BOONSBORO – Maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald had a little Knute Rockne in him.
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat,” one of the most famous American authors once penned.
Boonsboro football Coach Mark Wadel may not know what that was all about back in Fitzgerald’s day, but he has a firm grasp on it when it comes to the Warriors.
For Wadel and the Warriors, a single defeat – and the hopes of a do-over – came on the weekend following on Oct. 16 after a 29-20 loss to the SEED School of Maryland.
After dissecting and rehashing the chain of events in the loss – along with some soul searching – Wadel made his own second-chance statement to the Warriors.
“When I talked to the kids on Saturday morning, I said I would not be not be disappointed to play them again down the road,” Wadel said. “I don’t think we played well. So, if we have to play them down the road, I’d be happy to do it.”
As fate, luck or destiny would have it, Wadel got his wish.
The Warriors will host SEED in a rematch, but this one has a little more urgency. It’s for a spot in the Class 1A semifinals in Maryland’s state football playoffs. The fourth-seeded Warriors get a second day of reckoning when they host the fifth-seeded Sabers on Friday at 7 p.m.
“Obviously, we know they’re very good,” Wadel said. “They are one of our three losses this year.
“We watched film Friday night (after last Friday’s 66-0 victory over Loch Raven in the quarterfinals) so we were ready for Saturday’s morning meeting with the kids. We were talking amongst the staff and we said we just didn’t play very well. We didn’t execute at a high level.”
The circumstances of the first meeting stacked up.
First, Boonsboro squandered an early 14-0 lead with a “scoop-and-score” fumble recovery becoming one of the main daggers in the loss. The Sabers scored all 29 of their points before Boonsboro could get on the board again
Add to it, the Warriors are known for their rushing attack, as proven by their 2,682 yards and 38 TDs in 11 games. But against SEED, Boonsboro didn’t get a touchdown on the ground. It was three scoring passes and 124 yards rushing.
And finally, SEED didn’t get a lot of yardage against Boonsboro’s defense – 285– but the Sabers were efficient and balanced.
“They have very good players on both sides of the ball,” Wadel said. “I kind of spent a lot of time studying their defense and they have some very good players. Part of that is why we didn’t execute well.
“I mean, we have a guy out there in a great position to block a linebacker and the linebacker just makes a great play because we didn’t block him. Hey, if we make that block, we’re in great shape. IT was things like that, so it was partially on them, but partially on us.”
The loss to SEED became a lightning rod for the Warriors. It put Boonsboro on a two-game losing streak – coupled with a loss to Musselman the week before – and started to raise notions of the Warrior heading down a dark path.
“That Saturday, we watched films, and I made the four captains stay afterwards and they met with me only and we kind of had The Discussion,” Wadel said. “I said ‘Fellas, we’re at a turning point right now. This thing could go downhill in hurry or we can get this turned in a hurry.’
“We talked about our scout team not do a good enough job to get us ready that week. I said ‘Fellas that’s partially on you guys, too. You’re not requiring them to be better.’ That was part of (this Monday’s) discussion too. Our scout team needs to be great all week long at all 11 positions to give us the best chance to be successful on Friday.”
After the first talk, Boonsboro has bounced back with four straight wins, outscoring those opponents by 206-45. The Warriors won their first two playoff games by a 129-12 count.
And the running game? It’s back.
The Warriors have run for 1,103 yards and 20 TDs in the last four games.
Meanwhile, SEED had its own problems after knocking off Boonsboro.
The Sabers lost their last two regular season games after taking down Boonsboro, but bounced back with two playoff wins.
Still, Wadel and the Warriors remember the team they faced five weeks ago.
“They are an outstanding team. I would say they’re probably the third hardest team we had to play,” Wadel said. “Middletown is great and Musselman created some very unique situations for us offensively. They were very big and very physical. And then SEED played a very good game as well.
“They’re kids are all high energy. They fly around and they do a great job. They make a lot of tackles and they don’t miss many. They are very fundamentally sound and they have some great athletes.”
Now, Wadel got his wish for a second shot at SEED and the Warriors seemed to be more settled in their identity.
It’s time to turn the page on F. Scott and follow Nishan Panwar, another quotable author.
“Not everyone gets a second chance,” he said. “If you do get one, take advantage of it because it’s a gift, and it may be something better than you had before!”
For that, Wadel is a believer
“The boys seemed to respond well to that and in the end of the season, in the two playoff games, they have been playing very well and executing at a very high level,” he said. “I think the kids will be very excited this week. They know it was a very winnable game the first time.”
SEED at Boonsboro, 7
Last meeting: 2025 – SEED 29, Boonsboro 20
Series record: SEED leads, 1-0
Last week: SEED (7-4) defeated Pikesville, 47-0; Boonsboro (8-3) defeated Loch Raven, 66-0;
Notes: Boonsboro was the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A North Regional, while SEED was the second seed in the North. In the state quarterfinals, the eight remaining teams – two from each region – are reseeded. In that process, Boonsboro was the fourth seed and SEED the fifth, giving the Warriors the homefield advantage. … The winner of this game will face the winner of Allegany at Patuxent in the state semifinals … The two teams met on Oct. 16, with SEED coming back from a 14-0 deficit to post the victory. After that, the Sabers lost their last two regular-season games before winning two straight in the playoffs … The Warriors have won four consecutive games since the loss to SEED … Boonsboro has outscored their two playoff opponents 129-12, while SEED won its to postseason games by a 77-14 count. … SEED is based in Baltimore and opened its doors in 2008. … SEED has scored 303 points (27.5 per game) and allowed 194 (17.6) in 11 games while Boonsboro has scored 424 (38.6) and allowed 202 (18.4) … Boonsboro has scored at least 35 points in all eight of its wins, but has been held to 20 or under in the three losses. … SEED has amassed 2,900 yards of offense this season – 1,635 passing and 1,265 rushing. … Quarterback Malcom Smith Jr., a sophomore, has passe for 1,635 yards and 20 touchdowns, but has 12 interceptions. He has also rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown … Dominic Wilkens is the Sabers’ top rusher with 769 yards and nine touchdowns. He has surpassed 100 yards in two games. … Elijah Williams is SEED’s to receiver with 20 catches for 623 yards and eight touchdowns. … The Sabers defense is led by Da’Veon Reed with 84 tackles and Tyree Powell with 78 tackles. Reed has 23 tackles for losses. Jahlil Diggs has 10 quarterback sacks and 21 tackles for loss … For Boonsboro, the Warriors have amassed 3,982 yards offensively – 1,300 passing and 2,682 rushing … Quarterback Blake Main has passed for 1,228 yards and 18 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He has also added 212 yards rushing and five TDS. … Jadon King tops the Warriors with 988 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns, while Parker DeBaugh adds 713 yards rushing with 11 TDs. King has another six scores receiving and DeBaugh has one. … Jayden Paugh has 18 catches for 326 yards and six touchdowns receiving. … Logan Atkinson leads Boonsboro’s defense with 114 ½ tackles, including 11 ½ for losses. Paugh is second on the defense with 89 total tackles. He collected three turnovers – two interceptions and a fumble recovery – in the win over Loch Raven.
