Ask Gilman linebacker Jim Poggi how he feels about playing DeMatha and he needs a few seconds to put his feelings into words.

The annual Gilman-DeMatha football game has turned into an intense rivalry over the last 10 years, one that the Greyhounds look forward to even though they will be the underdogs when the game kicks off Saturday at 1 p.m. at Gilman, after being postponed from Friday night.

What’s it like to play against a team that’s often No. 1 in Maryland and this week is No. 23 in USA Today’s Super 25?

“It’s really hard to explain,” said Poggi a senior, who has played in two previous DeMatha games. “They are an amazing team every year. They have such great players every year and, they play so hard and they’re so tough. It’s a fun game to play, because of the intensity. If you’ve got 10 notches, the intensity is at a 12.

:Loyola and all of our league games are really high too, it’s just DeMatha is always highly-ranked in the east, highly-ranked nationally. This week, USA Today came out with them at 23, so it’s more of a national-setting type of feeling . When we play in our league, ti’s more like we do this for Gilman.”

For Gilman, The Baltimore Sun’s No. 2 team behind defending MIAA A Conference champ Loyola, the game is a chance to test themselves against the best said Greyhounds coach Biff Poggi. Gilman is ranked No. 4 in the MdVarsity State Media Poll, which has DeMatha No. 1.
Jim Poggi agrees with his dad.

“ I love it because, again, it’s high intensity the whole time and when you play against teams that are, skillwise, absolutely unbelievable, it gives you a good gauge of where you are. If you play a bunch of teams you can easily beat, you don’t really know how good you are going into league competition.”

DeMatha leads the series 6-4, but the teams have split the last four meetings. Last season, the Greyhounds pulled out a victory in the fourth quarter when Darius Jennings broke a 58-yard touchdown run to clinch a 21-14 victory.

“That game was so close and both teams played so well it was almost a shame there had to be a loser in that one,” said Jim Poggi, “because I respect all the guys on their team.... We’re not playing against a bunch of jerks on the other side of the ball. They’re a bunch of nice guys who love playing football and it’s great, because it’s a nice, clean game.”

Poggi, who has committed to play at Iowa next fall along with teammate Anthony Ferguson, has struck up a friendship with DeMatha running back Marcus Coker, who has also committed to Iowa. They talk on Facebook a few times a week, said Poggi. Some other players have also become friends with some of the Stags.

So is there any banter about who’s going to win?

“A little bit,” said Poggi with a laugh, “but it’s all in good fun. Especially on my side, I don’t want to say too much.”