By Brian Hradsky
Updated Nov. 12, 2026. Reporting reflects results available before the evening’s games.
Five Bayside Conference football teams remain in Maryland’s public-school playoffs entering the regional second round: Easton, Stephen Decatur, Wicomico, Kent Island and Snow Hill. Easton carries an unbeaten 9–0 record after a first-round bye, while the other four advanced with opening-round victories. Their title pursuits now extend across four MPSSAA classifications, reflecting the different school sizes within the Eastern Shore conference. The standings established the contenders during the regular season; November is testing how their success translates against opponents from beyond the Shore.
The Bayside’s football divisions need to be distinguished from the MPSSAA postseason classes. Regular-season football reporting groups teams in a 1A division and a 2A/3A division, while the state tournament includes the separate 2A/1A classification. Easton and Kent Island compete in that combined state class, Decatur is in 3A, Wicomico is in 2A and Snow Hill is in 1A. Those labels describe different competitions rather than conflicting identities for the same teams.
Easton gives the larger-school division an unbeaten leader
Easton entered the postseason at 9–0 and received the top seed in the 2A/1A East. The Warriors’ next opponent is Calvert, which advanced with a 37–7 win over Queen Anne’s County. A bye kept Easton from needing an opening-round victory, but it also means its first postseason test comes against a team with a playoff win already secured. Easton’s regular season has earned attention throughout the conference, and the challenge now is carrying that level into a different competitive setting.
Brady Walls, Jadereon Thompson, Jazir Dickerson and Jamier Copper are central names in the Warriors’ available statistics. The team’s 2026–27 listing credits Walls with 23 touchdown passes, Dickerson with 15 total touchdowns and Thompson with 13 total touchdowns. Copper appears as the leading rusher by yards per game. These submitted figures help identify individual contributions without turning incomplete statewide reporting into an unsupported ranking.
Easton’s season also includes a 55–37 victory over Decatur in the published game-by-game statistics. That result matters to the conference review because it came against another team that has continued into November. The Warriors won a high-scoring matchup rather than relying exclusively on games in which the defense surrendered very little. Different kinds of wins give the season more texture than an unbeaten record alone.
Decatur’s postseason begins with a defensive result
Decatur advanced by defeating South River 16–6, moving to a reported 9–1 overall. The Seahawks now face St. Charles in the 3A South regional second round. Their opening result was much lower scoring than the Easton game, showing why one regular-season matchup cannot define every aspect of the team. Holding an opponent to six points in an elimination game gives the Seahawks a concrete success to build upon.
Kyle Mumford and Jaxon Archer appear among Decatur’s offensive leaders on its team page. The published statistics list Mumford at 118.2 rushing yards per game and Archer at 65.1 receiving yards per game. Jack Dodson and Jhysier Purnell also appear among the defensive leaders. Those names provide a starting point for following the Seahawks beyond the familiar program identity and recent playoff history.
The next matchup asks Decatur to produce another complete game against an opponent from outside the Bayside. Regular-season familiarity no longer supplies the same frame of reference. The South River victory showed the Seahawks could advance without turning the game into an offensive shootout. Repeating that kind of control would strengthen their case as a contender in their current state classification.
Wicomico carries a shutout into the next round
Wicomico defeated Crossland 30–0 in the opening round and enters its next game at a reported 8–2. Gwynn Park is the next opponent in the 2A East bracket. The shutout is one of the most straightforward positive results in the Shore’s first playoff weekend. Wicomico must now reproduce that defensive effectiveness against a different challenge.
The team’s available player listings identify Braeden Stevenson, Kaileb Tilghman, Landon Roache and J’Shawn Dorman among its statistical contributors. Submitted player totals are not equally complete across every school, so this update does not use them to declare a conference-wide leader. The individual names still matter in a season review that should recognize players as well as final scores. Their next opportunity comes with a state quarterfinal berth at stake.
Kent Island makes a forceful opening statement
Kent Island’s 56–0 victory over Southern-AA moved the Buccaneers into the 2A/1A East second round at a reported 6–4. Lackey is the next opponent after its own 35–0 win over Hammond. Both teams therefore arrive from shutout victories. Their meeting will offer a more direct comparison than trying to measure two different opening-round margins.
