The Madison Warhawks, Marshall Statesmen, Wakefield Warriors and Yorktown Patriots are the four high-school football teams from the Sun Gazette’s coverage areas that qualified for the eight-team 6D North Region tournament.
First-round games are Friday night, Nov. 12, with 7 p.m. kickoffs. Each of the four will face familiar opponents in those opening contests.
Top seed and Concorde District champion Madison (9-1) hosts the No. 8 seed Marshall Statesmen (5-5), a neighborhood rival the Warhawks have defeated many times in a row, including a 33-7 regular-season triumph during the 2021 season.
Madison, which has won nine straight games and four of those by shutouts, is the defending region champion and is making its seventh straight playoff berth, with an 8-5 post season record during that stretch. The Warhawks finished second in the region in 2018.
In those nine straight victories, Madison’s offense has been hard to stop, averaging 38 points per contest behind the running of Alex Jreige and passing and running of quarterback Connor Barry.
Marshall won two of its final three games to earn a playoff berth, blanking Herndon, 38-0, in its final contest to finish third in the Liberty District at 4-2.
Liberty District champion Yorktown (7-3, 6-0 with five straight wins) is the fourth seed and hosts the No. 5 seeded South Lakes Seahawks (5-5). The teams did not meet during the 2021 regular season, but met often in past campaigns – with mixed results.
The Patriots lost a first-round region playoff game to South Lakes in 2017, then won and lost, respectively, in 2019 and 2020 regular-season clashes.
“They have a good passing game and can hit some big plays,” Yorktown coach Bruce Hanson said about South Lakes.”
During its five-game winning streak, Yorktown averages 35 points per outing.
Wakefield (5-4) is the sixth seed and is making its third straight playoff appearance in program history. The Warriors face the host and third seed Westfield Bulldogs (5-5), the 2019 region champion. The teams have met four times in history, all at Westfield with winning each contest, two in playoff games.
Wakefield lost to Westfield in a first-round 2019 region-playoff contest. Wakefield last season lost to eventual champion Madison in the first round.
“When you play a team like Westfield or Madison, you know what you are up against,” Wakefield coach Wayne Hogwood said. “At least we aren’t getting Madison again in the first round. They are on a roll.”
The Warriors made a strong playoff push by winning four of their final five games, including a 14-10 victory over Marshall, to wind up second in the Liberty District.
Wakefield likely would have had a fifth victory, but a schedule game against winless Herndon was canceled because of COVID issues.
NOTE: The other two teams in the 6D North Region playoff field are the second-seeded Centreville Wildcats (8-2) and seventh-seeded Chantilly Chargers (5-5) . . . Four of the teams in the region playoff field have 5-5 records.