Earlier this week, we provided the preview and predictions for the 4A and 4A/3A Maryland Football State Championship games, which both involve teams from Montgomery County. Below, we look at the rest of the field:
3A: No. 1 Linganore vs. No. 7 Oakdale:
From a certain perspective, it’s “better” to lose in the state final than in the second round. At least you got there. At least you were on the stage. Try telling that to Linganore.
The Lancers’ recent history in Annapolis reads like a cruel joke: state final losses in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024, with only a 2022 second-round exit breaking up the pattern. Getting that close, that often, and walking away empty-handed has its own special kind of sting. It’s been a long eight years in Frederick County. This group might finally be the one to end it.
There’s a strong argument that 2025 Linganore is the best Lancer team since the 2009 juggernaut. They already handled Oakdale by 31 in the regular season and have looked the part of a wire-to-wire No. 1. Victory has never felt closer. And yet, for anyone in red and black, it probably won’t feel real until the game clock at Navy hits all zeros and they’re the ones ahead.
Head coach Rick Conner won’t let his team wander too far down memory lane. He knows as well as anyone that you don’t win titles on history, and you certainly don’t win them playing tight. If Linganore marches into this game with the ghosts of past finals circling overhead, they risk turning a coronation into another nightmare. The script is simple: play their game, set the tone early, and don’t let doubt creep in.
That’s been one of the quirks of Linganore’s championship appearances – they’ve often surrendered the first score, sometimes the first several scores, before clawing back. They’re built to respond if Oakdale lands the first punch again, but it’s a dangerous way to live in a title game.
Oakdale, for its part, has made a season out of responding to adversity. The Bears have shown toughness against quality opponents like South River and Westminster, who both threw the kitchen sink at them. Oakdale answered, again and again, and made every critical play down the stretch of fourth quarters to survive and advance.
Linganore presents a vastly different challenge than anyone Oakdale has faced, but the Lancers are not invincible. If the Bears are going to flip the script from the regular-season blowout, they’ll need a big-time performance from star quarterback Alex Rodriguez and a defensive front that refuses to stay blocked. The Oakdale line is going to get knocked down—Linganore does that to people—but if they keep getting up and winning enough snaps, this can turn into a real fight.
Don’t sleep on this matchup. The talent gap isn’t as big as that 31-point margin suggests. But if Linganore plays like 2025 Linganore instead of the haunted versions of 2018–24, the streak finally dies in Annapolis. Prediction: Linganore 38, Oakdale 21
2A: No. 8 Northern vs. No. 2 Huntingtown
The SMAC (Southern Maryland Athletic Conference) has quietly, and now not so quietly, made its case as the standard-bearer for public school football in Maryland. And Calvert County is the crown jewel of the SMAC.
In the last five years, all four Calvert County programs have reached a state final at least once. Three of them have made multiple trips. Two have already hoisted trophies. Now 2025 might be the county’s high-water mark: three of the four are headed to Navy, and one state title is guaranteed to return home in this all-Calvert 2A championship.
The only question: which side of Route 4 gets it? Northern is chasing its second state crown of the decade. Huntingtown, meanwhile, is desperate to finally break through on its third straight finals appearance after back-to-back heartbreaks. The higher-seeded Hurricanes have looked like a machine all year, while the Patriots took the rockier road, absorbing some bruises in a brutal SMAC slate.
Huntingtown already owns a 35–14 regular-season win over Northern, but in November and December, 21 points doesn’t feel nearly as safe as it does in September. Northern absolutely has the tools to flip this rematch.
Offensively, the Patriots are led by record-setting quarterback Blake Pasik, who will finish his career atop the MPSSAA passing charts. As explosive as the passing game has been, it’s actually the Northern defense that has carried them this postseason. The Patriots haven’t surrendered more than 14 points in weeks, smothering opponents at just the right time.
On the other sideline, there’s no mystery to what Huntingtown wants to do: they line up and run it downhill until your front seven turns to dust. The Hurricanes’ rushing attack wears on defenses for four quarters, and by the fourth, they’re usually the ones still driving legs and churning out first downs.
Northern can take real confidence from the teams they’ve already shut down. They’ve stymied a gauntlet of run-first programs like Westlake, Douglass-PG and Glenelg. If any defense is equipped to stand up to Huntingtown’s sledgehammer approach, it’s this one.
There is, however, an X-factor: Huntingtown has been without starting QB Dominic Hickman since the first round. Sophomore Blake Marlowe has stepped in and looked the part so far, but this will be a different level of pressure and preparation. You can bet Northern’s defense will spend all week looking for ways to rattle him early.
This feels almost destined to be closer than the regular-season meeting. Both teams have had stretches of slow offensive starts in these playoffs, so an early score could loom large. If one side jumps ahead by two possessions, their style of play makes it very hard for the other to catch up.
