Good Counsel wins second straight

Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), ranked in the Top 25 in most preseason national polls before losing to Gilman in the I-95 Kick Off Classic on Sept. 4, won its second straight game since that loss, making easy work of its opponent and coming away with a 53-7 win over Bishop O'Connell Friday night.

Good Counsel dominated on both sides of the ball, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter then adding four more in the second, while shutting down O'Connell's offense to build a 41-0 halftime lead.

Junior running back Marsean Diggs carried the ball six times for 175 yards and three touchdowns (55, 18 and 53 yards) and also scored on a 23-yard pass from Zach Dancel. Dancel also found the end zone on runs of 6 and 36 yards.

Good Counsel (3-1) hosts Bishop McNamara (0-4) Saturday while O'Connell (2-2) plays at Carroll (4-0) the same day.

2. Ballou wins battle between D.C. rivals: With ESPN cameras rolling, senior running back Darren Holbrook rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns to lead Ballou (Washington, D.C.) to an 18-7 win over Dunbar (D.C.) Friday night.

Despite Holbrook's offensive heroics, it was his key play on defense that sealed the win for Ballou. The 5-foot-7 cornerback leaped over Dunbar's 6-foot-5 Maxie Stevens to intercept Lamel Matthews' pass late in the game to deliver the knockout punch.

Dunbar (3-2) will travel to Pennsylvania to take on Glen Mills Friday. Ballou (4-0) has a bye before meeting Anacostia in its first DCIAA game Oct. 9.

3. St. Marks wins shootout over Newark: Juniors T.j. Yeninas (227 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and Jabre Lolley (134 yards, four touchdowns) combined for seven touchdowns to lead St. Mark's (Wilmington, Del.) to a 52-37 win over Newark Friday night.

In a back-and-forth game that featured 31 first-quarter points and several lead changes, the Spartan defense withstood the valiant efforts of Newark's high-scoring junior quarterback Taylor Reynolds, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for two other scores.

It was Reynolds' 5-yard burst into the end zone that put Newark up 30-28 with 7:39 left in the third quarter. But the Spartans then scored 24 unanswered points to seal the victory and move to 3-0 on the season.

Newark (1-2) plays at Delcastle (0-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. while St. Mark's travels to Glasgow (1-2) Friday night at 7.

4. Hermitage edges Varina in defensive classic: Hermitage (Richmond, Va.) ventured into Blue Devils Stadium at Varina (Richmond, Va.) and drew a line in the sand, holding the hosts to 91 total yards and just six first downs to come away with a 17-12 victory in an epic defensive battle.

Hermitage (3-0) got on the scoreboard first when quarterback Brendon Riddick connected with B.J. Clark for a 23-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. But then it was the Varina defense's turn to shine as senior nose guard Breon Jones returned two fumbles for touchdowns to give the Blue Devils (1-2) a brief 12-7 lead.

The Panthers bounced right back, however, and Riddick capped a 61-yard scoring drive with an 8-yard scamper into the end zone to put the Panthers up 14-12. John Steibel, who was 2-for-2 on extra-point attempts, closed out the scoring with a 30-yard field goal with 6:53 remaining in the game.

Riddick, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior, rushed for 177 yards on 29 carries and was 8-for-15 for 70 yards and one interception.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Craig Napier, senior, St. Elizabeth (Wilmington, Del.): Rushed for 285 yards on 29 carries and scored six touchdowns in the Vikings' 56-26 win over Delmar. Napier leads the state in scoring with 72 points on 12 touchdowns.

Darius Jennings, senior, Gilman (Baltimore): Highly-recruited quarterback rushed for 144 yards and scored his team's first two touchdowns, including one on a 71-yard run early in the second quarter, to lead the Greyhounds (4-1) to an easy 42-6 win over Georgetown Prep.

Drew Ferguson, senior, Atlee (Mechanicsville, Va.): Completed 19 of 29 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 90 yards and a score in a 42-12 victory over Douglas Freeman.

Matt Zanellato, senior, Lake Braddock (Burke, Va.): Caught nine passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns (29, 25 and 41 yards) in a 49-12 win over T.C. Williams.

GAME TO WATCH
* Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) (3-1) will travel to Hickory (Chesapeake, Va.) (3-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. for what will be a battle between two of the top Virginia AAA teams.

THE BUZZ
Caravel (Bear, Del.) first-year football head coach Angelo Gattinella resigned just two games into the season, replaced by running backs coach Bill Martin, who led the Bucs to their first win in his debut with a 42-0 win over Pencader Charter. "The kids are back to the old way of doing things and that's through hard work, commitment and dedication," Martin said in a phone interview Monday morning. "They really wanted to keep the tradition of never losing to Pencader Charter." … Nationally-ranked Phoebus (Hampton, Va.) (4-0) showed no mercy defeating winless Heritage 70-0. I'm not sure what the mercy rule is in Virginia, but there needs to be one when those two schools play again.

Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and color commentator for the 1290am The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.