Senior linebacker Joey Carswell closes in on Gaithersburg quarterback Zach Fetters. Photo by George Smith.

If there were words to express the feelings of the Sherwood Warriors (10-2) after their playoff loss to the Gaithersburg Trojans (11-2) on November 19, heartbroken might surely be one of them. But instead of speaking, the team gathered around coach Marc Thomas and knelt in silence as the visiting Trojans rejoiced in the south goal. Entering the 2010 season, the Warriors were favorites to win a state championship, what would have been their second states win in three years, but critical errors and a 21-20 loss in the 4A West regional final meant the Warriors departed this year’s playoffs earlier than planned.  

“Really, the only goal on this team was to win a state championship and we didn’t do that,” said Thomas. “I hate to be pessimistic, but with this team with what we thought we had coming back and where the program was, a state championship was the only goal. We did achieve other good things. We went 10-2, we beat Quince Orchard, and we were the number one ranked [4A] team in the state, but we didn’t even win our region, so that was disappointing.” 

Sherwood opened the scoring with a lengthy 65-yard drive on their first possession capped off when senior quarterback A.J. Pignone took a quarterback draw up the middle for six points. However sophomore kicker Jake Ryder, playing with a pulled hamstring, missed the ensuing extra point, a play that would prove crucial in a one-point loss. 

After Gaithersburg took a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter, Sherwood responded, scoring twice within 27 seconds and looked to take a 20-7 lead heading into halftime. However, the remaining 29 seconds were all the Trojans, led by quarterback Zach Fetters, would need to pull within a touchdown. Fetters found Sylvester Oni down the right sideline on two consecutive plays, the second when Oni was in the back of the endzone. 

“We tried to contain him as much as we could and the front seven tried to apply a lot of pressure on Fetters; unfortunately the defense didn’t do enough,” recounted senior defensive end Lance Toomer. 

The second half saw more special teams errors for the Warriors. After a missed extra-point and field goal in the first half, it was now the punt team’s turn to make some errors. Senior punter Patrick Sumner let fly a three yard punt and junior long snapper Eric Williams snapped the ball over Sumner’s head on the next punt, a turnover that gave the Trojans the ball at the Sherwood 20-yard line. 

“We never could have predicted stuff like that happening in any way,” said Thomas. “A bad snap happens to kids from time to time in practice, but that never even happened to [Williams] in practice. Jake [Ryder] was automatic all year and Patrick Sumner never shanked a punt, so that combination turned into a perfect storm.” 

To the dismay of the Warrior faithful who packed Caruso Memorial Stadium on that chilly Friday night, Fetters connected with Oni two plays later as the Trojans took a 21-20 lead, one they would not relinquish. 

After a Sherwood drive stalled, the Trojans held the ball for the game’s remaining eight minutes, a drive that began at the Gaithersburg seven yard-line and ended at the Sherwood five yard-line as time expired. 

The Warriors will graduate 33 seniors this year, 21 of them starters for Marc Thomas in his first season as head coach. 

“They were all very close guys and worked real hard,” Thomas said of his Senior Class. “We didn’t really have any super stars, we just had an all around good group of kids. They all grew up together and that’s another thing that makes it unfortunate. I really wish we could have won it for these guys. They were real close with each other. They all got a taste of it when they were sophomores in 2008 and this was their chance and it didn’t happen.”