No. 10 Good Counsel tames Red Lion Christian at Flash Training Classic

NEWARK, Del. — Saturday night's third and final game of the inaugural Flash Training Football Classic was a match-up on paper that brought to mind the Biblical story of David versus Goliath. And in the first half, it appeared  that David might win again.

But Goliath proved to be a second-half squad.

Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), ranked No. 10 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 presented by the National Guard and No. 4 in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings, scored on its first two drives of the second half and then shut down a potent Red Lion Christian Academy (Bear, Del.) offense to come away with a convincing 34-14 win over the Lions at Delaware Stadium.

Good Counsel quarterback Brendan Marshall connected with wide receiver Kendall Fuller on touchdown passes of 18 and 95 yards on the Falcons' first two possessions of the second half to dash the Red Lions' hopes of an upset.

"I knew I had a bad first half and had to come back in the second half and make some plays," Fuller said of his two touchdown catches.

The Good Counsel defense took over from there.

Highly-touted wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who MaxPreps' Tom Lemming calls the best athlete in the class of 2012, had four catches for 125 yards. But as spectacular as his runs after his catches were, it was Diggs' two bone-crushing hits he dealt out from his defensive back position that earned him the loudest gasps from the crowd.

"I actually prefer defense," said Diggs, who knocked down several passes and had an interception in the end zone to halt a Red Lion drive late in the third-quarter. "I'm better on offense, but defense is where my heart is because on offense you can score, but defense wins games. When the defense comes together it looks good."

The Falcons' defense looked shaky in the beginning. Red Lion Christian scored the first touchdown of the game on its first possession when junior wide receiver Devon Russell plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out. The play was set up when highly-touted freshman quarterback David Sills handed the ball off to Daikiel Shorts, who tucked the ball at first but then heaved it to Freddy Canteen for a 58-yard gain to the Falcons' 2-yard line.

Good Counsel wasted no time evening the score, putting together a 12-play, 50-yard drive on its first possession, capped by Dorian O'Daniel 6-yard touchdown run. O'Daniel finished with 29 carries for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

Sills then marched the Lions 65 yards for a score, scrambling on third-and-12 before finding Dean Wilson wide open at the goal line for a 15-yard touchdown pass at the 2:17 mark of the first quarter. Despite the ease in which Red Lion scored on its first two possessions, the second touchdown would end up being the Lions' final score of the day.

"Good Counsel has a lot of weapons and they had a few big plays," said Sills, who committed to USC as a seventh-grader and finished the game completing 20 of 37 passes for 158 yards, one touchdown and one interception. "We're going to keep fighting. You learn more in a loss than you do with a win. We just have to keep fighting because we have a pretty tough schedule ahead of us."

"[Red Lion] is very talented and very well coached," Good Counsel coach Bob Milloy said after addressing his team. "I'm thankful to get out of here alive. I told these guys, ‘This is a bowl game, this is your game. You guys enjoy it.' Our season starts next week when we play DeMatha."

Red Lion Christian (2-3) played its first game of the season in Delaware after traveling to Maryland and Ohio to take on high-profile teams as the Lions look to build their reputation nationally. First-year Red Lion coach Dwayne Thomas reiterated after the game that he knows taking their lumps is part of the learning process to becoming a national power.

"I thought my guys stepped up to the challenge," Thomas said. "I'm not upset at all. I know when you play the best, you're going to have to bring your best every day. You can't play for two quarters, you have to play for four. That's the lesson we learned tonight." Caravel (Bear, Del.) 31, St. Elizabeth (Wilmington, Del.) 19
An interception by junior defensive back Emmanuel Simms sealed Caravel Academy's win in the second game of the Flash Training Football Classic on Saturday night at Delaware Stadium.

Trailing 31-19, St. Elizabeth (1-2) recovered its own onside kick with 7:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, and with momentum on its side began to put together an impressive drive. But then on third-and-long, Vikings junior quarterback Christian Gwynn rolled to his left and, under pressure, tried to force a pass that Simms jumped in front of to wrap up the unbeaten Buccaneers' fourth win of the season.

Caravel Academy quarterback Jon Welch engineered the Bucs' offense through the air and on the ground, finishing with 164 passing yards and 36 rushing.
"It was an awesome feeling, especially after last year when we had such a bad year," a hoarse Welch said after the game. "It was all about heart for us. Everyone played completely unselfish. We were going crazy in the locker room and screaming on the sideline. It was a crazy atmosphere playing here [at Delaware Stadium]."

Also contributing to Caravel's offensive effort was junior fullback Pierce Ripanti, who rushed for 72 yards. Junior linebacker George Murray led the defense with a 28-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Glasgow (Newark, Del.) 26, Charter of Wilmington 24
It took a last-minute drive and successful 2-point conversion to lift Glasgow to a nail-biting 26-24 win over Charter of Wilmington at Delaware Stadium Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the inaugural Flash Training Football Classic.
Glasgow (2-2) held a 16-7 halftime lead, but Charter (1-3) rallied in the second half and held a 24-18 lead late in the fourth quarter.

Senior tight end Ivory Drewery's first career reception was a 10-yard touchdown with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 24. Glasgow coach Shannon Riley elected to go for a 2-point conversion and it paid off when sophomore running back Kwasi Amponsah barrelled his way into the end zone to clinch the win for the Dragons.

"It was a battle that came down to the end," said junior quarterback Khari Ngozi, who sat out the game due to an injury. "We had faith in our guys and pulled through."

Jon Buzby is a sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and on the broadcast team for the 1290AM The Ticket High School Football and Basketball Games of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.