) will now take on No. 1 Appoquinimink (West Middletown, Del.) (9-1) Friday at 7:30 in one semifinal game, while No. 2 St. Elizabeth (Wilmington, Del.) (7-2) hosts No. 5 Delmar (Del.) (8-3), 22-16 winners over St. Georges in the first round, Saturday at 7:30 at Baynard Stadium.



Click here to view MaxPreps' Delaware football playoff brackets.

GAME TO WATCH
It doesn't get any bigger on the Delaware gridiron than St. Mark's-Salesianum in the state tournament semifinals Friday night at 7:30 at historic Baynard Stadium. A sold-out crowd of more than 6,500 spectators turned out for the regular season game between the schools, which the Spartans won 28-14.

THE BUZZ
It's a shame that arguably Delaware's two best football teams, St. Mark's and Salesianum, will play in a semifinal game instead of the state championship. If the DIAA cared about my opinion (which they don't) I would suggest re-seeding the four remaining teams after the first round. If that was the case this year, Concord would be playing St. Mark's and Salesianum would be playing Middletown in the semifinal games. Ask any coach — and the 1290 The Ticket coaches poll confirms my theory — and he'll tell you St. Mark's and Salesianum are the top two teams in the state and Middletown and Concord the third and fourth, respectively. While a St. Mark's-Salesianum semifinal matchup guarantees one of the top two teams has a chance to be in the final, it also means one will not be given the opportunity to get there. And that shouldn't happen.

Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and color analyst for the 1290am The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.