ST. AUGUSTINE, McDONOGH 35 GO NATIONAL

“There’s a definite feel (on campus) because it’s on ESPN and it’s McDonogh 35,” St. Augustine junior running back N’Gal Tillman said. “It’s a big rivalry. We’ve been waiting for it since the beginning of the year and since last spring.”

A year ago, St. Augustine won only one game, and it wasn’t against the Roneagles. McDonogh 35 won that contest 33-6.

Things are different this year. McDonogh 35 comes into the game 0-3, struggling to put points on the board with a young offense. St. Augustine comes in 2-1, though the loss came a week ago 27-7 to O.P. Walker.

That defeat actually served to teach a lesson to the Purple Knights, head coach Wayne Cordova said. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, he added.

“That’ll keep your emotions down,” Cordova said. “Teaches you any given day you can lose a football game and it’s how you respond to that football game and that loss. Are you going to start conceding? Or are you going to make it to where you’re never going to have that feeling again.”

There’s no doubt that this is a big game, though. Just listen to Wayne Reese, St., McDonogh 35’s head coach.

“ESPN just brings another flavor to what we do,” he said. “You can check the crawls around the state and the hype that this game (gets), we’ve been having for years. … It brings out the best in everything.”

Said St. Augustine junior receiver Lee Doss, “More and more people are going to watch. People out of state who can’t watch the game live, they can stay home and wait it.”

Then again, there’s the chance with young players that focus could be lost because of the national spotlight. McDonogh 35 defensive tackle Derrick Dean said the team has talked about keeping their minds on the task at hand.

“We’ve been talking about that all week,” Dean said. “Some people are nervous because it’s on ESPN. But we’ve been going over things like we normally do to prepare for every other game. We’re not really trying to worry about ESPN or whatever.”

Indeed, the Roneagles need worry about the Purple Knights and little else. St. Augustine is averaging more than 17 points per game. McDonogh 35 is scoring less than five points.
Something has to give, and Reese thinks his team has turned the corner.

“It’s just getting the chemistry we need to have to get this thing started,” Reese said. “I look for them for now on − not just this game here − it’s time that they get this thing together. This is a low point for us offensively.”

Cordova doesn’t know who is going to win yet. He would like for his Purple Knights to win, of course. He is, however, certain of one thing that should ring true following the game.

“The players should be physically exhausted after the game is over,” he said. “So many emotions are going to be playing. You should be running full speed all game.”

He added one more thing later.

“Nobody wants to be embarrassed on TV,” Cordova said.