The anticipation for Friday's high school football showdown between No. 1 DeMatha and No. 2 St. John's really began months ago, once news began to spread that the Cadets were adding several high-profile transfers from Gilman and a towering offensive tackle from Florida to their roster.
To DeMatha, winners of the past three Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles, it upped the ante in what has been an intense — but one-sided — rivalry on the gridiron.
"We've definitely been looking forward to this game," Stags quarterback Beau English said this week. "Seeing that during the offseason, that really just gave us motivation to work harder and come into the season with a challenge in front of us. We knew that coming in, and it really just brought us closer together."
The balance of power in the Washington area’s top league will be on the line Friday at the Prince George’s County Sports and Learning Complex. St. John’s is looking for its first win over DeMatha since 1994, a streak new Coach Joe Casamento is trying to play down ahead of a hyped matchup between two nationally ranked teams.
Nobody on the current roster was even born when the Cadets last beat DeMatha, and the way they navigated one of the toughest schedules in the country also suggests this group is different than its predecessors.
St. John’s has been all over the country during the first month of the regular season, and its only loss came to IMG Academy (Fla.), a team ranked No. 2 in the country. More than the past, Casamento said, it’s the challenges of playing such a grueling schedule that have been a burden this week.
Some of his players are still making up schoolwork from those missed travel days and the coaching staff can't focus as much on the fundamentals while preparing to face top-notch competition on a weekly basis. St. John's began WCAC play last Saturday with a resounding 39-22 win over then-No. 5 Good Counsel.
But Casamento is emphasizing the long view during a week in which one rivalry seems to be dominating the conversation.
“I love how hard we play, but we’re not playing well yet,” he said. “In this league, you have to win twice against whoever the top four is. I don’t get excited for a game against Gonzaga or DeMatha other than the fact that if we don’t win them, we can’t be a champion.”
Unlike St. John's, which hasn't won the WCAC since 1989, DeMatha has rarely been challenged in its opening five games of the season. But the emergence of tailbacks like senior Khory Spruill, sophomore Myles Miree and freshman Marshawn Lloyd, who have all rushed for more than 100 yards in a game already, has helped offset the loss of injured senior Anthony McFarland.
“We started as a young team, but now as guys are getting more experience, they’re learning very quickly and they’re really picking things up very well,” English said. “I think this team’s in a good spot.”
What’s most remarkable, though, is how similar DeMatha and St. John’s are this season in terms of personnel and philosophy.
Both feature ample Division I talent, imposing lines on both sides of the ball, powerful rushing attacks and experienced senior quarterbacks in English and Maryland recruit Kasim Hill that can spread the ball around through the air.
The rainy forecast could affect their game plans, but it shouldn’t ruin the drama.
“We want to be elite and be great, and DeMatha is. They’re great. They’ve got a tradition,” Casamento said. “It’s kind of why we played some of those teams early on. If you want to be great, you’ve got to go play great teams and find out what they do, how they do it and how close you are.
“Here we are, the new kid on the block, trying to be a champion.”
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