For the first time in over a month, the Georgetown football team will get to sleep in their own beds on a Friday night. But their long stretch of away games has still yet to end, as the team faces cross-town rival Howard.
Officially labeled the D.C. Mayor’s Cup after an attempt by the mayor’s office in 2008 to instigate an intra-city football rivalry between the two schools, the event has been rekindled after the teams did not meet in 2010.
This year, the Bison will face a drastically different team from the winless group they faced in 2009. The Hoyas are coming off a 24-10 victory against Wagner, a game that saw the defense firing on all cylinders. Middle linebacker Rob McCabe led the Hoyas with 14 tackles on the game and currently leads the Patriot League with 68.
“We had a good defensive effort,” McCabe said. “It was probably our most complete effort on defense.”
The junior shied away from credit for the team’s effort, instead deferring to the defensive line’s strong front. Led by senior end Andrew Schaetzke, the D-line has made life easy for the linebackers. In addition to Schaetzke’s superstar presence, McCabe praised senior Dan Lenihan and freshman Jordan Richardson for their impressive play so far.
“Dan and Jordan have been playing out of their minds,” he said. “They make it easy for us to run around and make plays.”
Head coach Kevin Kelly appreciated his team’s effort, but also took note of the battle Wagner gave as the Hoyas didn’t have much breathing room until a Nick Campanella touchdown late in the first half. Even then, it remained a one-touchdown deficit until quarterback Isaiah Kempf iced the contest with a 71-yard touchdown pass to junior Max Waizenegger.
After the score, senior safety David Quintero came up with an interception to end the ensuing Wagner drive.
“It was a very hard-fought football game,” Kelly said. “I have to tip my cap to Wagner. It was seven points [between us] there for a long time. I’m really happy with our defense – they bent a little bit, but didn’t break and then made a real big play there at the end.”
With the Hoyas high on confidence and their return to Multi-Sport Field for the Homecoming game approaching next week, the threat of a “trap game” is certainly a danger. But Kelly’s week-by-week mentality should have the team prepared for a battle on Saturday, especially considering the comforts of staying close to home.
“These non-conference games are still very important,” McCabe said. “This Howard game is an inner-city rivalry, so we try to draw on different things like that for non-league games for motivation.”
Being back in Washington with Homecoming a week away should be plenty of motivation for McCabe and the rest of the Hoyas. If not, they can look back at 2009’s disappointing loss for inspiration. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Howard’s Greene Stadium.
