Greetings Gonzaga Football Family!
The regular season clock is winding down and post season play is just around the corner! The Eagles are flying high with a perfect 9-0 record with the Oldest Catholic Schools Football Rivalry in the nation up next versus St. John’s.
The second half of the season has yielded stellar results starting with a decisive victory over O’Connell. The Gonzaga offense exploded for 56 points! Quarterback Sam Brown ’17 threw for 209 yards on 12 of 13 passing attempts. Wide Receivers Max Fisher ’17 and Jirhe Love ’17 caught touchdown passes from Brown. In addition, the Eagles had two 100 yard rushers on the day with Tyree Randolph ’17 rushing for 133 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns and Andrew Irvings ’18 rushing for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense was impressive in every aspect with Tre’ Jones ‘16 leading the way with 2 interceptions.
Our victory over O’Connell set the stage for the big game against DeMatha which featured the only 2 unbeaten teams in the WCAC. Although DeMatha was ranked #1 in the area by the Washington Post and #5 nationally, the Eagles prevailed with a 24-14 victory in front of a capacity crowd and a national television audience on ESPN. Brown completed 16 of his 21 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown. Fisher was on the receiving end of 163 of those yards as well as the touchdown strike from Brown. The offensive line of Dante Lopresti ’16, Johnny Jordan ’17, Antoine Walker ’17, Matthew Calderon ’17 and Cameron Warfield ‘17 was exceptional as they opened holes for Randolph to rush for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense was equally as impressive. After giving up a touchdown on the 1st play from scrimmage, the defense dominated the remainder of the game. Matthew Mulligan ‘16 led the team with 8 tackles, Joe Zuccari ’17 had a big interception, Robbie Omelchenko ‘16 registered a sack, and Kyle Taylor ‘16 had 2 fumble recoveries. The DeMatha victory catapulted the Eagles into the top 10 of the national ranks as well as into the #2 spot in the Washington Post poll.
Next up was a trip to Olney, Maryland to take on Good Counsel on their Senior Night. The game was tight for 2 quarters with the score tied 7-7 at the half. However the Eagles proved capable of flying higher than the Falcons in the 2nd half and finished with a 32-13 win. The offensive line turned in another dominant performance by paving the way for Randolph’s 200 rushing yards. Taylor recorded 10 tackles on defense, while Luke McCaleb ‘16 added 9, Mulligan and Roger Mellado ’17 both had sacks, and Mitchell Johns ‘17 and Zuccari had 2 interceptions a piece! This victory put the Eagles atop the rankings as the Washington Post’s #1 football team.
Following our big win against Good Counsel, we were able to close out the month of October with a 41-19 victory over Carroll on Halloween. The win allowed our seniors to finish unbeaten on Buchanan Field for the season and victorious on Senior Day. Brown threw for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns. Patrick Hesse ’16 caught his first touchdown pass of the season and Randolph had a special day with 103 rushing yards, 118 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. The Eagles made life miserable for the Carroll quarterbacks with 6 sacks. Nasheed Bridgeman ‘16, Malik Bridgeman ‘18, and Jabari Bennett ‘18 each had sacks, while Nick McEvoy ‘16 had 3 of his own!
Now it’s time for the regular season finally against St. John’s! Kickoff will be at 3:00pm at Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland. A Gonzaga win solidifies an unbeaten regular season, the number 1 seed in the WCAC playoffs and a spot in the DCSAA semifinals. Please come support the Eagles on Saturday as it promises to be a great atmosphere for high school football.
Go Eagles!
Coach Randy Trivers
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