BALTIMORE — Coming off a tumultuous summer burdened by a blindside gut-punch that made national waves and sent the program into disarray, St. Frances football finally got back to its on-field product Friday morning in Baltimore City.
After neighboring Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association football programs dropped the Panthers from the regular season schedule because of “player safety concerns,” St. Frances, the nationally-ranked powerhouse pillared by mastermind Biff Poggi and a stacked coaching staff, has scurried to put together a schedule and get back on its feet.
Those outside distractions didn’t seem to affect the Panthers in their first game-like action of 2018, as No. 9 St. Frances took care of No. 23 Good Counsel (USA Today national rankings), 26-0, on Friday morning in Patterson Park.
“It’s really easy for the kids to lose focus,” Russell said. “We [as coaches] have done a good job with the kids on staying focused on what they can control. When you show up on gameday, who you’re playing, that’s who you have to be ready for. [Friday] was a great example of that. Good Counsel is a great team. I thought we came out ready to play today. I’m really proud of where we’re starting off.”
Though Good Counsel coach Andy Stefanelli said “we were calling plays, not scheming” — basically just testing what’s in the playbook and not molding a gameplan nor adjusting — the Panthers dominated from the start and led 20-0 at halftime.
Jake Nelson knocked through a pair of field goals in the first half to give St. Frances leads of 3-0 and 20-0, and freshman quarterback John Griffith, who played steady all morning, connected on a 55-yard touchdown pass to sophomore utility man Kevin Thompson to propel SFA ahead in the early minutes of the second quarter, 10-0.
Junior running back Blake Corum, a 4-star recruit who played for St. Vincent Pallotti last year, turned a blocked punt by sophomore Aaron Willis into a 17-0 Panthers lead, dancing around and plowing through Falcon defenders en route to a one-yard score.
.@SFAfootball_MD blocks a @gcfootball punt and @blake_corum rumbles into the end zone for six, pushing the Panthers' lead to 17-0 three minutes before the half. Corum was at St. Vincent Pallotti last year. A 4-star junior RB. pic.twitter.com/y7pQkSYeed
— Kyle McFadden (@k_fadd) August 17, 2018
Junior running back Isaiah Addison rushed for the final touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter, a two-yard scamper that put the Panthers ahead for good.
2022 St. Frances quarterback John Griffith makes a strong first impression
This was supposed to John Griffith’s team in 2019, until 4-star quarterback and Florida commit Jalon Jones transferred back to native Henrico High School (Va.) in June. Now, Griffith holds the keys to the most coveted position in football on one of the nation’s best squads.
Oh, and did I mention he’s a summer removed from middle school? Get familiar with John Griffith, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound gunslinger from Pasadena that will command the Panthers offense in 2018.
The freshman made a strong first impression on Friday, leading St. Frances to four scoring drives against one of the top defenses in the DMV in Good Counsel.
“John is a quick learner. I’m very happy with where he is right now, being able to step up against an outstanding Good Counsel defense,” Russell said. “For your first varsity experience, there are not many better defenses around than Good Counsel. I’m really happy with how he did today. He’s a great kid. He’s mature beyond his years. He has a bright future.”
On the first drive of the second quarter, on 2nd-and-10, Griffith flipped a short pass to running back Kevin Thompson, who then darted upfield 55 yards for the game’s first touchdown. The play before, Griffith launched a well-placed deep ball to Temple commit Kwesi Evans that would’ve been good for at least 50 yards and put the Panthers inside the five, but it was snuffed out by a Good Counsel defensive back.
In the second quarter, Griffith completed a 43-yard hookup to Traeshon Holden that put the Panthers in field goal range moments before the half.
“I feel like I did OK,” Griffith said of his performance. “I have to still do a lot of work. High school is way different than middle school. It’s a lot faster. You have to get used to the defense and how they play.
“Some plays I did well. Some plays I messed up. I have to keep my composure.”
Last year, Russell and the coaching staff played a quarterback rotation with Jones and Logan Holgorsen, son of West Virginia football coach Dana Holgorsen. Jones eventually got more reps and finished the year with 1,025 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air in addition to 815 yards and nine scores on the ground. Holgorsen then transferred out of the program this summer and Jones soon followed, opening the door for Griffith to take the reins.
