Few teams that are 3-5 are in prime position to make the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association Playoffs, but Havre de Grace is in control of its own destiny as the Warriors look to win their region for the second straight year.
“It would mean a lot to make the playoffs because we are young,” Coach John Brooks, whose team went 8-5 last season, said. “The J.V. team we inherited was 1-9 last year, so we are trying to get that winning mentality.”
Havre de Grace is in fourth place, .13 points ahead of Perryville (3-5) and .25 points ahead of Harford Tech (3-5) in the 1A East Region. The Warriors don?t have much margin for error, but the schedule is aligned in their favor. Havre de Grace defeated Perryville, 39-2, on Oct. 18, and will face Harford Tech to end the season Nov. 9. But coming off of a 28-7 loss to Elkton last week, the Warriors have plenty of work to do in order to reach their goal. They will play at North East (2-6) ? a team that has lost its last four games by a score of 109-22 ? tonight at 7.
“I brought up the playoff thing a couple games back as a carrot but we had a tough loss on Monday so that brought us down a bit,” Brooks said. “We are just trying to win two-out-of-three. If you can get into the playoffs, anything can happen then.”
The Warriors are led by 5-foot-9, 175-pound junior running back Hakeem Hines, who has rushed for 1,265 yards and 9 touchdowns on just 182 carries this season, a substantial improvement from last year when he ran for 853 yards and 10 touchdowns on 120 carries.
“Hakeem a really tough kid and hits the hole hard not too much dancing or false steps,” Brooks said. “He sees the hole, he hits it and has success. He?s strong and despite his size, he packs a wallop. He brings it.”
MPSSAA PLAYOFF POINT SYSTEM
» Public school teams make the playoffs by accumulating points based on victories, classification of opponent and victories by defeated opponent. The state?s 186 public school teams are split into four classifications based on enrollment and each classification is divided into four regions. The four teams with the highest averages based on the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association?s point system advance to a single-elimination tournament. The region winners advance to the single-elimination state tournament, with the state finals being played at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 6-8.
