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BALTIMORE – Good Counsel football coach Bob Milloy knows the roots of every successful venture. For over 45 years, the blue collar demeanor Milloy has abided by has sparkled a resume that’s earned positions in the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Maryland Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
On Saturday afternoon, Milloy reached another milestone when he became the first head coach in Maryland high school football history to win 400 games in the Falcons’ season opener — a 23-21 victory against No. 14 Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore.
“It’s just a lot of hard work,” Milloy said. “We’ve have good players, great coaches, great administrators at every school I’ve been, and it’s just a lot, a lot, a lot of hard work. It’s as simple as that. No magic, no tricks. Just hard work.”
Milloy has shown up to the office every day with a hardhat and lunch pail in hand since beginning his coaching career in 1970. Even though he became the first head coach in the state’s history to reach the 400 win feat, and sits 18th nationally for most wins in high school football history, Milloy had other ideas on his mind.
“I’m just glad it’s over with so we can just worry about our season, and not worry about the darn 400 win thing anymore,” Milloy said, who cradled a commemorative football in his left hand and festive balloons in his right while posing for a photo op.
The milestone win didn’t come easy, however. The Falcons found themselves in the hole early, down 7-0 in the first quarter. Good Counsel then rallied off 23 answered points from the 5:34 mark in the first to the 3:31 mark in the second to stake a 23-7 lead at the half
The Falcons were held scoreless the final 27:31 of the contest. Mount St. Joseph would string together a 10-play, 85-yard drive midway in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 23-15. With 4:53 left in the fourth, Sam James ran in a 6-yard score to put the Gaels on the verge of spoiling Milloy’s historic day.
The ensuing 2-point conversion run was stuffed short of the goal-line. Mount St. Joseph then forced a quick three-and-out and mounted the potential game-winning drive to the Good Counsel 21-yard line with under two minutes to go.
On fourth down, a botched snap sailed over MSJ quarterback Christian Carter and the Falcons recovered in the waning seconds to preserve the elusive victory.
“(Mount St. Joseph) is really good,” Milloy said. “They easily could’ve won that game. I’m just happy we were able to hang on. They have a nice team, they’re going to have a good year.”
Milloy said penalties and breakdowns costed the Falcons in the second half, but commended his unit for weathering adversity when things didn’t fall their way.
Though Milloy will go down as one of the most decorated coaches in DMV history, his ethics and community impact solidifies himself as a hall of fame person. Players raved his ability to lead by example. Running back Muhamed Ibrahim rattled off lessons from his legendary coach, such as how to be a better man and how to handle oneself off the field.
“He’s taught me a lot, he’s taught the whole team a lot,” Ibrahim said, who finished the afternoon with 139 rushing yards and one touchdown. “It’s not just football. He’s a big role model for me and I love him.”
Before arriving at Good Counsel in 2001, Milloy coached at Walt Whitman, Springbrook and Sherwood, cementing his legacy at each stop.
In his first season at Walt Whitman in Montgomery County, he led the Vikings to its first winning season in program history. After four years at Whitman, Milloy spent 17 years (1974-1991) at Springbrook, where he racked up six state championships. His last public school tenure came at Sherwood (1992-2000) and led the Warriors to consecutive state titles in 1995 and 1996.
At Good Counsel, he’s steered the Falcons into a nationally renowned program and won four straight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championships from 2009-2012. He’s also churned out countless Division-1 college football players and NFL players in the process.
Milloy, who’s now in his 70’s and in the fourth quarter of his coaching career, will make another bid at his fifth WCAC crown this fall, with an opportunity to ride off into the sunset.
“It was huge, a big victory,” Ibrahim said. “We know how long he’s worked for this, we know how long he’s been coaching. This is a big win, not just for him, but for us, too.”
*Information was taken from High School Football America, mdprepfootball.com and MaxPreps for this article
Box score
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| GC (1-0) | 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| MSJ (0-1) | 7 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 21 |
Scoring summary
First quarter
MSJ — Sam James 4-yard run (PAT good), 7:58
GC — Jake Peter 19-yard field goal, 5:34
GC — Josh Kelley 24-yard pass from Travis Nannen (Pass failed), 0:37
Second quarter
GC — Muhamed Ibrahim 3-yard touchdown (PAT good), 4:27
GC — Joshua Paschal 45-yard pass from Travis Nannen (PAT good), 3:31
Third quarter
MSJ — Matthew McDonald 10-yard pass from Christian Carter (Run good), 2:28
Fourth quarter
MSJ — Sam James 6-yard run (Run failed), 4:53
