The Herndon Hornets and Marshall Statesmen are seeded in the lower half of the eight-team region-football playoff bracket — but shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Each high-school team proved formidable during the regular season, heading into the playoffs on a win streak (in Herndon’s case) and well-rested (in Marshall’s).
Herndon (8-2) is the fifth seed and Marshall (6-4) the sixth. Each plays first-round away games in the 6D North Region tournament on Friday night (Nov. 15).
Herndon faces the fourth-seeded Westfield Bulldogs (8-2). Marshall plays the No. 3 seed Langley Saxons (8-2) in a rematch of a Liberty District regular-season game. Marshall won that contest, 28-21.
The Statesmen also had an early 7-0 lead in an eventual loss to the top seed and three-time defending champion Madison Warhawks in regular-season action. Madison finished the regular season 10-0.
Also during the regular season, Herndon lost to Langley in a close game and won its final four contests, including a 42-14 rout of the No. 7 seed Yorktown Patriots and a win over the eighth seed Chantilly Chargers.
In addition, Herndon gave the undefeated and second-seed Washington-Liberty Generals their closest game in a 28-18 loss, holding the team to its fewest points in their 10-0 regular-season finish.
The playoff berth is Herndon’s third in a row.
Herndon ended the regular season with the big home victory over Yorktown on Nov. 9. The Hornets scored on a number of big plays. Ethan Buhler scored on touchdown runs of 27 and 48 yards and ran for 120 yards total.
Quarterback John Callow threw two scoring passes to Brayden Humpherys, Malcom Levenberry had an 85-yard TD run and Daequan Hogan returned a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown.
The Hornets gained 239 total yards and did not turn the ball over.
Marshall enters the playoffs with a two-game losing streak, but rested. The Statesmen lost to Yorktown, 24-14, on Nov. 2, then had a bye the final week of the regular season.
As has been the case all season, Marshall’s primary offensive tool is its running game, with only a limited air attack.
Against Yorktown, Kevin Aleman had two touchdown runs in addition to a two-point conversion run. As he has most of the season, Ethan Lebkisher led the rushing attack with 91 yards. Quarterback Michael Spriggs ran for 38, Aleman for 29 and Alexandre Milbanks for 26.
Spriggs was 5 of 10 passing for 28 yards. Oliver Smith and Carter Oketunji each caught two passes.
On defense, Aleman had a sack.
The playoff berth is Marshall’s first since the 2021 season.
