‘FIGHTING FOR A BERTH’ |
After an 0-3 start, St. Paul’s takes a four-game winning streak and motivational memories of two straight losses into Friday night’s game at two-time defending MIAA B Conference champion Archbishop Spalding. |
| by Lem Satterfield Scott Matthews, a receiver-defensive back for St. Paul’s, recalled being “disappointed” after losing the first three games of this season. But he felt “embarassed” upon reflecting on the memories of what it was like losing to Archbishop Spalding last year. For it appears that Matthews has more vivid memories of a 42-0 loss to then-visiting Archbishop Spalding on Oct. 20 — nearly a year to the day from this Friday night’s game against the homestanding Cavaliers — than he does of this year’s trio of season-opening losses. “Obviously, nobody likes to lose. Losing the opening part of the season is not something I had been used to after four years of playing at St. Paul’s,” said the 6-foot, 190-pound, Johns Hopkins-bound lacrosse player, referring to losses to Calvert Hall, Perry Hall and MIAA B Conference rival Archbishop Curley by 20-3, 21-14, and 16-0, respectively. “I remember being on the sidelines against [Spalding] two years ago, when we played them down to the wire and lost [14-13] on an extra point, so that was really hard to stomach,” Matthews said. “Last year, we tried to use that as motivation. They were obviously very hyped up and very talented. They wound up blowing us out, 42-0, which was one of the hardest losses I’ve ever had to take in all of my years of playing sports. Losing by that much is just embarassing. It really hurts you as a competitor.” But losing is the farthest thing from the Crusaders’ collective minds entering Friday night’s game, having won four straight league games against Cardinal Gibbons, St. Vincent Pallotti, Severn and John Carroll. Not only do the Crusaders (4-3, 4-1) have a winning mindset, but, more importantly, says their fifth-year coach, Dave Dolch, the mental capacity to dig down deep and truly compete, and, if need be, win a close game against the Cavaliers (4-2, 4-0), who have a 16-game winning streak against the MIAA’s B Conference. “We’ve seen Severn and Cardinal Gibbons play these guys really tough, and we know that we can play them tough,” said Dolch, in his fifth season with the Crusaders. “Two years ago, they got their streak going, they beat us, 14-13, when our kicker hit the top of the crossbar with 35 seconds left. And we have 19 seniors who lost to them last year and have that fresh on their minds,” Dolch said. “We took a physical beating. We have a lot of respect for what Coach Mike Whittles has done over the past three years, and I think our football team is going to come out and play really hard.” Archbishop Spalding entered the season as the odds-on favorite to three-peat, albeit, with a challenge from an Archbishop Curley Friars’ program which returned to the league after two years out of it. Like the Crusaders, the Friars have won a league-high four MIAA B Conference crowns. Yet very few observers — other than Dolch and his players — considered St. Paul’s to be an early favorite to be in the mix of a nine-team race whose title game will be played between the two programs with the best records at the end of the regular season. “We knew that those teams [Cavaliers and Friars] were the teams to beat, but we kind of like being the underdogs. St. Mary’s and Spalding are 4-0, and we’re 4-1, and Curley is 3-1. So we’ve got to win this game to stay in the fight for the championship,” said Peter Smyth, a 6-1, 195- But a lot has changed about the Crusaders — mostly on the inside — since they were losing early on. The changes began on Sept. 17, said senior linebacker, Mike Shipley. That was the date of the first Monday of practice following the loss to Archbishop Curley. “It was definitely disappointing coming off of those three losses, but we all kind of regrouped under Coach Dolch,” said Shipley, the leading tackler on a Crusaders’ defense that has allowed less than nine points in its past four wins. “We talked about how, even though we lost to Curley, we had forced a lot of turnovers and, I thought, stopped them on defense real well,” Shipley said. “Then, we got our first win [over Cardinal Gibbons], and we’ve been doing well ever since. Now, we’re just trying to keep playing together, and to keep going with the momentum that we have.” One of the big adjustments has come with the offensive line as well as the receivers, said senior quarterback Brian Taaffe, particularly where Matthews, junior Lance Roberts (5-10, 175), senior Jake Fradkin (6-1, 195) and, on occasion, senior Colby Roane and sophomore Zack Linkous have all shown improvement. Since the 0-3 start, Taaffe has thrown seven TDs and one interception in the past four victories, raising his totals to 601 passing yards with a 45 percent completion ratio. Junior quarterback Troy Jones has also contributed, with 186 passing yards and a touchdown. Fradkin leads the receivers with 19 receptions for 290 yards and two TDs; Roane has 14 receptions for 206 yards and three TDs; and Roberts, 14 catches for 201 yards and one TD. Senior running back Chris Wilson is the top rusher with 158 yards and three touchdowns; Tyler Feeley has five field goals and has been good on 13 of 14 extra points. “I don’t think we were overmatched by the teams we lost to, but our offensive line was sort of inexperienced and that was a little bit of a growing pain,” said Taaffe, a 6-4, 220-pounder. “We’ve spent a lot more time working on timing, three-step drops, the short passing game. Our guys have really taken it to heart to try to work on catching the ball to the best of their abilities. As the season has gone along, they’ve gotten much better.” Roberts is the speedster, also returning punts. “He’s been a consistent guy for us all season,” said Taaffe, calling Fradkin, “our H-back — that hybrid running back-receiver-fullback.” “If you had told me in the beginning of the season that Jake would be our go-to guy, with his hands, he would not have been my first choice,” Taaffe said. “But he’s put in an extreme amount of time working on his hands and his route-running.” Roane, a catcher in baseball, “is our other slot, and he’s always had good hands and good route running,” Taaffe said of Roane, a 5-5, 155-pounder. “As they’ve gotten better, it’s given me a little more confidence in throwing the ball, having a comfort level in where I can put the ball without necessarily looking at it all the way through,” Taaffe said. “Just having the comfort level for where they’re going to be. We’ve come a long way because of the dedication our receivers have shown to try to make it work almost to perfection.”
Other factors in the game could be Feeley, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior placekicker. Or the return from injury of sophomore playmaker Tim Adams, a 5-9, 175-pounder who “score touchdowns in four of our last five games.” “Over the last four or five years, we’ve competed for the league championship, and we certainly feel that we can be competitive against anybody in the state,” said Dolch. “Against Curley, we showed we could play defense against any of the best teams in the area. We we learned is that, if we can find some offense, and do better on special teams, we can play against anybody. And on Friday night, I think with us and Archbishop Spalding, it’s going to be a huckuva game.” MIAA B Conference champs since the league’s inception 2005 2004 2003 1999 1998 1997 1996 B Conference/Gold 2002 2001 2000 B Conference/Silver 2002 2001 2000 |
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