By Sheldon Shealer

Westlake won its playoff game Friday and apparently has survived an appeal process Monday, and is expected to continue in the playoffs this week.

At an appeals hearing Monday, Westlake might be forced to forfeit four contests, according to MPSSAA executive director Ned Sparks. However, Westlake lost two of the four games anyway and even with changing the other two wins to losses, the Wolverines still would have been the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A South playoffs. 

Therefore, Westlake's 30-12 playoff win over Potomac will stand and the team moves on to face Huntingtown in the region final. The game date is yet to be decided.

By Sheldon Shealer

After weeks of rumors circulating regarding alleged rules violation by Westlake High School and its effect on the MPSSAA football state tournament, the MPSSAA issued the following statement today:

"On Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, the MPSSAA was officially informed of an alleged eligibility violation on the Westlake High School football team. In accordance with Maryland State Board of Education Regulation 13A.06.03.05B(2), Charles County Public Schools must conduct a formal hearing within five school days of receipt of the complaint in order to address the allegations and make a determination. That hearing has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. As a result, the first round of the 3A South regional football playoffs will be conducted as scheduled."

Westlake will play host to Potomac on Friday, as scheduled. If Westlake wins and is later forced to forfeit, Potomac will advance to the region final by in accordance with Maryland State Board of Education Regulation 13A.06.03.07C(8), which states: "When a student is found ineligible during the progress of a tournament, the contest last played shall be forfeited and the team [that] was defeated shall take its place."

By Sheldon Shealer

The University on New Mexico, no stranger to recruiting Maryland, recently made offers to a pair of Westlake players, while a third Wolverine picked up his first offer in the form of Hampton University.

Westlake seniors Josh Alexander and Julian Blair were offered by New Mexico. Marcus Anderson was offered by Hampton, according to Westlake coach Dom Zaccarelli.

Anderson, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker, had a standout performance in last year's state title win over Wilde Lake. Alexander is a 6-3, 210-pound defensive end and Blair is a 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back who has seen some action at running back. 

By Mike Loveday

Marcus Anderson of Westlake (Md.) high schol has received his first official offer, according to his father.

The 6-foot, 225-pound senior was offered by Hampton University on Friday. According to Anderson's father, the letter states that Hampton is only offering three scholarships this year and they thought enough of Marcus for him to be one of the ones that they offered.

Did you know we did a postgame interview with Westlake players Antoine Reese and Devon Smith?

The video was posted within an hour of game's end and can be viewed on the front page of the Maryland ESPNRISE.com page.

View that video and others HERE.

We have been placing athletes highlight videos in the player for over a month now. Has your video appeared? If not e-mail Mike at Michael.Loveday@espn.com and find out how to get your video up on ESPNRISE.com.

By Mike Loveday and Sheldon Shealer

Westlake's Devon Smith broke an 88-yard punt return and Antoine Reese rushed for 132 yards and a game-sealing touchdown as Westlake defeated Wilde Lake 13-0 in the Maryland Class 3A championship at M&T Banks Stadium on Thursday.

Westlake ended what could have been a fairytale ending for Wilde Lake's head coach Doug DuVall, who is stepping down as the program's head coach after 36 years.

The game was over when: With 34 seconds left in the third quarter, Reese took the ball 66 yards for a touchdown that put Westlake up 13-0.

Bottled up: Wilde Lake held Smith to only 29 yards rushing. Smith came in to this game with more than 1,600 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns on the season.

Pivotal Play: While much will be written about the two big Westlake plays that resulted in touchdowns, it is possible the real momentum switching came in the first quarter. Wilde Lake marched the ball from its 32 to the Westlake 18 on the game-opening drive, setting up a 35-yard field goal attempt by Graham Spicer, whose attempt hit the upright and bounced back onto the field. On a high school - even a college - upright it's good and Wilde Lake has a 3-0 lead. Instead, Westlake had the ball in a scoreless game and scored only four minutes later.

