High school football teams in Anne Arundel County will begin their eighth week of play on Thursday night. Patch has rounded up the records and schedules for each team and produced some power rankings.
According to the MPSSAA website, Arundel, Old Mill, Broadneck, and South River would clinch playoff spots for the Class 4A East Region if the season ended today. The MPSSAA rankings are based on a formula weighing the strength of victory and opponents. But there's still a lot of football left to play. Let's look at what's ahead for the whole county.
1. Arundel (7-0): Arundel sits atop in the county and in the 4A East region by more than two full points. The Wildcats take on fellow 4A East opponent Severna Park Thursday night. Arundel has produced high offensive numbers this season led by quarterback Jack Gordon. It will be hard for the Falcons to stop Arundel's power offense.
2. Old Mill (6-1): The Patriots sit in second place in the 4A East region behind Arundel, who they already lost to this season. Arundel takes on Southern (3-4) Friday night. The Bulldogs are on a two-game win streak coming off of wins over North County and Annapolis—but that should end Thursday. Old Mill's offense will most likely be too much for Southern to handle.
3. Broadneck (5-2): The Bruins sit at .57 points above South River, who they beat on Sept. 14. This week, Broadneck will host North County on Saturday. Wins have been hard to come by for North County, and it probably won't have much luck getting one against Broadneck.
4. South River (5-2): The Seahawks will travel to Northeast (1-6) on Thursday. South River quarterback Connor Cox threw for 322 yards last week in the victory over Glen Burnie, according to The Washington Post. South River should beat Northeast, but its real test will come at the end of the season when the Seahawks take on Old Mill.
5. Meade (5-2): If the season ended today the Mustangs would miss the playoffs—but don't count Meade out yet, as the team faces Broadneck during the last week of play. Meade will travel to Glen Burnie (2-5) Thursday night and running back Kyle Evens should lead the team to a victory.
6. Chesapeake (4-3): Home against Annapolis
7. Severna Park (3-4): Home against Arundel
8. Southern (3-4): At Old Mill
9. Glen Burnie (2-5): Home against Meade
10. Northeast (1-6): Home against South River
11. North County (1-6): At Broadneck
12. Annapolis (0-7): At Chesapeake
