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2010 WCAC Championship

by MoCoFootball Staff on 11/21/10

Mike Cornejo for MoCoFootball.com

The 2010 WCAC Championship

Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 2:00 PM

Our Lady of Good Counsel Falcons (9-2) vs. DeMatha Catholic Stags (9-2)

The battle between two of Maryland's finest and most talent-loaded private school football programs will kick it off at 2:00 PM today at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

This is the 7th consecutive year that these two teams will meet in the championship game. DeMatha (Prince George's Co / Hyattsville, Md) won the regular season meeting, 31-28 on October 8.

Last year, Good Counsel won the WCAC title, 14-7. It was the Falcons' first title having lost to their arch-rival for five consecutive meetings in the title game. The Stags had won it for six straight years coming into 2009.

2009: Coach Bob Milloy and the Falcons upends the 6-time defending champions, DeMatha

The winner of the regular season usually lost the title game (and vice versa). It has held true for the past three years. If this trend holds true, then the pressure is on Good Counsel to win it.

The Falcons are coached by Bob Milloy. Milloy is one of the most prominent figures in Montgomery County football history having won titles at Springbrook (6 titles) and Sherwood (2 titles). He has head coached in almost twenty Maryland state championship and WCAC title games. This is his 10th season at Good Counsel having arrived in 2001.

DeMatha's Bill McGregor has been the head coach for the Stags since 1982. He has guided the Hyattsville school to 19 WCAC titles including 8 in the last decade.

	DeMatha	Good Counsel	Winner	Difference
2004 regular season	21	31	Good Counsel	10 points
2004 Championship	30	29	DeMatha	1 point
2005 regular season	22	21	DeMatha	1 point
2005 Championship	21	20	DeMatha	1 point
2006 regular season	42	13	DeMatha	29 points
2006 Championship	20	14	DeMatha	6 points
2007 regular season	24	28	Good Counsel	4 points
2007 Championship	12	7	DeMatha	5 points
2008 regular season	21	42	Good Counsel	21 points
2008 Championship	34	7	DeMatha	27 points
2009 regular season	24	21	DeMatha	3 points
2009 Championship	7	14	Good Counsel	7 points
2010 regular season	31	28	DeMatha	3 points
2010 Championship	3	42	Good Counsel	39 points

Here is how their October 8 meeting went: (via goodcounselfootball.com)

DeMatha got the ball first, but the Falcons defense held, led by a sack by Joe Rosenblatt. GC was also forced to punt on their first possession. The first quarter ended 0-0, but DeMatha was threatening in the red zone.

On the first play of the 2^nd quarter, the Stags took a 7-0 lead. Soon after, the Falcons fumbled deep in their own territory, allowing DM to score easily and take a 14-0 early lead. Kendall Fuller got GC back in the game quickly, with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to cut the DM lead to 14-6. Good Counsel forced DeMatha to punt on their next possession, and Blake Countess almost took it to the house, but was stopped after a 55-yard return. GC took advantage of the Countess return, converting on a 28-yard TD pass from Zach Dancel to Stefon Diggs. DM still led 14-13 and increased the lead to 21-13 with another score before the half.

GC opened the second half with the ball, looking to cut into the DeMatha lead. The Falcons offense mixed it up well during this series, using a combination of run and pass plays, including several runs by Dancel. Dancel connected with Diggs for a 15-yard touchdown to complete the drive. The Falcons went for two on the conversion to tie the score at 21, and were successful as Dancel hit Diggs with a short pass.

With the score tied 21-21, Good Counsel looked to have the momentum after stopping DeMatha on their next possession. However, the Stags defense held and DeMatha hit pay dirt when a rollout pass play turned into a 71-yard touchdown. It appeared that there was a penalty flag on the touchdown play, but the referee picked up the flag. Again GC had to play from behind, 28-21. Dancel found Diggs downfield on a pass play for a big gain. Following a bizarre sequence of penalties, Dancel narrowly avoided a DM defender on a roll-out to the left, but was able to maintain his balance and throw an accurate TD pass to Diggs to tie the game again at 28. Mike Nicastro saved a possible touchdown return on the kickoff. DeMatha took advantage of their excellent field position, cashing in with a 33-yard field goal to take a 31-28 lead with 1:36 left in the game. Good Counsel was able to get into DM territory, when Stefon Diggs turned a routine flip pass into a big gain, cutting back and forth down the field.

Who to look for... (as mentioned by our forum members)

DeMatha
#2 Sam Lebbie 6-2 215, LB, SR offer: Maryland
#3 Jordan Lomax 5-10 185, ATH, SR UVA commit
#5 Darien Harris 6-1 210, LB, SR Michigan State commit
#6 Delonte Morton 6-1 260, ATH, SR Maryland commit
#10 E.J. Levenberry, jr 6-3 223, LB, SO "Freakish Talent"
#11 Jestin Hamm 6-1 175, WR, SR
#21 Jacob Siwicki 6-2 218, RB, SR
#23 Michael Williams 5-10 175, DB, SR offers: Maryland, Illini...
#32 Michael Moore 6-4 245, DE, JR offers: UVA, Tennessee
#51 Dan Collura 6-5 260, OL, JR
#56 Kendall Patterson 6-2 272, DT, SR offers: Duke, Michigan State, NC State, Wisconsin...
#57 Darien Cooper 6-3 275, DT, SR
#65 Cyrus Kouandjio 6-7 322, OT, SR "Top Linemen in the Country"
#71 Kelby Johnson 6-8 285, OT, SR
#84 Brent Wilkerson 6-4 245, DE, JR offer: UVA
#86 Sam Collura 6-3 250, TE, SR Pitt commit

Good Counsel
#1 Blake Countess 5-11 180, DB, SR
#2 Stefon Diggs 6-1 185, ATH, JR (2012 ESPN 150 best player on the field every week)
#3 Zach Dancel 6-0 195, QB, SR offer: New Mexico
#4 Wes Brown 6-0 190, RB, JR
#5 Kendall Fuller 6-0 175, DB, SO offers: UVA, VA Tech
#6 Dorian O'Daniel 6-1 185, RB, SO offers: Maryland, Ohio, UVA, Pitt
#9 Vince Croce 6-3 270, LB, SR
#50 Roderick Chungong 6-3 240, DE, JR
#52 Joe Rosenblatt 6-4 245, OL, SR offers: Georgetown, Monmouth, UNH…
#72 Mike Maderas 6-6 270, OT, SR offers: Duke, GA Tech, Maryland, Stanford, WVU...
#64 Ryan Watson 6-3 260, OT/NG, JR

related:

67% of MoCo Pick 'Em fans say GC wins. Average score: Falcons 24 Stags 22
Montgomery Marty's Prediction: Good Counsel 33 DeMatha 28
Gazette: WCAC Final DeMatha vs Good Counsel
[That other website]: "WCAC considers steps to address the dominance of DeMatha, Good Counsel on football field"
[That other website]: (video) WCAC Title Game preview below

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