By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Manager, Washington D.C.
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The result, the statistics and even the post-game hugs and photo-ops may get lost deep in the history books — or, rather, encyclopedia — of the oldest Catholic high school football rivalry in the country, dating back to 1910.
But the players who took part and those who donned St. John’s scarlet and Gonzaga purple over the past decades — many of whom wore their now-ragged jerseys to the game on Saturday afternoon — will likely have the moments and images of the 91st edition of this historic match-up forever seared into their memories.
St. John’s countered a two-touchdown, first-half comeback by Gonzaga with a touchdown just before half time, capturing pivotal momentum at the break en route to a 27-14 win at Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., marking the Cadets fifth victory in a row over the Purple Eagles.
With the win, St. John’s cut Gonzaga’s all-time lead in the series to 40-37-3.
“As everyone knows, this is a tradition,” Cadet junior defensive tackle Andre Monroe said. “People that we don’t even know from years and years ago come out just to watch this game. It feels good just to do it for them, because it means so much to them, especially the alumni.”
After the first quarter, it appeared as if those alumni could make it an early evening.
St. John’s junior running back Chuck Brown carried the ball nine times for 97 yards and both Cadet touchdowns in the opening period as the scarlet-and-gray opened a 14-0 lead without much Eagle protest.
“My coaches, in practice, kept telling me I needed to step up,” said Brown, who ultimately rushed for 218 yards and three scores on 26 attempts. “I stepped up in this game, right before the playoffs.”
But right before half time, the Purple Eagles used a six-play scoring drive cut the Cadet lead in half, and sophomore safety and quarterback Kevin Hogan translated an interception into an eventual one-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
St. John’s then turned to its three-minute offense and Brown for the go-ahead, three-yard score with :22 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The Cadets carried the impetus over seamlessly into the second half. St. John’s held Gonzaga to 73 total yards after half time, forced two interceptions and, most critically, kept the Purple Eagles off the scoreboard.
“I think the first thing we did was settle down,” Cadet Coach Joe Patterson said. “They’ve got a good passing game and they got us for a couple big plays.
“This was everything we expected it would be. We expected it to be an intense game and we expected it to be a game we would need to play well to win.”
Added Monroe, whose Cadets held Eagle senior Alan Elder to minus-2 rushing yards in the second half after he had gained 100 yards in the first half: “The first thing we did was calm down. We came together and calmed down. Everybody did their job and when everybody does their job, things like that happen.”
While Gonzaga’s season ends, St. John’s qualifies for the WCAC playoffs, which begin next weekend. They open, though, with perennial power DeMatha at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Center in Landover, Md., on Friday.
The Stags have won 13 league titles in Coach Bill McGregor‘s 27-year tenure, including the last five in a row. They are 63-6 in that span.
“It’s going to take the same thing that we had today in the second half [to win],” said Monroe, whose Cadets fell to the Stags last weekend, 34-6. “Good communication, everybody doing their job and we need to come out with some fire, just like this.
“When you come out with fire in your ****, man, there’s no telling what you can do.”
Added Patterson, with nervous grin: “We definitely have to bring our A-game.”
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Gonzaga 0 14 0 0 — 14
St. John’s 14 7 3 3 — 27
1Q – SJ – Brown 15 run (Elsasser kick) – 8:14
1Q – SJ – Brown 28 run (Elsasser kick) – 0:20
2Q – GZ – Neville 35 from Hogan (Colas kick) – 9:36
2Q – GZ – Hogan 1 run (Colas kick) – 4:53
2Q – SJ – Brown 3 run (Elsasser kick) – 0:22
3Q – SJ – Elsasser 32 FG – 7:01
4Q – SJ – Elsasser 27 FG – 3:29
Individual Leaders
Passing
GZ – Hogan – 8-for-27, 124 yards, TD, 2 INT. SJ – Thomas – 1-for-2, 26 yards, INT; Konieczka – 2-for-5, 9 yards.
Rushing
GZ – Elder – 18 car, 98 yards, TD; Hogan – 4 car, 7 yards, TD. SJ – Brown – 26 car, 218 yards, TD; Thomas – 15 car, 98 yards; Mziray – 1 car, 12 yards.
Receiving
GZ – Neville – 2 rec, 49 yards, TD; Beauboeuf – 2 rec, 28 yards; Johnston – 2 rec, 27 yards. SJ – Wright – 1 rec, 26 yards; Thomas – 2 rec, 9 yards.
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