‘Respect’ earned
Spalding football makes history with OT win over Gonzaga
“They’re fighters. We just talk about being resilient and finishing. I told them it was going to take a little longer to finish tonight — but we got there.”
Archbishop Spalding performed several miracles on the way to pulling off a feat it never had before Friday night against visiting Gonzaga.
The Cavaliers’ defense held strong deep in its own territory twice, once at the end of regulation and again in overtime. Quarterback Nick Gutierrez did his part by running in a 10-yard touchdown on the first play of the extra period.
In the end, on the way to a 20-13 victory over a Gonzaga program that Spalding had never previously beaten, the Cavaliers simply delivered every time they needed a play.
“A year ago, this is all what we really missed. Just really proud of our kids,” coach Kyle Schmitt said. “They’re fighters. We just talk about being resilient and finishing. I told them it was going to take a little longer to finish tonight — but we got there.”
In front of a lively crowd, the Cavaliers defense prevented the visiting Eagles from scoring the go-ahead touchdown five yards away from the end-zone with a minute remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter. The subsequent Gonzaga field goal tied the game at 13-13 and sent the game to overtime.
The touchdown run by Gutierrez
— Kyle Schmitt, Spalding coach
— his third of the night — and the made extra-point by Cory Butts put Spalding back in front. Then, it was all down to defense again.
After three stops, the spotlight shifted to rest on Tyler Brown on fourth down.
The Cavaliers’ sophomore leapt to break up a Gonzaga pass to the end-zone and smacked it out of the air. Seconds later, the Cavaliers rushed the field to celebrate their greatest win in years.
Nerves flushed through Gutierrez (27 carries for 147 rushing yards, three touchdowns) when he saw flags fly on Brown’s pass breakup.
“I was scared. But then I heard it was on them, we declined it, and oh my God,” Gutierrez said. “I thought I was going to pass out.
I can’t believe it.”
Schmitt stressed to his players afterward not to rest on their laurels with Calvert Hall coming next week. But Gutierrez, along with several others, still made sure to take time to let the moment sink in.
This, he said, was a statement win.
“Teams never respect us. Tonight, we fought to the very end and came out victorious,” Gutierrez said. “I think it’s a really big statement. Doesn’t matter how others think of us, but how we prepare for the next two games.”
Schmitt let it soak in, too. He ran up and gave a hug to every coach he could find. When Schmitt and his staff arrived at Whittles Field a decade ago, they dreamt of helping Spalding reach national status. Emotion struck Schmitt as he remembered two of his former coaches — Mike Hartman and Jon England — who recently passed away before they could see the