By Brandy L. Simms

As Wootton's coaches and players huddled on the football field at Churchill High following the Patriots' 10-point victory over the rival Bulldogs last Friday in Potomac, emotions ran high among those associated with the Rockville school's football program.

"Can you believe this?" asked Wootton Head Coach Greg Malling, mere moments after guiding the school to its first playoff berth in nearly two decades. "You guys did this."

Mike Mooney, Wootton's senior quarterback, was also jubilant as he congratulated teammates and made some post-game remarks.

"No other team has worked as hard as us," said Mooney, who finished the regular season as Montgomery County's top passer.

The year was 1991. "Dances With Wolves" won the Oscar for Best Picture. Mariah Carey took home the Grammy for Best New Artist and the current Wootton seniors were in diapers. It was also the last time a football team from Wootton played more than 10 games.

There's no question that Wootton's win over Churchill was a monumental victory for the school. It's been 17 years since the Patriots last played in a postseason game.

"It feels great," said Wootton senior wide receiver-defensive back Matt Paris, who caught two touchdown passes against Churchill. "We're just happy to be here. Week 11, that's what we're looking forward to."

It's not very often that a game between neighboring rivals Churchill and Wootton means anything more than bragging rights but last Friday's matchup had playoff implications on the line for both teams. A year ago, Churchill knocked Wootton out of the playoff picture with a 15-0 victory over the Patriots. Last Friday, it was payback time.

"That [loss to Churchill] boiled over for a year and we had that motivation," said Mooney, "so we came out here and obviously beating Churchill to get in the playoffs it's huge. It's hard to put into words."

The 2008 campaign will certainly be one to remember for the Patriots, a season that began with a near upset of defending state champ Quince Orchard in week one. Following a heart-wrenching 26-21 loss to the Cougars in the season opener, the Patriots won two straight before suffering a 49-7 loss to Clarksburg. After the Clarksburg loss, Malling did not point fingers and make excuses for his team's poor performance but instead he blamed himself, citing a lack of preparation. The next week, Wootton was competitive in a five-point loss to Northwest. After a 2-3 start, Wootton rebounded to finish the season on a five-game winning streak that reached its pinnacle in last week's victory over rival Churchill in the regular season finale.

"We worked hard all year long," said Paris, "and we just put it together [against Churchill.]"

For Malling and his coaching staff, it's been a heck of a ride from the bottom up. After a pair of 2-8 seasons in his first two years, Malling guided the Patriots to a 5-5 finish last year to a 7-3 mark including a playoff berth this year. The spread offense has worked for Wootton and Mooney has been one of the beneficiaries.

During the regular season, Mooney passed for a county-best 27 touchdowns and had only nine interceptions. In Wootton's 36-7 victory over Blair last month, Mooney set a new public school state record with 451 passing yards in a single game. He completed 26-of-43 passes and tossed three touchdowns against the Blazers. The senior has completed more passes than any other county quarterback and will likely reach the 3,000-yard plateau this weekend.

Stephane N'goumou, a senior wide receiver, has been one of Mooney's favorite targets this season. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound standout holds a scholarship offer from Eastern Michigan and has drawn interest from Syracuse, Connecticut and Iowa according to Malling. The Division I prospect is the county's second-leading receiver with 64 catches, nearly 1,000 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

"He's a big guy," said Mooney. "You just know if you throw it up there it's fun to watch him go up and get it."

Besides Paris and N'goumou, senior wideouts Mike Cresham and Matt Scherer have also helped pad Mooney's eye-popping passing statistics this season.

"They're amazing," Mooney said about his talented wideouts. "It's four receivers every time so you know that there's a lot of options. They all get catches, they all make big plays with the ball. We can throw it two yards downfield and they're going to take it up for a 50-yard gain so obviously a lot of my numbers are due to that but obviously having so many offensive weapons it's great. The line does a great job, I've probably [been] sacked once or twice this whole year."

You can contact Brandy at: BrandySimms@thesentinel.com