Playoff football in Washington comes down to four numbers.
Six, four, two and one.
Six teams advanced to the first round of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state playoffs.
Four of the six teams have been awarded home games.
They will be played on two different days – Thursday and Friday.
Boonsboro is the one school with the highest ranking in the county.
The Warriors are the top-seeded team in the Class 1A North region and will host eighth-seeded Western ETES on Friday at 7 p.m.
Boonsboro, who tied with Williamsport for top record in the county at 6-3, edged Pikesville for the top seed by .19 in point average. SEED, which defeated Boonsboro on Oct. 16, had led the region for most of the season suffered a late season slide and checks in at third seed.
Western ETES is winless in nine games this season.
The MPSSAA features six four-region tournaments leading to the state championship games at the Naval Academy. All schools are automatically eligible to participate in the postseason.
If the Warriors win on Friday, the top seeding guarantees them a second-round home game. After the second week of play, the final eight remaining teams in each class are reseeded for the quarterfinals.
North Hagerstown, South Hagerstown and Williamsport each earned first-round home games in their region, while Smithsburg and Clear Spring will open on the road.
- North Hagerstown (5-4), losers of its last three games, received a fourth-seed in the Class 3A West and will host fifth-seeded Northwood (3-6) on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Mike Callas Stadium. The Hubs began the season at 4-0 before losing four of their last five games to fall out of the No. 2 slot in the region.
The winner of this game will advance to face undefeated and top-seeded Linganore.
- South Hagerstown (3-5) jumped to fourth in the Class 4A-3A East standings to get a home date with fifth-seed Thomas S. Wootten (3-6) at School Stadium on Friday at 6.
The Rebels sat right on the edge of fourth and fifth seeds until they defeated North Hagerstown for the city championship last Thursday. South squeezed past Wootten for the home game by .05 in point average.
- Williamsport is the fourth team to earn a home game in the county. The Wildcats (6-3) bounced back from a three-game losing streak to snare a fourth seed in the Class 2A/1A East and will host Liberty on Thursday at 6.
The final two playoff teams will be traveling to the Cumberland area for their games.
- Smithsburg earned a No. 6 seed in the Class 1A West and will meet Mountain Ridge (4-5) in Frostburg in a yet to be determined date and time.
The Leopards (4-5) were ranked in the East’s top two during the first half of the season, but an inconsistent run of alternating wins and losses caused Smithsburg to slide.
- Clear Spring (3-6) is the No. 7 seed and meet second-seeded Allegany (4-5) on Friday at 7 at Greenway Avenue Stadium in Cumberland.
Hancock elected to withdraw from the 1A West playoff field. The Panthers were winless through six games and were unable to play the three – two because the opposing teams disbanded before forfeiting season finale vs. Clear Spring because insufficient number of players.