Overheard: Some of the best quotes are not captured on camera. Following the Westlake player interviews, Westlake senior lineman Evan Harris and sophomore quarterback Chris Istvan shared a lighter moment. Harris joked about telling a interviewer that he was, "Going to Disney World. Istvan shot back - "I'm going to Waldorf & probably clean my room and do homework. Harris then realized, it was Thursday night and he too had homework to do since Westlake players will be back in school in the morning.

Crazy Stat: Wilde Lake made eight trips into Westlake territory and came away with zero points. After the missed field goal, two drives ended with punts, four on downs and one at the end of the half.

Run stoppers: Wilde Lake rushed for over 3,500 yards this season, but Westlake held the Wildcats to 150 rushing yards.

"We had to make some adjustments to what they did in the first half," Westlake head coach Dominic Zaccarelli said. "We needed to get some backside pursuit."

Quote from postgame: "It was a great game for us. We're excited for our team and for our student body. It's been a long time coming. We've been knocking on the door for a long time now." Westlake head coach Dominic Zaccarelli

Westlake has made it to the playoffs six straight seasons, but this was the first time since 1996 the Wolverines made it past the region finals.

Unsung heroes: Westlake's defensive front four may not get the headlines, but Josh Alexander, Anthony Arcell, Lenny Augillard and Sean Garland helped to stifle the Wilde Lake ground game.

"They had to change the line of scrimmage and get pressure," Zaccarelli said. "Our goal was to try to keep number four [Danny March] in the pocket and make him throw the ball."

Westlake held March to 56 yards rushing and only 38 passing.

If you had a vote in the next week's MDVarsity.com High School Football Media State Poll where would you rank Westlake (who was previously unranked) and why?

By Mike Loveday
ESPNRISE.com

Once again MDVarsity.com will bring its readers complete play-by-play coverage of all four state title games this year.

We will be posting coverage on Conversation pages - one each for the Class 3A and 4A games on Thursday and Friday and another page for both the Class 1A and 2A games on Saturday.

The first game is the Class 3A game featuring Wilde Lake and Westlake, held Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Follow this link 10 minutes to game time on Thursday to follow the game.

The Class 4A game pitting two undefeated teams, Linganore and Sherwood follows on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Click this link 10 minutes to game time on Friday to follow the game.

Saturday both the 1 and 2A games will be hel. The Class 1A game with Dunbar playing Fort Hill will be played at Noon.

This link will have both the 1A and 2A games on Saturday.

The Class 2A game with a remath of last year's title game, River Hill vs. Eastern Tech, will begin at 3:30 p.m.

By Mike Loveday

Once again MDVarsity.com will bring its readers complete play-by-play coverage of all four state title games this year.

We will provide a link where the play-by-play will be available later this week so continue to check back for more information.

The first game is the Class 3A game featuring Wilde Lake and Westlake, held Thursday night at 7 p.m.

The Class 4A game pitting two undefeated teams, Linganore and Sherwood follows on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday both the 1 and 2A games will be hel. The Class 1A game with Dunbar playing Fort Hill will be played at Noon.

The Class 2A game with a remath of last year's title game, River Hill vs. Eastern Tech, will begin at 3:30 p.m.

By Sheldon Shealer

Class  3A 

No. 3 Hereford (10-2) at No. 2 Wilde Lake (11-1)

Game Details: Friday at Wilde Lake, 7 p.m.

Playoff History: Hereford is 22-7 in 11 appearances with state titles in 1997, 2001 and 2002. Wilde Lake is 20-9 in 15 appearances with state titles in 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1997.

Head-to-Head: The teams have not met in postseason play.

Key Players:

Hereford: FB Nick DePaola, 1,466 rushing yards, 14 TDs; Brent Kluge, 74 tackles; Mike Aiello, 63 tackles; Richie Nodonly, 55 tackles.

Wilde Lake: RB Jarrell Epps, 1,014 rushing yards, 15 TDs; Danny March, 107 tackles, five interceptions, 686 rushing yards, nine TDs; E.J. Gilman, 101 tackles; Mike Fields, 99 tackles.

