Playing 'til the final whistle
High school football teams and their fans need a glass-half-full attitude and a lot of fortitude.
I've thought that ever since I was a cheerleader at Shepherdstown High School in West Virginia, where our football team usually managed one win a season -- if we were lucky. It was the same with our basketball team. We were a very small school, 350 students from grades seven through 12. My graduating class had just 49 kids, and I don't think half of them were boys.
I hadn't thought about it in a long time, but the memory came back this weekend after watching McDonogh play against Loyola Saturday afternoon, losing 55-14, and then peeking at the Eagles' upcoming schedule.
McDonogh was 2-2 before Saturday, ranked No. 12 in The Baltimore Sun's poll and in need of a win. Instead, the Eagles -- like every other team that has played Loyola this season -- got clobbered.
Still, McDonogh's players were still trying at the end of the game and their fans were still cheering (as much as they could, given the situation). And the Eagles' coach said he was proud of his team, and should have been.
"Our kids didn't quit," said coach Dom Damico. "Our kids scraped and played hard all the way -- and that's how I'll grade the film."
McDonogh plays in the MIAA, a league that is considered one of the toughest from top to bottom in the state.
"It's the beauty of this league," said Loyola coach Brian Abbott, whose team is 6-0. "This league is just tough. We could get beat in every game we play. In this league you know any Saturday be ready to play or you're going to get beat."
Saturday, every mistake McDonogh made Loyola turned into a touchdown and every mistake Loyola made McDonogh turned into touchdowns. The problem was Loyola didn't make many mistakes.
"They're like a Division III college team," said Damico. "We can't play at that level right now."
McDonogh is a developing team and has a schedule Damico estimates to be the "second-toughest in the state."
If it hadn't been before Saturday, it sure became so then. But the Eagles have to put the Dons behind them in a hurry, because sixth-ranked Mt. St. Joseph is next, followed by the well-respected Georgetown Prep (3-2) on consecutive Saturdays. Then come St. Paul's (3-2) and Archbishop Curley (4-2) the two Fridays after that. And, finally, the Eagles wrap up their season Saturday, Nov. 8, against No. 8 Gilman (4-1).
To some, it might look like a nightmare waiting to happen. But high school coaches, their players and their fans are tough and resilient.
"Our defensive line is weak up front because we don't have enough players at that (the top) level," said Damico. "But they're scrappy players and they didn't quit (against Loyola). What we need to do is go into the next game and build on that."
I love the attitude. I love the effort. It is a big part of what makes high school sports so appealing. Everyone can't be like unbeaten River Hill and Loyola, but everyone can relate to McDonogh and strive for the perfection of those top teams.
