By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Manager, Washington D.C. Metro Area

**Click here for previews from games around the Northern Region in Week 10!!**

Marshall (1-8, 1-5) at Madison (5-4, 4-2)
PowerPoint Ranking: Marshall - 12th (Div. 5); Madison - 5th (Div. 5)
Offensive Rank (ppg in Division): Marshall - 14th (9.3); Madison - 11th (17.7)
Defensive Rank (ppg in Division): Marshall - 11th (27.1); Madison - 1st (12.3)
Last Week: Marshall lost to Fairfax, 21-0; Madison won at Marshall, 34-7
All-Time Series: Madison leads, 27-19

Conventional wisdom says, with a win over Marshall, Madison should move into the fourth seed in Division 5, considering one team must lose the National District title game Friday between three-seed Edison and four-seed Hayfield.

PowerPoints say the following:

Madison:
Clinches No. 4 seed in Division 5 with win over Marshall, Edison win over Hayfield AND THREE of the following SIX teams win: Oakton, T.C. Williams, Yorktown, Langley, Stone Bridge and Robinson.
Clinches No. 4 seed in Division 5 with win over Marshall, Hayfield win at Edison AND wins by SIX of the following SEVEN teams: Lake Braddock, Chantilly, Yorktown, Langley, Stone Bridge, Robinson AND Falls Church.
Clinches No. 5 seed in Division 5 with win over Marshall, Edison win AND FOUR of the following SIX teams win: Chantilly, Lee, Washington-Lee, McLean, South Lakes and Centreville.
Clinches No. 5 seed in Division 5 with win over Marshall, Hayfield win OR SIX of the following SEVEN teams win: West Springfield, Oakton, Washington-Lee, McLean, South Lakes, Centreville OR Stuart.
Clinches No. 5 seed in Division 5 with loss to Marshall, McLean loss to Langley and South Lakes loss at Stone Bridge.
Clinches No. 5 seed in Division 5 with loss to Marshall, McLean win, South Lakes loss AND wins by THREE of the following FIVE teams: Oakton, Yorktown, Fairfax, Westfield and Mount Vernon.
Clinches No. 5 seed in Division 5 with loss to Marshall, South Lakes win at Stone Bridge AND wins by FIVE of the following EIGHT teams: Stuart, Oakton, Langley, Briar Woods, Jefferson, Westfield, Yorktown and Robinson.
Clinches No. 6 seed in Division 5 with loss to Marshall, McLean win, South Lakes loss AND wins by THREE of the following FIVE teams: Chantilly, Washington-Lee, Jefferson, Herndon and Wakefield.
Clinches No. 6 seed in Division 5 with loss to Marshall, South Lakes win at Stone Bridge AND wins by FOUR of the following EIGHT teams: Falls Church, Chantilly, McLean, Dominion, Fairfax, Herndon, Washington-Lee and Centreville.
Clinches No. 7 seed in Division 5 with loss to Marshall, McLean win, South Lakes win AND wins by THREE of the following FIVE teams: Chantilly, Washington-Lee, Jefferson, Herndon and Wakefield.
Madison can finish no lower than No. 7 seed.

If anyone complains about me not posting complete playoff scenarios, please direct them here. That alone took just under an hour to compile.

The Warhawks return tailback Tavin Thomas, two-way starter Mike McCool and all-region kicker James Devens to the starting lineup after absences against the Colonials.

Marshall, meanwhile, kept the Fairfax running game in check last week, yielding 213 total yards of offense and no points outside of the second quarter. Still, the Baby Blue offense struggled and will only face a tougher test this week in Madison, the top-ranked defense in the Northern Region.

If the Statesmen are to pull a bracket-busting upset, the defense will need a repeat performance from the last two weeks and senior running back Victor Vanegas and senior receiver Jake Bennett need to combine for 250 yards of offense.

Marshall's only win against Madison since the 1999 season finale came 27-20, at Madison, in 2007.

Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com