SEVERN, Md. — Archbishop Spalding hosted Gilman in their first home game of the season Friday, with both teams entering the matchup after slow starts to their year.
Both the Cavaliers and the Greyhounds lost their first two games of the season before each picking up a win. Spalding won their first conference game last week, while Gilman had the week off, making this their conference opener.
The game drew notable spectators, including six-time Super Bowl champion and North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick and former Maryland Terp and Baltimore Raven Torrey Smith.
Neither team scored in the first quarter, but Spalding broke through on the first play of the second quarter when Ahmad Prettyman scored on a touchdown run to give the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead.
The next Cavaliers drive featured a dangerous sequence when quarterback Brian Snowden Jr. threw a ball that was caught and immediately fumbled by Roger Bredenkamp. Gilman's Marcus Turpin recovered deep in Greyhound territory. Gilman was unable to move the ball and punted on fourth down, only to have the kick blocked out of the back of the end zone for a safety, extending Spalding's lead to 9-0.
The Cavaliers needed less than a minute to score on their next possession. On a play that looked like a handoff, Snowden threw it to Keith Miller, who spun out of a pair of tackles and scored a touchdown. Spalding led 16-0 at halftime.
Late in the third quarter, Snowden rolled right and hit Andrew Hall Jr. with a throw on the run. The Cavaliers never allowed the Greyhounds to get close, winning their home opener 32-0 and improving to 2-0 in conference play.
First-year Spalding head coach RB Green said there is still plenty to learn from the performance despite the shutout win.
"I was a little bit nervous about us, the level of focus, and it showed early that we were a little bit taken aback, not quite ready for the environment I think. The thing I have to learn is you got to prepare also for the home environment. And this is unlike any other place that we play at. And so I got do a better job as a coach preparing our team to play in an environment such as this at home where it should be an advantage to us. I think this time we were a little too excited coming out." Green said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.