Three Maryland High School Football Teams Withdraw From State Playoffs, MPSSAA Confirms

Note: This article might be updated if additional schools withdraw from postseason play.

Three football teams, all from Class 3A, have opted out of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association playoffs, according to information provided by the association on Thursday.

Patterson in 3A East, Catonsville in 3A North, and Rockville in 3A West have been confirmed as out of the postseason.

All MPSSAA teams are eligible for postseason play, but schools may opt out if they choose. Teams that withdraw before Monday’s deadline will be removed from the regional playoff brackets, which will then be re-seeded accordingly. Once playoff pairings are finalized, however, any team that opts out will forfeit its game, giving its scheduled opponent a win.

Last year, a record eight schools opted out of postseason play.

MPSSAA schools are divided into four regions across six classifications. Each region is designed to include seven or eight teams, allowing for a quarterfinal round followed by regional semifinals. The two teams that win their respective regional semifinal games advance to the eight-team state tournament in each classification.

While most teams that opt out have already endured a winless season, that's not the case so far this year. Rockville, at 0-7, is the lone winless team opting out. Patterson is 2-6, which includes a forfeit victory, and Catonsville is 1-7.

Here's how those opt-outs affect each region:

3A East

Patterson (2-6) sits last in the eight-team region heading into its season finale. It was on track to face undefeated Towson in the quarterfinals, but Patterson's withdrawal means Towson is now in line for a quarterfinal bye, assuming Week 9 results go as expected.

Since this open playoff format was adopted in 2021, Patterson has participated every season but has never won a playoff game, going 0-5 and being outscored 212-64.

3A North

Catonsville (1-7) -7, is tied with Centennial for sixth place in the seven-team region. Centennial, also 1-7, confirmed to HS on SI that it will compete in the playoffs after ending a 44-game losing streak last week.

With seven teams in the region, the No. 1 seed was already set to receive a bye in the quarterfinals. Catonsville's withdrawal means both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will now receive byes and will not begin postseason play until the regional semifinals. Currently, state-ranked Milford Mill Academy is the No. 1 seed, with Franklin a close second.

Centennial is now likely to finish sixth, giving it a probable quarterfinal match-up with Westminster.

This is the second straight year Catonsville has opted out. Last year's team went 0-9. In 2024, Catonsville won a region quarterfinal contest over Kenwood before losing a playoff game to Mergenthaler Vo-Tech for the third straight year. Catonsville is 1-4 all-time during the open playoff format.

3A West

Rockville is one of two winless teams in the seven-team region, but the only one that has withdrawn at this point.

It is easy to understand Rockville's position as this is a stacked region and any first-round opponent will be a handful. Oakdale and Linganore, both ranked in the top 10 among all schools in the state, occupy the top two seeds at this point. Historical power Damascus is No. 3.

If Rockville and Watkins Mill finish out the season winless, there would have been a tiebreaker to see which team was sixth and which was seventh. If Rockville would have finished in the sixth spot, it faced a rematch with Damascus, a team it already lost to 62-0 this season. At the No. 7 spot, Rockville would likely face Linganore, possibly Oakdale. Oakdale beat Damascus 30-3 this year.

This is the first time Rockville has opted out of the playoffs. In the previous five seasons, Rockville went 0-5 with lopsided losses to Damascus, Linganore and Oakdale.

At the moment, Watkins Mill will inherit the No. 6 spot and a likely postseason clash with Damascus.

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