Arundel High’s football sidelines struck a curiously jovial demeanor as it prepared to retake the field for the second half of Friday’s home contest.
To the casual observer, that cheerful mood would have seemed out of place as the host Wildcats found themselves on the wrong end of a 36-0 score with the daunting task of that large deficit and a running clock in their quest to get back into the contest.
Stranger still, smiles on the faces of coaches and players alike continued even after the final score showed Arundel had suffered a 50-0 loss, ending the Anne Arundel County program’s regular season.
Feeling confused? Don’t be.
While losing was not something that Arundel coach Jack Walsh and his Wildcats enjoyed or accepted before, during, or after the contest, knowing Friday’s opponent, top-ranked St. Frances Academy, helped place the lopsided result into proper perspective.
The undefeated Panthers, ranked No. 2 nationally by USA Today and MaxPreps have traveled nearly 12,000 miles this season to play some of the country’s best teams.
“It was awesome,” said Walsh, whose squad had an opening when Delaware’s Middletown pulled out before the season. “We scheduled this in April or May. It’s all about giving the kids the opportunity to play the best, top three, whatever you want to argue, team in the country. It’s something our kids don’t normally get here. We wanted to give that experience to them.
“It was cool. They’re really good. No doubt. As far as being positive, that was something I wanted to stress with our coaches. Our kids know (St. Frances players are) getting recruited by the top Division I schools all over the country and we’re not, so yelling at our kids and for lack of a better word, challenging our kids’ manhood and those sorts of things, just isn’t necessary.”
After surrendering a 27-yard touchdown pass from Michael Van Buren to Ryan Manning, one of three scoring hookups the pair had in the contest, on St. Frances’ opening drive to fall behind, 8-0, the Wildcats held their own and actually produced their best offensive drive of the game that eventually stalled when junior quarterback Gavin Kamachi was sacked by Da’Shawn Womack near midfield.
Kyree Benton, however, took the ensuing punt 73 yards as he fielded the kick near the Arundel sideline and then raced across the field to carry the ball to the end zone down the St. Frances sideline for a 16-0 lead with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Like I said last week, there was really nothing we could have lost today, so the game plan coming in was let’s have some and do whatever we can,” said Kamachi, who completed 13 of 31 passes for 60 yards as the Wildcats challenged the St. Frances defensive backs throughout the contest. “Any completions, any yards gained count as a win. We really embraced the wins and fed off those. Never at any time in the game tonight did we hang our heads.”
The Panthers scored 20 unanswered points in the second quarter - a 62-yard strike from Van Buren to Manning, a three-yard run by Nicholas Harris, and an 11-yard hookup between Manning and Van Buren (nine for 12, 204 yards) - for a commanding 36-0 halftime advantage.
“Coming into the game, we knew we’d face some adversity, but we just stayed to our true game and did our thing,” Wildcats linebacker Raymond Chapman said. “We know they’re a pretty good team, but we have to keep working hard and get better next week.
“This is going to help us because we can play against anybody. Facing adversity, we just have to stay strong, stay true to yourself, and get better.”
St. Frances added 14 more points in the second half on a 30-yard punt block return by Mehki Butler in the third quarter and a 41-yard touchdown run by Jaelyn Burke in the fourth.
It was the first area contest for St. Frances, which played matches in Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Hawaii in September. The Panthers’ first local contest was scheduled for early October against Canada’s Toronto Prep at Patterson Park, but was canceled.
Panthers coach Messay Hailemariam commended Arundel.
“Coach Jack Walsh was tremendous enough to say, `Hey, I’ll give the option to my players,’” Panthers coach Messay Hailemariam said. “He said they had an open date. I called him up and he said `You know what? I don’t mind giving (the open date to St. Frances). I’m going to talk to my bosses and I’m going to talk to my kids and if they ultimately decide they want to do it (the game would be played).’ They voted the majority (to play).
I respect them so much. That’s what football’s about. There were days like this (for his team) in the past. We lost by 50 or 70 points. I always say the measure of a man or at least a champion, it’s not if, it’s when he gets hit in the mouth, how many times he is going to get back up and do what he’s supposed to do.”
NO. 1 ST. FRANCES 50, NO. 14 ARUNDEL 0
St. Frances 16 20 8 6 - 50
Arundel 0 0 0 0 - 0
First quarter
St. Frances - Ryan Manning 27 pass from Michael Van Buren (Edrees Farooq run)
St. Frances - Kyree Benton 73 punt return (Nicholas Harris run)
Second quarter
St. Frances - Ryan Manning 62 pass from Michael Van Buren (Samuel Green pass from Van Buren)
St. Frances - Harris 3 run (pass failed)
St. Frances - Manning 11 pass from Van Buren (pass failed)
Third quarter
St. Frances - Mehki Butler 30 punt block return (Harris run)
Fourth quarter
St. Frances - Jaelyn Burke 41 run (kick failed)