“That’s the hope,” Russell said. “You never know what’s going to happen. He’s taking the majority of the reps in practice.”
Griffith comes from the Bowie Bulldogs youth program and has already made a name on the national stage, playing in the FBU National Championship and earning FBU All-American honors in seventh grade.
Panthers assistant Chris Baucia, founder of Quarterback Factory, has worked with Griffith since he started football and ultimately drew the young signal-caller to the upstart powerhouse.
“He’s pretty special,” co-head coach Biff Poggi said of Griffith. “I thought he did well.”
‘Our goal is to be the best team in the country’
Even though St. Frances doesn’t have a championship to aim for (they were already awarded the MIAA A Conference title after a series of forfeits), the program’s sights have narrowed to one specific target: “Our goal is to be the best team in the country. That is our goal,” Russell said. “We took that step by playing a really good Good Counsel team today.”
The Panthers start the season ranked No. 7 and No. 9 in the nation by MaxPreps and USA Today, respectively, and will likely be the unanimous No. 1 team in the state media poll.
They return a pair of Alabama commits: 4-star linebacker Shane Lee and 4-star offensive guard Darrian Dalcourt, as well as 5-star defensive end Chris Braswell.
A host of 4-star recruits line the roster: safety Jordan Toles, defensive end Demon Clowney, linebacker Osman Savage, running back Blake Corum, and receiver Traeshon Holden. Senior running back Joachim Bangda, a 3-star recruit, and Evans, a 3-star receiver committed to Temple, are also back in the fold.
St. Frances would up No. 4 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 poll and outscored its 11 opponents 534-61, an average score of 49-6 per game.
“I think it can be a really good team,” Russell said. “Like you said, we were really good last year, so the bar is set pretty high. The goal is to meet that, if not break that.”
The Panthers open up the 2018 season against St. Joseph’s Prep out of Philadephia on Friday, August 31 at Capital One Field in College Park. St. Joe’s went 13-1 last year in the Philadelphia Catholic and start the season as the second-ranked team in Pennsylvania, according to MaxPreps. It’s also supposed to be St. Frances toughest opponent of 2018 by a wide margin, based off a MaxPreps rating system.
In total, St. Frances has nine games on the schedule and could add two more with unspecified Florida teams.
“We just want to be the best we can be and win all our games,” Lee said. “That’s all we can do.”
Good Counsel struggles but gets ‘what we were looking for’
The Falcons struggled to move the ball Friday morning against the loaded St. Frances defense that boasts an Alabama commit, a 5-star recruit, and two other four-star recruits. But for Coach Andy Stefanelli, that isn’t an area of concern. The scrimmage, most importantly, exposed weaknesses they need to address.
“We certainly wanted to play better and get in the end zone. From an offensive perspective, we weren’t happy with that but … it’s what we were looking for: A tough, tough scrimmage against a really good team,” Stefanelli said. “It exposed some of the things we need to work on, which is what we want to find out in a scrimmage before the regular season.”
Good Counsel is coming off an 8-3 season in which it lost to Gonzaga (D.C.) in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference semifinals and sits No. 23 nationally in the USA Today Super 25 preseason poll.
The Falcons return 17 of 22 starters (10 offense, seven defense), namely dual-threat quarterback Kam Snell, receiver and Notre Dame Cam Hart, and a pair of JMU commits linebacker, Jalen Green and Julio Ayamel. Mason Lunsford, a 3-star offensive tackle, anchors the line.
“I feel good about the team,” Stefanelli said. “We have some work to do, but we’ll get there.”
Good Counsel opens up the 2018 season at USA Today-ranked, No. 18 Marietta (Ga.) this Friday night, looking to embark on a conference title run for the first time since legendary coach Bob Milloy guided the Falcons to four straight from 2009-12.
“Since I’ve been with Bob so long, I just wanted to carry the torch, carry on with what he built at Good Counsel. I think we’re on our way of doing that,” Stefanelli said. “We want to be a national program. We want to keep ourselves a top team in the area. That’s why we schedule teams like St. Frances. I like where we’re at as a program. I think we’re building and heading in the right direction.”