Colton Starlings has been a notable part of Kent Island’s passing game. The Buccaneers’ player page lists him with 16 touchdown passes, while Savion Keene and Chase Helfenbein appear among the receiving leaders. Alex Brestensky also appears among the rushing contributors. For Kent Island, the playoff opener supplied a strong team result alongside those individual names.
The Buccaneers’ season illustrates the distinction between a regular-season record and postseason opportunity. Entering with a more modest overall mark than Easton did not prevent Kent Island from delivering a dominant first-round performance. The next game is a fresh test against another advancing team. Its outcome will carry more weight in the championship race than revisiting September’s record.
Snow Hill keeps the 1A division represented
Snow Hill defeated Colonel Richardson 44–0 in the first round and enters the second round at a reported 7–3. Bohemia Manor is next after defeating Cambridge-South Dorchester 39–22. The Eagles are the remaining Bayside team in the 1A bracket. That gives their season significance for the conference’s smaller-school division as well as their own program.
Marlon Milbourne Jr., AyJion Manuel and Mekhi Waters stand out in Snow Hill’s reported statistics. Milbourne is listed at 62.6 receiving yards per game, Manuel at 67.4 rushing yards per game and Waters at 9.7 tackles per game. Keonte Taylor and Ryan Kerr also appear among the defensive leaders. Those figures describe the reported sample rather than a fully verified accounting of every play across the state.
Snow Hill’s first meeting with Colonel Richardson ended 21–20, according to the published school scheduling system. The playoff rematch produced a much wider margin. That contrast is a meaningful example of how results can change over the course of a season. It also makes clear why a close October game did not guarantee a close November rematch.
The rest of the conference’s playoff weekend
Cambridge-South Dorchester’s 39–22 defeat ended its run against Bohemia Manor. Washington lost 58–8 to Perryville, while Kent County lost 70–0 to Patuxent. Colonel Richardson’s season ended against Snow Hill. Those results left the Eagles as the Bayside’s lone 1A survivor, as shown in the conference’s reported football scores.
In the larger-school division, James M. Bennett lost 69–0 to Guilford Park. North Caroline fell 36–14 to Largo, and Parkside lost 37–7 to Frederick Douglass-PG. Queen Anne’s County’s loss to Calvert completed the eliminated group from that division. The Daily Times second-round report brings the resulting five-team Shore field together.
Easton’s complete regular season shows the range of its success
The Warriors’ nine-game results provide a useful check on the unbeaten record. Easton opened with a 46–22 win over Caesar Rodney, then beat Parkside 46–14 and Kent Island 49–7. The Warriors also defeated North Caroline 28–17, James M. Bennett 42–0 and Queen Anne’s County 48–16. Their closing three results were the 55–37 win over Decatur, a 42–7 victory over Wicomico and a 40–0 win over Cambridge-South Dorchester.
That sequence includes wins against three other Bayside teams still alive in the playoffs: Decatur, Wicomico and Kent Island. It is a stronger basis for evaluating Easton’s fall than treating every unbeaten schedule as equivalent. The Warriors had to win both a high-scoring game against Decatur and a tighter result against North Caroline. Different opponents created different final margins, while Easton kept the same outcome across the full regular season.
The Warriors’ regular-season totals in that listing are 396 points scored and 120 allowed. Those figures describe the completed nine-game schedule, with a playoff bye contributing no additional game or points. They should not be combined with duplicate schedule entries or mistaken for a postseason record. For the five remaining Bayside teams, the more immediate measure is now whether they can add another win against the specific opponent waiting in their own bracket.
MSB Take
Easton’s unbeaten season gives the Bayside a clear headline, but the depth of the remaining field is the stronger conference-wide story. Decatur, Wicomico, Kent Island and Snow Hill each earned advancement through a first-round win rather than a bye. Maryland Sports Blog will follow those teams alongside the separate private-school races covered in our MIAA reporting. For readers following the public brackets, our MPSSAA information guide explains where to locate the association’s schedules and results.
