As soon as DeMatha finished lacing up their shoes they got a healthy dose of what they would be getting served for most of the rest of the night. Gonzaga looked upon the famed DeMatha Stags under the harvest moon and kicked them right in the nuts. The Purple Eagles elected to receive the opening kickoff and made an energetic return in exchange for prime field position. It only took them a few minutes to score from there. DeMatha didn’t take very much time off the clock after a three-and-out, and then Gonzaga scored again on an even longer drive the next time.
The Stags tried to regain their composure on their next drive but then quarterback Tyler Lenhart threw a pick-six. Suddenly, DeMatha was down 19-0 at the end of the first quarter at the PG Sports & Learning Complex. DeMatha would eventually threaten the red zone with 7:00 to go in the first half, but their hopes were dashed on a dropped pass for a crucial fourth down conversion. Gonzaga freshman quarterback Caleb Williams played well enough to leave the Stags wondering what was going on and the score would hold up until halftime.
DeMatha was really lucky that the 19 point lead they gave up wasn’t worse. Gonzaga set the tone for what the 2017 WCAC football season has in store. The Stags looked the part of a prime candidate for upset: uncomfortable and timid. Gonzaga was the conference foe that came to Prince George’s County in 2015 and bullied the nationally ranked Stags in a similar fashion on ESPN. It always seems like Gonzaga and DeMatha are taking turns kicking each other in the gonads, destroying each other with shock and awe, in full public view. Penalties and miscues on both sides ultimately tamped down the score total, but anyone could see that this was painful.
Gonzaga came out for the second half with even more Whipass. It was like those old cans of Whupass, but they were quicker. The Purple Eagles generated another stop on defense and walloped the Stags with another quick score to go up 26-0. DeMatha just couldn’t move in this contest and they were completely frozen on offense until a change at quarterback and a fourth-quarter bomb. Eric Najarian finally hooked up with Jermaine Johnson to put the Stags on the board and he started an ultimately hopeless, but what was then still just an improbable rally of sorts. Anthony Toro caught another deep strike, and Myles Miree found paydirt soon after but the damage was done.
Nothing is going to come easily in WCAC, and the Stags have demonstrated that they have already learned the hard lesson from this contest. DeMatha showed a lot of heart for staying in the fight and for never quitting, but they couldn’t make the impossible recovery. It all ended on a sack before Najarian could even send a prayer to Our Lady of Victory. Tonight the DeMatha Stags got kicked in the nuts, in the old #TheOleKickInTheNutsGame with Gonzaga, and they deserve all the credit. Caleb Williams managed the game wonderfully and the Purple Eagle’s defense held their own.
Trap game after homecoming or not, DeMatha should remember that’s how it goes sometimes in The Ole Kick In The Nuts Game. The last two all-male schools from the old Metro Conference just don’t like each other. They take turns kicking each other in the nuts but nobody ever quits or calls it just a silly game. Yep, this time its football but they’ll be at it soon enough again. We’d prefer to believe that Gonzaga didn’t even get the cakewalk they deserved in the end, barely hanging on for the 26 – 20 final score. It hurts just the same though, but you probably surmised that.
The Chronicles of Six 