When officials announced that this year's Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association football finals would be moved for the first time to Ravens Stadium from its traditional site at the University of Maryland, area coaches figured the venue change would serve as added incentive for their players to make the big show.

Hopes ran high when 14 local teams qualified for the postseason, but they plummeted during last weekend's quarterfinals.

Nine of 10 area teams went down to defeat in the first round on Friday night, and three of four were routed on Saturday. Eight of the losers had at least won a share of a county or league championship.

Only two teams - fifth-ranked Edmondson (11-0) and second-ranked Hereford (11-0) - survived. And only one of them will be heading to Ravens Stadium: They meet in the Class 2A state semifinals Saturday at Poly.

"I thought we had a lot of opportunities to be represented, but they've kind of dwindled," said Edmondson coach Pete Pompey.

Teams from Anne Arundel went 0-4; those from Howard County were 0-3. Squads from Baltimore City and Baltimore County each went 1-2. Havre de Grace, Harford County's lone representative, also lost.

Not only did these teams lose, for the most part, they were routed.

Fourth-ranked Broadneck and No. 6 Glenelg each lost by 18 points. No. 7 Annapolis and No. 9 Old Mill were beaten by 22 apiece. No. 11 Dundalk lost by 38. No. 12 Woodlawn fell by 24. No. 14 Dunbar lost, 42-0. Unranked Oakland Mills lost, 39-0.

In advancing, Hereford of Baltimore County and Edmondson of Baltimore City defeated area teams Southern of Anne Arundel County and City of Baltimore City, respectively. Otherwise, against non-area teams, the locals went a combined 0-10 and were outscored, 323-83.

Montgomery County teams went 5-0 against area schools. Frederick and Cecil counties each went 2-0, and Washington County went 1-0.

Hereford won, 14-7, over Southern, and Edmondson, 14-0, over City. Two-time state champion Hereford is trying to make its third title-game appearance, and Edmondson its second since being a runner-up to Urbana in 1998.

"I think a lot of playing in the postseason comes down to preparation, and I started learning about that after losing to Urbana," Pompey said. "You've got to get out and scout teams, because they're doing the same thing to prepare for you. If not, they're going to find your weaknesses and exploit them."

Like Pompey, Arundel's Chuck Markiewicz attributes the area's futility to lack of preparation - but preparation begins long before the start of the season.

"Coaching is a 365-days-a-year job," said Markiewicz, who won the 4A state title over Largo of Prince George's County when he coached at North County in 1994. "You can't expect to compete if you're only going to start on August 15."

"You never stop learning the game. It's unfair to your kids if you stop learning and teaching and keeping up with modern things that are going on," said Pompey, in his 29th year, who attends clinics with his entire coaching staff. "You have to keep your knowledge current. More of us need to go, but if they don't, then it's on them."

Former Dunbar and Morgan State coach Stanley Mitchell, agreed, saying he attended coaching clinics and sent his players to combines and camps "so they could compare themselves against other highly recruited kids."

Mitchell, on hand during Saturday's Dunbar loss at Poly, coached the Poets to five state semifinals in as many coaching seasons at Dunbar until 1997, winning two state titles in three championship appearances.

Mitchell and Markiewicz also said scheduling had a lot to do with their success.

Mitchell said he tried to "create the playoff atmosphere" by scheduling out-of area teams - many on the road - such as Prince George's County teams Largo and Douglass, Archbishop Carroll of Washington and Lingnore of Frederick County. His squads beat such state powers as Churchill, Cambridge-South Dorchester, Fort Hill and Largo.

Markiewicz routinely scheduled teams from Prince George's County, including Roosevelt and Crossland, the year he won the crown.

"The competition's so tough in Prince George's County and Montgomery County that they're in a playoff game and a playoff atmosphere every week," said Markiewicz, whose Anne Arundel County 4A-3A league does not allow for out-of-county games. "I think our league hurts us because we're locked into seeing the same teams every week. We need to be able to get out and see what the rest of the state is doing."