Bethesda-Chevy Chase travels to Walter Johnson for a 6 p.m. rivalry game Thursday, Oct. 8, with both teams trying to right their seasons after lopsided Week 5 losses.

The Barons (3-2, 2-1 Class 4A West) fell 15-8 to Paint Branch on Oct. 2. Senior running back Aiah Mbayo scored BCC's only touchdown in that game, according to Bethesda Magazine's Week 6 preview.

The Wildcats (2-3, 1-3) were shut out 47-0 by Seneca Valley on Oct. 2. BCC has won the last three meetings between the teams, according to The MoCo Show.

Mbayo has been the engine of BCC's offense all season. In the Barons' 50-36 win at Blair on Sept. 10, he broke loose for touchdown runs of 80 and 85 yards, according to Bethesda Magazine.

After the Sept. 10 win, Mbayo told The Tattler: "I want more after this."

Head coach Matt Schwartzback identified penalty discipline as a concern after BCC's 35-0 homecoming win over Wheaton on Sept. 25, telling The Tattler the team needed to clean up "post snap penalties on sportsmanlike conducts … those are things that we can control, that we need to control against the better teams."

Walter Johnson will need a bounce-back performance from senior quarterback Luke Maynard, who threw three interceptions in the Wildcats' 35-6 loss to Churchill on Sept. 18, according to Bethesda Magazine. The Wildcats' two wins this season have come by a combined four points: 20-19 over Gaithersburg and 13-10 over Wootton, per MaxPreps.

Whitman at Blair on Friday, Oct. 9

Walt Whitman (3-2, 2-0 Class 4A/3A South) heads to Montgomery Blair (3-2) in Silver Spring on Friday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m. The Vikings sit first in their region after a 42-0 shutout of Springbrook on Oct. 2.

Junior running back Caleb Merenstein and senior quarterback Lucas Manatos have powered Whitman's offense. Merenstein ran for 134 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening 46-0 win over Kennedy, per The Black & White.

He added 79 yards and two scores in a 28-14 win at Wootton on Sept. 18, per The Black & White.

This is only the second regular-season meeting between Whitman and Blair since 2014. Blair won the first, 42-7, last season.

What's ahead

BCC's remaining schedule includes games at Blake on Oct. 16, home against Springbrook on Oct. 22 and home against Whitman on Oct. 29. Walter Johnson hosts Northwest on Oct. 16, travels to Whitman on Oct. 23 and hosts Blake on Oct. 30. Whitman hosts Paint Branch on Oct. 16 before back-to-back rivalry games against Walter Johnson and BCC to close the regular season.