Published on: Thursday, November 08, 2012

By Brandy L. Simms

SANDY SPRING – The Sherwood Warriors rode the backs of their seniors Friday night en route to a 17-10 home victory over Churchill in the regular season finale at Caruso Memorial Stadium.

Although Sherwood and Churchill had already qualified for the postseason, the two teams were playing for the right to host a first-round playoff game.

Sherwood (8-2) secured home-field advantage in their first round playoff game against Catonsville. Meanwhile, Churchill (7-3) will be on the road in their first round matchup with Northwest.

Sherwood trailed 3-0 in the third quarter before senior running back Moses Vines scored on an eleven-yard run that put the Warriors ahead 7-3 with 10:04 remaining in the period.

Sherwood went ahead 10-3 with six minutes left in the quarter when senior Jake Ryder kicked a 44-yard field goal. However, Churchill tied the game at ten apiece on Blake Dove’s 20-yard touchdown run with 4:33 left.

Sherwood senior quarterback Jordan Larsen engineered a fourth quarter scoring drive that culminated in Elijah Spottswood’s two-yard touchdown run with 8:37 left in the period that proved to be the difference in the game.

Churchill’s last-gasp scoring chance came up short when Dominique Williams bobbled Jonathan Lee’s pass that was intercepted by Sherwood senior defensive back Richie Dipietro late in the game.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Vines. “It’s home field advantage in the playoffs. I’m just happy that we did what we had to come out here and win.”