It's time for the football regional playoffs
Six of Carroll County's seven teams will be in action Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 in regional matchups.
It's playoff time, the most exciting part of the fall high school sports season. Field hockey and soccer have already crowned regional champs, cross country has regional meets this week, and volleyball begins its postseason this week.
Football kicks off regional playoff games this weekend as well, so let's dive into the matchups before taking a look at the regular-season stats leaders across the Carroll County Athletic League.
NOTE: South Carroll (8-1) has a bye in the first round of the Class 2A-1A West playoffs.
Century (1-8) at Oakland Mills (4-5)
When: Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Outlook: The Knights have dropped four games in a row and have scored a mere 7 points during that skid. They get a chance for a fresh start against a Scorpions team that has lost 5 games by a combined 26 points.
Manchester Valley (5-4) at Franklin (6-3)
When: Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.
Outlook: The Mavericks ride a 4-game winning streak into the Class 2A West playoffs, with quarterback Jake Boog eclipsing 1,500 passing yards last week in a win vs. Poolesville. Franklin ended MV's season in the regional playoffs a year ago with a 38-13 victory.
Winters Mill (3-5) at Williamsport (6-3)
When: Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.
Outlook: The Falcons hung with city rival Westminster in Week 9 before falling short, but they're gunning for the program's first playoff victory by going on the road to face the Wildcats. Williamsport knocked off Man Valley in Week 1 and cruised past Pikesville in the regular-season finale.
Francis Scott Key (1-8) at Liberty (6-3)
When: Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
Outlook: The Eagles visited the Lions in Week 4 and fell 35-7, so both teams can learn from their regular-season clash. Liberty senior quarterback Jack Pellicciotti leads the CCAL with 1,628 passing yards and 21 touchdowns, while senior Collin Murphy has a county best 8 sacks on defense. Junior Kaleb Booker, junior Ben Stevens, and sophomore Jermaine Dawson have a combined 880 rushing yards for FSK, which is looking to snap a 7-game losing streak.
Aberdeen (0-9) at Westminster (8-1)
When: Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
Outlook: This game has the makings of a lopsided outcome, with the Eagles of Harford County struggling to score all season long. They have 27 points and have suffered 5 shutouts, according to their schedule on MaxPreps. Meanwhile, junior quarterback Kyrece Walker has 1,505 yards passing and 720 yards rushing with 11 touchdowns. Walker has thrown 17 TDs on the season, while senior linebacker Andy Schneider leads the county with 90 tackles.
Now let's see some of the CCAL stats leaders (as submitted by coaches or team reps) through the 2022 regular season.
One last thing -- we're going to be back Friday, Nov. 4 for another special broadcast. We're planning to have a playoff edition of our "Friday Night Football" show that we put together last week, with replays and highlights from some of the regional matchups taking place.
Here's the highlights package we did from the "Friday Night Football show." Enjoy!