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The giant paper banner Quince Orchard's football team ran through before Friday night's regular-season finale bore only a single word: "Revenge."

The Cougars indeed got their revenge against Sherwood, the team that handed them their only two losses of 2008. But for head coach Dave Mencarini, what lies ahead is more important than the 21-9 win over a team no longer in Quince Orchard's playoff region.

"It was about, ‘Let's get the No. 1 seed and get into the playoffs,'" Mencarini said. "We have so much respect for their program, and they have so much respect for ours. We weren't out here to beat each other up."

Both teams enter next week's regional playoffs as No. 1 seeds. Sherwood (8-2 overall, 5-0 Montgomery 4A East Division) will have home-field advantage throughout the 4A West Region draw for the second consecutive year. The Warriors host fourth-seeded Springbrook in the first round, two weeks after beating the Blue Devils, 33-13.

Quince Orchard (10-0, 7-0 Montgomery 3A) has switched classifications since last year and beat out Linganore, of Frederick County, for the 3A West top seed regardless of the Lancers' result against Urbana tomorrow. The Cougars will host Tuscarora in the first round Friday.

Quince Orchard sprinted through the "Revenge" banner Friday and just kept right on running, right through the opening kickoff; senior Kevin Adams returned it 88 yards for a touchdown 18 seconds into the game.

Adams was the quarterback last year and was reported in The Gazette to have transferred in the offseason. He actually just transferred to defense, where he has been a key cog, and is part of the Cougars' electric return unit.

"I'm telling you, right out of the gate like that is everything we're about," Adams said. "I've had a good year on defense so far. I want to keep it going for the next four games. And I guarantee, there will be four more games."

Sherwood had the ball for almost the entire remainder of the quarter. The Cougars ran five plays and had the ball for 1 minute, 47 seconds in the first period. Yet at the end of it they were up, 14-2.

Sherwood punted after Adams' return, but the punt was muffed, giving the ball right back. Sherwood drove to the 6-yard line before turning the ball over on downs, but scored on the next play when a snap sailed over junior Drew Murphy's head and he fell on it in his own end zone for a safety.

A Warriors three-and-out gave Quince Orchard the ball back for all of two more plays. Senior running back Ben Sasu ran 80 yards on the first and 9 on the second, stopping only because the end zone got in the way.

Sasu scored again from 17 yards out with 1:40 remaining in the third quarter to make it 21-2. Cyrus Britt plunged in from a yard out for the Warriors' only offensive points with 29 seconds left in the game.

"We planned to shut them out, let them put no points on the board," said senior linebacker Daquan Mincy. "We took the revenge thing very seriously. This was for the seniors."

Despite having matters in hand for most of the game, Mencarini stalked the sidelines decrying needless timeouts, 50 yards in penalties and what he saw as a sub-par defensive effort.

"It's not even about the score," Mencarini said. "To me, it's the little things. That's the difference between wins and losses, using your timeouts to get the right personnel in, that kind of thing. Those are teaching moments."