Good Counsel coach reflects on upset loss

Often coaches have a self-imposed 24-hour rule after a game and won’t talk to players (or parents) until game film is watched and broken down.

It's been more than 24 hours since Gilman (Baltimore) dominated nationally-ranked Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), 28-7, in the feature game of the inaugural I-95 Kick Off Classic. Good Counsel entered the contest at No. 12 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National High School Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

Since that night, Good Counsel head coach Bob Milloy has had time to digest the reasons for his team’s loss.

"They were the better team," Milloy said. "They didn't change their offense or defense much, they just came out and executed and were clearly the better team that night. No doubt about it. We made a couple of crazy mistakes and they played very well. They are a very good football team.

"Wes Brown (injured running back) is a first-team guy who started last year. He's our tailback and we're an off-tackle team so certainly we missed him. But that wasn't the reason we lost. We got a good game out of our second tailback, Dorian O'Daniel.

"We have a bye this week so I gave them off Sunday and Monday. It’s the first Labor Day I haven't practiced in 40 years. Since we started a week early it was planned that way, and we'll probably take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off next weekend. We have a couple guys hurt and so it's a good time for the bye.”

Note: messages left for Gilman coach Biff Poggi were not returned.

2. Phoebus (Va.) manhandles Gloucester
Breon Key scored three touchdowns to lead Phoebus (Hampton, Va.), No. 24 in Xcellent Top 25, to a 42-0 victory over Gloucester (Va.) in each team's season opener Thursday night.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior, who has committed to play basketball at Old Dominion, caught two touchdown passes and returned a punt 64 yards for a score.

Phoebus racked up 204 yards on the ground and 102 in the air while holding Gloucester to just 159 yards of total offense. The win was the 31st consecutive for the two-time defending VHSL Div. 5 state champions.

3. Westlake (D.C.) comes from behind to win late
Senior quarterback Christopher Istvan connected with receiver Steven Koudossou in the back corner of the end zone with 12.8 seconds remaining in the game to give Westlake (Waldorf, Md.) a narrow 12-10 win over Chopticon (Morganza, Md.).

Westlake trailed 10-0 heading into the fourth quarter before Istvan and Koudossou connected in the end zone to pull Westlake within four, 10-6, with 6:53 to play.

Chopticon's scores came on an 11-yard touchdown run by senior Sterling Miles in the second quarter and a 37-yard field goal by Chris Palmer in the third. The Braves failed to take advantage of two interceptions that set the offense up in Westlake's red zone.

"We ended up making some plays and getting a touchdown," Westlake Coach Dominic Zaccarelli told the Washington Post. "We didn't play particularly well, but it ended up working out for us."

4. Seneca Valley (Md.) wins overtime thriller
Senior tailback Eddie Cunningham lunged into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to set off a wild celebration as Seneca Valley (Germantown, Md.) topped Clarksburg (Md.) 20-14.

The touchdown run was Cunningham’s third of the night, including an 85-yard jaunt into the end zone untouched in the second quarter.

Seneca Valley won the overtime coin toss but elected to start out on defense. Clarksburg failed to reach the end zone and on fourth down attempted a 24-yard field goal that clanged off the upright and fell back into the end zone, setting up Cunningham's heroics.

Senior running back Zach Gallion scored both Clarksburg touchdowns in regulation.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
* Nick Rosati, Arundel (Gambrills, Md.), senior: Completed 18 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns to lead Arundel to a 30-7 win over Old Mill (Millersville, Md.).

* Thomas Stuart, Calvert Hall (Baltimore), junior: Plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out with the winning score in triple overtime to lead Calvert Hall to a 26-20 win at the I-95 Kick Off Classic. Stuart finished 19-for-32 for 240 yards and a touchdown.

* Delonte Morton, DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), senior: Carried the ball 15 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the Staggs' 45-31 win over Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Md.) to give the WCAC its only win of the I-95 Kick Off Classic.

* Josh Woodrum, Cave Spring (Roanoke, Va.), senior: The Liberty University commit threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns in a 47-14 win over Graham (Bluefield, Va.).

RECRUITING NEWS
* Larry Savage, a 6-foot-5 small forward from Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.), verbally committed to the University of Delaware for basketball.

* Adrian Amos, a 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back from Calvert Hall (Md.), verbally committed to the University of Connecticut for football.

* Jake Quinn, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound lineman from St. Mark's (Wilmington, Del.), verbally committed to Temple University for football.

GAME TO WATCH
* The Delaware high school football season begins this weekend and defending Div. 1 state champion Salesianum (Wilmington, Del.) hosts Hodgson Vo-Tech (Newark, Del.) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Baynard Stadium. Hodgson lost to Delmar in last year's Div. II title game.

THE BUZZ
The inaugural I-95 Kick Off Classic was held Sept. 3-4 at Towson University. The event matched teams from the powerful MIAA and WCAC conferences, with the underdog MIAA winning three of the four games. … High School football kicks off in Delaware beginning Thursday with two games being held as part of the inaugural DFRC Blue-Gold Kickoff Classic. Milford (Del.) hosts St. Mark’s and Tatnall (Wilmington, Del.) plays Howard (Wilmington, Del.) at Baynard Stadium.

Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and occasional color commentator for the 1290am The Ticket High School Football Game of the Week.