Consider Calvert Hall hungry for revenge
Cardinals seek payback after ’21 upset loss to Loyola Blakefield
For Calvert Hall quarterback Noah Brannock, the bitter disappointment of last week’s Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game loss to Spalding didn’t take long to subside.
Two days, to be exact.
On Sunday, the No. 5 Cardinals came together for their first practice devoted to Thursday’s 102nd Turkey Bowl against Loyola Blakefield, set for 10 a.m. at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium. And within a few minutes, any lingering regret about Friday night’s 34-10 defeat to the Cavaliers had given way to the anticipation of a rivalry they believe is as important as any championship.
“Things didn’t go the way we wanted, but now we have an opportunity to end on a good note,” Brannock said. “Knowing that we have this Turkey Bowl, we have a chance for a rebound game, and we’re ready
for that.”
But the William & Mary commit doesn’t have to dig deep for another massive source of motivation. A year ago, Calvert Hall entered Thanksgiving Day as the heavy favorite after winning the A Conference championship but lost to the Dons, 41-35, for the first time since 2013 when Marcus Hines floated a 15-yard touchdown pass to Noah Bull to break a tie with 9 seconds left.
That loss followed the cancellation of the game in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic — something the Cardinals (6-6) believe ended up hurting them last year more than the Dons.
“We had a lot of guys who had never played in a Turkey Bowl, and [Loyola] had a lot of guys who had started and played meaningful minutes,” Calvert Hall coach Josh Ward said. “Our kids were coming off a championship high from their first championship in 11 years. You’ll hear some alum say that we took [the Turkey Bowl] for granted or we didn’t care about it. Our kids cared about it. We lost the game by a jump ball. They’re playing football, too.”
“We didn’t really know the real significance behind the game,” Brannock said. “It’s one of those games that you have to really, truly understand and grasp it. We’re ready this year.”
Loyola (4-5), however, has had three weeks to prepare, while Calvert Hall has had four practices. The Dons, in fact, haven’t played a game since ending their regular season with a 14-12 win over Mt. Zion Academy on Nov. 4, and have since focused on nothing but the Turkey Bowl.
The time off could be a double-edged sword, said Loyola coach Anthony
Zehyoue.
“We have an advantage in the sense of how much time we have to just focus on one opponent, but the disadvantage is we’re three weeks removed from a game,” he said. “So that’s three weeks of losing game speed, because practice speed is never as fast. Where they will have the advantage is they will have played more recently.”
Loyola, which leads the all-time series 50-43-8, has spent most of the past month breaking down Calvert Hall’s tendencies on film while trying to mimic the Cardinals’ big-play ability in practice.
After breaking out to a 13-0 first-quarter lead last year, the Dons know another fast start will be imperative.
“We want to be able to get a jump on them early like we did last year and keep that momentum so that the game can stay in the flow of our hands and not in theirs,” said Hines, who aside from being the backup quarterback also plays wide receiver and linebacker. “They’re a high-scoring offense, so we’ve just got to keep them under wraps. We’re going to need multiple hats on the ball — at least two or three players to bring down people.”
By the time the turkey is served, Calvert Hall will have played its two biggest games of the season in a span of six days. After watching his team drop four of its first six games this season, Ward is fine with that challenge.
“I tell people all the time, I’d rather be doing this than sitting my butt on the couch,” Ward said. “Overall, we’re a different team than we were back in late September, early October. It’s how you finish, not how you start, so I think our guys are very confident right now.”