Eagles win with Qbwood
Young team soars with senior calling signals, advances to meet Gilman again
Just three weeks after being on the short end of a 48-12 rout in its annual battle with Gilman, a rapidly maturing McDonogh squad will get another crack at the top-ranked Greyhounds when the rivals meet next weekend in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference semifinal.
The suddenly confident and fifth-seeded Eagles earned the right to a rematch by trouncing fourth-seeded Loyola, 28-7, in the first round of the playoffs Saturday.
In pickingupjust its thirdwinof the season, McDonogh (3-7, 2-4 conference) proved its young talent is just beginning to blossom.
The change in team dynamics, though, began when Travis Wood was inserted into the lineup at quarterback and the senior helped engineer a 24-0 victory over Mount St. Joseph. While he also was in charge during the loss to Gilman, Wood bounced back against Loyola (5-5, 2-3) in a big way.
“We decided a couple of weeks ago to go with the senior,” McDonogh coach Dom Damico said. “We had a talented freshman [Jansen Durham] starting, and we feel he’s going to be a very good player. We just felt a senior might be able to handle the pressure a little bit better. And he’s been handling the offense perfectly. I’m really proud ofTravis.”
Against Loyola, Wood completed a 32-yard pass to senior wide-out Taysean Scott to set up junior Syl Brown’s 4-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ first scoring drive.
Senior Jabari Weems’ interception — the first of four by McDonogh— at the Dons’ 30-yard line gave the Eaglesanopportunity to add to their lead, and they cashed in on another 4-yard burst from Brown to take a 14-0 advantage.
Wood’s 16-yard strike to Scott increased the margin to 22-0 before Loyola responded with a 40-yard pass from junior quarterback Danny Cameron to junior wide-out Trevor Janoskie for the Dons’ lone score.
However, Wood teamed up withWeemsona24-yardpass play to putMcDonogh ahead 28-7 with 3:28 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles let their defense finish the job against Loyola, which advanced as far as the McDonogh 1-yard line in the second half but could not score.
“We gave them too many shortfield [chances] in the first half, and then we couldn’t take advantage [of good field position] in the second half,” said first-year Loyola coach Brant Hall, whose team topped the Eagles, 21-6, during the regular season. “But you have to givecredit toMcDonogh’s defense. They stacked the box and put a lot of pressure on Danny. They have a group of young players, but they’re really talented.”