History says you never overlook Northern in a big game. But Huntingtown carries the weight, and the energy, of a team of destiny, shaped by two years of getting so close and falling short. Expect the Hurricanes to lean into that pain and try to control the game from the opening whistle. Prediction: Huntingtown 24, Northern 17
2A/1A: No. 3 Dunbar vs. No. 8 Lackey
If you’re a neutral fan, a Lackey state title would be one of the best stories of Championship Weekend.
The Chargers have just one state championship in their history, all the way back in 1986. This season didn’t exactly scream “title run” after an 0–4 start against the SMAC gauntlet. But since then, they’ve reinvented themselves into a throwback playoff monster: a suffocating defense, a punishing ground game, and a locker room that never flinched when the record was ugly.
Defensively, Lackey is headlined by 4-star sophomore Tyzon Swann, a name every college recruiter in the region knows or will soon. Offensively, they lean on a punishing run game powered by veteran backs Ronald Johnson and Francis Carter, along with mobile quarterback Malik Gordon. It’s physical, it’s simple, and it travels well in cold weather.
They will absolutely make Dunbar earn everything. The catch? Dunbar likes that kind of game. Few programs in Maryland have played in as many slugfests as the Poets, and they rarely blink. They’ve been battle-tested this year against high-end defenses like Stone Bridge and Mervo, and they even scrimmaged perennial 4A power Quince Orchard in the preseason. Dunbar is not afraid of a team that wants to hit.
Last year’s 2A/1A final is a perfect illustration: Dunbar dragged an electric Patuxent offense into a low-scoring trench war and very nearly pulled off another title. The only reason they’re not chasing a fifth straight state championship this weekend is because of their own self-inflicted wounds.
That’s the tightrope for Lackey. The Chargers will bring pride, toughness and a good plan, but against Dunbar you need more than heart and a hot streak, you need just about everything to break your way. Turnovers, field position, red-zone efficiency: Dunbar’s margin for error is small only if they make it that way.
After last year’s disappointment, expect the Poets to arrive in Annapolis locked in and hungry to reclaim the top of the mountain. Prediction: Dunbar 26, Lackey 7
1A: No. 1 Patuxent vs. No. 3 Fort Hill
Fort Hill has been the final boss of 1A football for so long that it sometimes feels like everyone else is just playing for the right to challenge the Sentinels. If anyone is built to seriously threaten the dynasty this year, it’s Patuxent.
Pax brings a blend that 1A outside of the western juggernaut rarely fields: real championship tradition, strong coaching, and recent playoff experience at a high level. They’ve been hardened by the SMAC slate; all but one of their losses (to North Point) have come by single digits. This is not a team that folds when the stage gets big.
Offensively, Patuxent is powered by freshman quarterback Brayden Watson, who doesn’t look or play like a typical ninth grader. He’s thrown for at least 100 yards in every game this season and has gone off for some monster outings, including 233 yards against 2A finalist Huntingtown and 360 against fellow finalist Northern. He’s not a run-first dual threat, but he’s become increasingly willing to use his legs in the postseason, most recently churning out 64 rushing yards against Boonsboro.
Watson has the arm talent and poise to move the ball on Fort Hill. The challenge is doing it for four quarters.
Fort Hill’s list of strengths is too long to fit on one page, but their defensive halftime adjustments are the stuff of legend. Plenty of playoff opponents have traded blows with the Sentinels in the first half, only to watch the second half turn into a masterclass in corrections and suffocation.
For Patuxent, the best defense might be a great offense. The Panthers have one glaring concern: their run defense. Teams have been able to rack up rushing yards on them from Week 1 against Westlake through the postseason against Boonsboro. That’s not exactly the issue you want to have when you’re facing Fort Hill and 2,000-yard rusher Braylen Younger.
If Patuxent can’t at least slow Younger and the Sentinels’ ground game, they’ll spend the night playing from behind, watching the clock evaporate while Fort Hill strings together those classic 10-play, seven-minute drives.
The path for Pax is clear but narrow: turn this into more of a shootout than Fort Hill wants, steal a possession or two with timely turnovers, and keep Watson attacking from the opening drive to the final horn. If any 1A team can be that clutch, it might be this one.
But until someone actually finishes the job, betting against Fort Hill in December remains a risky business. Prediction: Fort Hill 30, Patuxent 17
Bottom Line: From Linganore’s quest to exorcise its Annapolis demons, to Huntingtown’s third straight shot at redemption, to Lackey’s Cinderella bid and Patuxent’s attempt to topple a dynasty, this year’s small-school slate at Navy has everything you’d want: history, heartbreak, heavyweights and longshots. Now it’s time to see who writes the next chapter. Additional information about each game (time, date, etc.) can be found here.
