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Sherwood's football team seems perfectly comfortable wearing the No. 1 seed in this year's Class 4A West Region playoffs.

The Warriors (11-0) pushed their dream season into the regional finals with a surprisingly one-sided 38-3 win over fourth-seeded Northwest Friday in Sandy Spring. Sherwood will play host to No. 2 seed Quince Orchard, a 36-0 winner over Wootton, next Friday.

"We played as a team and we pulled through it," Warriors coach Al Thomas said. "I certainly didn't expect to win like this."

Senior running back Dominique Davis ran for a game-high 80 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries — he also caught a pass for 37 yards —but he didn't have to carry his team by himself. The Warriors kept their drives moving by converting 5-of-9 third downs and all three fourth downs they attempted.

Their defense was equally stout, allowing just 130 total yards and actually improving upon on their previous average of 6.7 points allowed per game this season. Northwest running back Hassan Dixon was held to 60 yards on 18 carries.

"They're great football players over there, not just great athletes," Northwest coach Andrew Fields said. "I'm disappointed with the result. If I wasn't surprised by the score up there, I probably shouldn't be in this position."

Sherwood didn't need long to grab the lead, either. A 45-yard punt return by Ralph George set up a five-play, 13-yard drive that culminated in a 2-yard run to the end zone by Davis on the Warriors' first possession.

Northwest (6-5) countered with a series that took nearly six minutes to move 54 yards, before Ian Cottrell kicked a 32-yard field goal and brought the Jaguars within 7-3 with 1:24 left in the first quarter.

But the Warriors pulled away with three quick touchdowns on their next three possessions. Davis started the scoring blitz with a 3-yard run on Sherwood's next series.

"They're a very good team, we just came out and executed," Davis said. "It's a big first step."

Sherwood didn't let up in the second half, either. On their first possession, Andy Estrain gave the Warriors a 31-3 lead when he added a 19-yard field goal to his five extra points on the night. Adam Ginsburg capped the scoring with a 6-yard run to the end zone with 8:31 to play.

Meanwhile, Northwest was forced to punt away each of its two second-half series.

The Warriors will face No. 2 seed Quince Orchard Friday in the 4A West Region final, who they gave its only loss in an Oct. 18, 14-6 victory.

"I'll be honest, I was concerned up until the last four minutes when we started to sub some guys in there," Thomas said. "I do like the momentum from this game. I'm afraid we might be just a little nicked up."