Key Matchup:

Hereford RB/FS Nick DePaola vs. Wilde Lake RB Jerrell Epps.

Keys to Victory:

Talk about looking into the mirror! That will be the case when Hereford takes on Wuilde lake. Between them, the programs have completed only 56 passes all season. Both teams run wing offenses and prefer to ground out their victories. Both squads have more than 2,300 rushing yards this year. Therefore, the key for both team is the same - control the offensive line of scrimmage.

Story Line: This will be the first and last meeting between coaches who have brought their schools into state prominence. Doug DuVall, who went over 300 career wins this year, has accounced his retirement following this season. Hereford has been the class of Baltimore County starting shortly after Steve Turnbaugh took over 13 years ago.

No. 4 Westlake (10-2) at No. 1 Seneca Valley (12-0)

Game Details: Friday at Seneca Valley, 7 p.m.

Playoff History: Westlake is 6-9 in 10 appearances. seneca Valley is 41-11 in 24 appearances with state titles in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002.

Head-to-Head: The teams have not met in postseason play.

Key Players:

Westlake: RB Devon Smith, 1,606 rushing yards, 20 TDs; QB Chris Istvan, 883 passing yards, eight TDs; Evan Harris, 119 tackles; Marcus Anderson, 76 tackles; Jerell Wilson, 47 tackles, five sacks; Antoine Reese, 45 tackles, five interceptions.

Seneca Valley: QB George Lerch, 1,540 passing yards, 17 TDs; RB Joe Rankin, 764 rushing yards, eight TDs; Thomas Best, 103 tackles; Pierre Hinton, 76 tackles; Ryan Phillips, 51 tackles.

Key Matchup:

Westlake RB Devon Smith vs. Seneca Valley corner backs.

Keys to Victory:

Devon Smith turned heads at combines as a receiver. As a runing back at Westlake, he's showing an even more explosive side to his game. Smith has more than 2,300 all-purpose yards, nearly 2,000 of it between rushing and receiving. For Westlake to be successful, it must get the ball in the hands of Smith. ... seneca Valley needs a big performance from quarterback George Lerch, who the Westlake coach labels as "very opportunistic." At times, the secondary has been Westlake's weakness, so if Lerch is on, the Screaming Eagles could be playing for a 13th state title in two weeks.

Story Line: Little-known fact - Seneca Valley has never won a state title without Terry Changuris on the sidelines (either as assistant or head coach). Changuris is back with Seneca Valley this year working with the quarterbacks. ...

By Mike Loveday

It seems fitting that Westlake's Devon Smith should receive an offer from Penn State. After all, Happy Valley is the place where the 5-foot-7, 140-pound athlete started to make a name for himself.

"It felt real good (receiving the Penn State offer). I was waiting for a long time. I was just waiting to get my ACT scores in," Smith said. "This is a big offer I was waiting for. Not that I'm going to rush in and commit. My coach (Westlake head coach Dominic Zaccarelli) wants me to wait and visit all the schools that have offered for football and track."

Penn State offered Smith as a slot receiver. Smith holds offers to play football from Temple, Akron, Eastern Michigan and now Penn State, but also has offers from Kansas State, LSU and Florida.

So will the rising senior have to choose between the two sports?

"I would love to do both. All the coaches that have offered me I have asked if I can do both," Smith said. "But it won't make a difference. Football is my main sport. I do track for the fun of it."

Two years ago, Smith grabbed the attention of every coach at the Nike Penn State camp when he won the receiver MVP with his speed, quickness and hands. Then at Eleanor Roosevelt, Smith won the award over Forestville's Kevin Dorsey, who many analysts considered the No. 10 receiver in the nation.

Smith said he plans on making visits to Penn State when they play Oregon State on Sept. 6. He also plans to visit Temple at some point during the season.

Make sure to leave your comment below and let us know how we're doing.

Email Mike at Mike.Loveday.ESPN@gmail.com