The kickoff times for Fort Hill’s and Northern’s Maryland Class 1A state quarterfinal games have been set.
Fort Hill (4-7), seeded No. 8 after forfeiting five regular-season wins, heads to unbeaten and top-seeded Cambridge-South Dorchester (10-0) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Northern (6-5), the No. 7 seed, heads down to Washington County to face second-seeded Boonsboro (10-1) on Friday at 7 p.m.
The meeting between Fort Hill and Cambridge is a rematch of last season’s state semifinals at Greenway Avenue Stadium. The Sentinels won 38-20 en route to their third consecutive state championship — their eighth in 10 seasons and 10th overall.
Fort Hill jumped out to a 38-0 lead in that contest before Cambridge scored three late touchdowns against the Sentinels’ backups.
Cambridge and Fort Hill are among the most storied programs in state history.
Both made a state record 34 postseason trips before Maryland changed its format to allow every team to gain entry to the playoffs in 2021.
Fort Hill holds a 3-1 advantage in the series. The Sentinels lost in their first matchup in the 1979 state semifinals but have won three straight in 2007-’08 and last year.
Cambridge-South Dorchester is in the midst of its best season in more than two decades. The Vikings’ undefeated regular season is the program’s first since 2000.
That season coincidently ended with Cambridge, the No. 1 seed in Class 1A, getting upset by eighth-seeded Northern, 14-7, in the state quarterfinals.
The 2000 campaign also marks Northern’s last trip to the state playoffs.
The Huskies, making their seventh trip to states, will try for another first-round upset when they head to a Boonsboro team in search of its first semifinal appearance since 2001.
Boonsboro last made the quarterfinals in 2021.
Northern and Boonsboro have met just once all-time. In 2015, the Warriors won 20-14 in overtime at home.
Fort Hill advanced to this stage with a 55-20 rout of Clear Spring on the road in the co-region final on Thursday, and Northern traveled to Mountain Ridge to spring a 23-13 upset Friday.
The West Region’s co-champions have met in the 1A state championship game in Annapolis each of the past three seasons, though they will have to get there on the road for the first time during that span.
Fort Hill was the No. 1 seed in 2021 and ‘23 and No. 2 in ‘22, and Mountain Ridge was the top seed in 2022 and No. 2 in ‘21 and ‘23.
The West Region is 12-0 in the 1A state quarterfinals and semifinals since 2021.
In the other state quarterfinal games, No. 3 SEED School (9-1) hosts No. 6 Green Street Academy on Friday at 6 p.m. at Dunbar, and No. 4 Perryville (9-2) welcomes No. 5 Patterson Mill (8-3) at a time TBA.