BLUE AND GOLD THURSDAY: The Brooks Bowl

One man on the field Thursday night will know just about every player in a helmet.

Aberdeen coach Johnny Brooks faces his alma mater and a team he coached to a state title game last year for the first time Thursday evening, when Havre de Grace  for an  Chesapeake Division contest.

Both rivals have ' stamp all over them—talented athletes at skill positions and strong-armed, mobile athletes at quarterback.

Aberdeen's  and Havre de Grace's  are the only UCBAC quarterbacks to have thrown for 1,000 yards or more.

Faulcon, the senior who moved from wide receiver to quarterback this season, leads the conference with 1,449 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. He's completed 69 percent (81 of 117) of his passes, and has thrown just five interceptions.

McCullers, a sophomore, has completed 62 percent of his passes (74 for 119) for 1,151 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak  with a convincing win at Bel Air.

Havre de Grace  after a  against . 

A win for both teams would do wonders for their playoff positioning.

Havre de Grace (4-3 overall) is comfortably positioned for a playoff spot in a weak Class 1A East—with only four teams having won more than twice. The Warriors are in second place in the region, and remaining there through season's end would mean another home playoff game.

Aberdeen (5-2 overall) is in fourth place in the Class 3A North, holding a slight advantage over City (4-2) with Parkville (5-2) sitting close behind. If the season were to end with the standings as they are now, the Eagles would visit North Harford (6-1 overall) in a first round matchup.

The playoffs, though, will be far from the players' minds tonight, when the neighboring rivals meet as the Eagles are looking to avenge a home loss to the Warriors from a year ago. The game can be heard live on SFMSports.net.

Patch Says

The Warriors have won the games they were supposed to this season, and this might be both their most evenly-matched opponent and emotional foe. Rivalry games like this often throw some wrenches into predictability, but the Eagles are deeper and more athletic. Eagles 30, Warriors 21.
(Last week: Patch .)

   WARRIORS WEBSITE  |    |  ROSTER  |  STANDINGS  |