Stags Narrowly Defeat Falcons in Rivalry Game
By Jim McDonough:
Olney, MD - Friday's game between the DeMatha Stags and the Good Counsel Falcon's lived up to the advanced billing as a game in the "Great American Rivalry Series". DeMatha came into the game still feeling the sting of their recent loss to rival Gonzaga. Good Counsel came into the game on the heels of a convincing win over the Bishop McNamara Mustangs. The stage was set. On a crisp cool night in Olney, Maryland the teams battled to the bitter end. A 28-28 deadlock was broken by a DeMatha field goal with 1:36 left to play. Good Counsel rallied and reached the DeMatha 30 yard line. However, Zach Dancel who had already thrown for three touchdowns was not able to connect on his last three attempts.
The game started with the Falcons winning the toss and electing to kick. After a solid return to the 23 yard line, DeMatha went to work. The first play from scrimmage was a Jacob Siwicki run off tackle to the right for 14 yards. This would be the theme for the remainder of the game for the Stags. Siwicki, the "Player of the Game" would un-officially run for 131 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns. He would carry two more times on the opening drive but the drive stalled when sacked DeMatha QB Nicholay Uherek for an eight yard loss. Two plays later they were forced to punt.
The Falcon's opening possession had little success as well. After an initial 10 yard run by their fullback, then went three and out. The next series for the Stags was all about the run and Siwicki. He ran for 31 yards including a nine yard touchdown. The PAT was no good.
The Dematha kickoff, off the foot of Michael Branthover, went into the end zone for a touchback. On the second play of their drive Stephon Diggs uncharacteristically fumbled after being hit by the swarming defense. DeMatha recovered at the 6. Two plays later, they had a 14-0 lead on the Siwicki 5 yard touchdown run. They were successful on the two-point conversion.
On the ensuing kickoff, one of the most electrifying plays of the game occurred when Kendall Fuller took the ball at the 5 and raced 95 yards behind some excellent blocking for a touchdown at 10:36 of the second quarter. The Falcon's tallied the next score after being setup by a 55 yard punt return by Blake Countess. Dancel threw a perfect pass to Diggs in the back of the end zone. PAT was no good.
DeMatha rode the legs of Siwicki and Darien Harris to notch another touchdown with 1:43 left in the half. Good Counsel started with decent field position but was unable to move the ball before the half ended.
The second half saw a little bit of a change in styles for both teams. DeMatha tried to mix it up and Good Counsel passed and had Dancel run more. The Falcon's did this both because it worked and out of necessity. Their running game in the first half saw little success. They took the opening kickoff of the half and marched in for a score on the legs and arm of Dancel. The Stags then went three and out. Good Counsel stalled as well.
DeMatha then got the ball on the 15 and used runs by Siwicki to set up the play of the game. Facing a third and eight at their 29, Uherek dropped back to pass. He scrambled around a little and then found Harris in traffic about 10 yards downfield. He caught the ball and scampered down the right sideline for a 71 yard touchdown.
Good Counsel came right back and drove 80 yard eating up almost 7 minutes and scoring the tying touchdown.
DeMatha's final drive proved to be the difference maker. Starting at their 39, they ran Siwicki and Harris to put the ball in field goal range. Branthover made the field goal to notch the final points of the game.
Good Counsel did not go easily into the night. They drove from their 20 to get into potential scoring range. They saw a nice Dancel scramble for 18 yards. Then on a screen to Diggs, the receiver covered probably 60 yards going back and forth across the field and almost broke it. The gain was good for 35 yards. Unfortunately, they could not score from there. This was one of those games that you hate for either team to lose because both teams played their guts out.
Dematha improves to 4-2 and avoided their first two game losing streak in more than a decade. Good Counsel also at 4-2 will have to see if they have another shot at their rival in the WCAC playoffs as they did last season. Carroll remains in 1st place in the WCAC with an undefeated record, followed closely by Gonzaga who is 4-1 heading into weekend action.
