Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) has produced some big-time high school football players in the past: Stefon Diggs, Jelani Jenkins, Kendall Fuller, Dorian O'Daniel, Mitchell Melton, Joshua Paschal and Landon Tangwell. The next great one could very well be
Dylan Gooden.
The 6-foot-6, 200-pound standout emerged during the shortened spring
season for the defending WCAC champs. He switched to defensive end
during the final two games of the season and dominated against legit
competition.
The four-star edge rusher
posted four sacks against St. John's (Washington, D.C.) and St. Frances
Academy (Baltimore). He helped the Falcons to a 27-14 upset win
over the Baltimore power to close out the spring, giving them a ton of
momentum heading into next fall.
Gooden is the son of former Major League Baseball
pitcher Dwight "Doc" Gooden, who finished his career with 194 wins and 2,293
strikeouts. Doc Gooden was the 1985 National League Cy Young Award
winner and won three World Series. He was also a four-time All-Star and
was named the 1984 National League Rookie of the Year.
Dylan Gooden took a huge jump in
247Sports updated player rankings released on May 19 going from unranked to No. 143 overall. He's the No. 7 weak-side defensive end and No. 3 prospect in Maryland for the Class of 2023. Arizona, Boston College, Kentucky, Michigan State, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and a handful of others have offered Gooden over the last four weeks.
Expect the Falcons to be in contention to defend their WCAC title with the talent they have returning led by Gooden. Other notables include quarterback
Neeo Avery, offensive lineman
Dylan Tulcaro, wide receiver
Shane Carroll and Class of 2024 standout offensive lineman
Kyle Altuner. The WCAC is one of the toughest conferences in the nation and DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), Good Counsel and St. John's all will be ranked in our MaxPreps Top 100 preseason rankings coming out June 29.
