McDonogh pulls away from Loyola Blakefield; Concordia Prep rallies to stun Calvert Hall

TOWSON, Md. — It was a busy Friday night in MIAA football, with McDonogh rolling past Loyola Blakefield in the second half and Concordia Prep mounting a late comeback to stun Calvert Hall.

McDonogh entered its matchup at Loyola Blakefield with just one loss, and the Eagles struck almost immediately.

After the Dons punted on their opening possession, Matthew Tees returned the kick 82 yards for a touchdown to give McDonogh a 7-0 lead before its offense had even taken the field.

When the Eagles' offense did get its opportunity, it drove to the Loyola 5-yard line, where Jackson Herbert connected with CJ Davis off a play-action fake to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

Loyola Blakefield responded with a four-yard touchdown run from Keegan Wengert. The Dons then created another opportunity on defense when Woodrow Weedon knocked the ball out of Jamir Greene's hands and Samuel Lavin recovered the fumble.

Carlos Spencer quickly capitalized, finding Logan Furst for a 44-yard touchdown. McDonogh blocked the extra point, preserving a 14-13 advantage.

The Eagles answered with a 23-yard touchdown run from Basil Oshegbo, but the Dons weren't done. Spencer scrambled 15 yards for another Loyola touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, sending McDonogh into halftime with a narrow 21-19 lead.

The second half was an entirely different story.

Herbert scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak before the McDonogh defense delivered another touchdown. Jameson Exinor tipped a Spencer pass at the line, and Tees grabbed it before it hit the ground and returned the interception 33 yards for a score.

Herbert later found Carlos Ferguson for an 11-yard touchdown, and Tees added a 25-yard touchdown run. That completed an unusual three-phase scoring performance for Tees, who found the end zone on special teams, defense and offense.

McDonogh shut out Loyola Blakefield in the second half and won 56-19. The Eagles improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while the Dons fell to 5-2 and 1-2.

Concordia Prep rallies past Calvert Hall

A few miles away, weather delayed the start of Concordia Prep's game at Calvert Hall by about 40 minutes.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cardinals broke through early in the second when Oliver Knoll connected with Eian Schrader for a touchdown.

Atlas Gore followed with a six-yard touchdown run on Calvert Hall's next possession, extending the lead to 14-0 midway through the quarter.

Concordia Prep answered before halftime. John Redman scored on a four-yard run with less than two minutes remaining to cut the deficit to 14-7.

Calvert Hall tried to add to its lead before the break, but Elijah Glass intercepted Knoll. The Saints turned the takeaway into a short field goal and entered halftime trailing 14-10.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, leaving Concordia Prep four points behind entering the fourth.

With less than two minutes remaining, the Saints faced fourth-and-14 from their own 47-yard line. Justin Dixon went deep to JJ King, who made the catch, broke multiple tackles and scored on a 53-yard touchdown to give Concordia Prep its first lead with 1:51 remaining.

Calvert Hall drove into position to attempt a game-tying field goal, but the kick was blocked, sealing Concordia Prep's 17-14 comeback victory.

"It doesn't matter what the scoreboard says, it doesn't matter what's going on, doesn't matter what the situation is in the locker room, out of the locker room, down 14, it doesn't matter," Concordia Prep head coach Joe Battaglia said. "We're Concordia Prep. We're just going to fight and we're going to fight you to the end."

Battaglia said the comeback can help build confidence in a young program.
"It helps the belief," Battaglia said. "We're a young team, a young program, new to the A conference still sort of, it's just the belief that if you do what we teach you to do, play your butt off as hard as you can, we're always going to have a shot."

Concordia Prep improved to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in conference play. Calvert Hall fell to 3-4 and 1-2.