Prince George’s Gazette High School Football Pick ‘Em

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007

Prince George’s Gazette High School Football Pick ‘Em — Week 5

By Seth Elkin | Sports Editor

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We’re shorthanded for a little while in the Prince George’s Gazette sports department, as our staff bid farewell last week to longtime reporter Derek Toney, who left The Gazette to pursue another opportunity covering high school sports. So you may still see him around from time to time. We’ll miss him and we know he’ll be keeping an eye on us, but the beat goes on, and we’ve got one big matchup in the county this week that we know will grab a lot of attention.

Friday night at Crawford-Kenode Stadium in Fort Washington, Friendly High will play host to Frederick Douglass. It’s a league game, but not a potential playoff matchup because Friendly is a Class 3A school and Douglass is 2A. But it will pit two of the county’s best ground games against one another, and two defenses that have been pretty stingy so far. So something’s got to give.

Friendly’s arsenal is no secret. The Patriots have Josh Haden and Lamaar Thomas, who both played key roles in last year’s Class 3A state championship run. And both are headed to NCAA Division I schools — Haden has committed to Boston College and Thomas is still deciding between Maryland, Ohio State and Illinois. Together they’ve amassed 976 yards and 11 touchdowns in four games. Add in Braxton Shelton, who has another 300 rushing yards and four touchdowns and you’ve got a difficult running game to defend.

At Douglass, Trey Massey has 395 yards and six touchdowns, and Christian Clark has added 219 yards and another six TDs.

Meanwhile, these two teams have allowed 68 points combined so far this season. Friendly, for all of its offensive firepower, is no slouch on defense. The Patriots have given up just 24 points.

You get the impression that whoever controls the line of scrimmage is going to control this game. It’s only mid season and these two teams are fighting for postseason position in different classifications, but under the Friday night lights, this one should have a playoff atmosphere.

Got any thoughts on the season? Drop me an e-mail at selkin@gazette.net.

Prince George’s Gazette Sports Staff High School Football Pick ‘Em Standings

Note, last week’s record in parenthesis

Ted Black 58-8 (14-2)
Terron Hampton 55-11 (14-2)
Seth Elkin 55-11 (13-3)
Adam Rubenstein 53-13 (13-3)

County 4A League

	Bladensburg at DuVal	Bowie at Northwestern	Flowers at Oxon Hill	Roosevelt at Wise	Suitland at High Point	Laurel at Parkdale
Seth Elkin	DuVal	Bowie	Flowers	Roosevelt	Suitland	Parkdale
Adam Rubenstein	DuVal	Bowie	Flowers	Roosevelt	Suitland	Parkdale
Ted Black	DuVal	Bowie	Flowers	Roosevelt	Suitland	Parkdale
Terron Hampton	DuVal	Bowie	Flowers	Roosevelt	Suitland	Parkdale

County 3A-2A-1A League

Central at Crossland Fairmont Heights at Surrattsville Douglass at Friendly Gwynn Park at Forestville Largo at Overlea Potomac at Chopticon

Seth Elkin Crossland Surrattsville Friendly Gwynn Park Largo Potomac

Adam Rubenstein Crossland Surrattsville Friendly Gwynn Park Largo Potomac

Ted Black Crossland Surrattsville Friendly Gwynn Park Largo Potomac

Terron Hampton Crossland Surrattsville Friendly Forestville Overlea Potomac

Private Schools

O'Connell (Va.) at DeMatha McNamara at Gonzaga (D.C.) Riverdale Baptist at Bullis Gibbons at Pallotti

Seth Elkin DeMatha Gonzaga Riverdale Baptist Pallotti

Adam Rubenstein DeMatha Gonzaga Riverdale Baptist Gibbons

Ted Black DeMatha Gonzaga Riverdale Baptist Gibbons

Terron Hampton DeMatha Gonzaga Riverdale Baptist Gibbons