On Everybody's Watch
With Stags' Dominance Comes Intense Attention and Competition

By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

You're not likely to find Kenny Tate before or during a game running around the locker room, trying to get his teammates fired up. Usually, he is just sitting in front of his stall, quietly eating two jelly sandwiches on wheat bread before taking the field for pregame warmups.

DeMatha's star wide receiver and safety is likely to be the most-watched player on the field. He was named All-Met as a junior and has dozens of scholarships offers, with college recruiters drooling at his combination of size (6 feet 4), speed and agility.

And everyone, it seems, watches DeMatha. The Stags have dominated competition recently like few teams in the Washington area, winning 46 of 48 games over the past four seasons, claiming the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title each season and finishing first or second in The Post's final rankings. DeMatha enters this season with a school-record 22-game winning streak.

But don't expect Tate to draw attention to himself or his teammates. Instead of hollering at teammates or gesturing toward the crowd, he is most likely to be found keeping quiet on the periphery.

"Being one of the top football teams in the area, there are a lot of people that want to beat us and want to see us lose," Tate said, acknowledging that opponents are so motivated to play DeMatha that they often play better than they look on videotape. "Most people do tend to play harder against us. They want to be known as the team that beat DeMatha and they're not all this or that."

"Since we are the big game on everybody's schedule, there is a certain way to perform, a certain way to behave, a certain way to do things," DeMatha Coach Bill McGregor said. "We're constantly under a microscope. Everybody looks to see what we do, how we do it and the way we do it. If you don't do it the right way, you're open to criticism. But at the same time, it's a great way to be."

That said, the key to being ready each week is to treat every game the same, Tate said, keeping in line with the age-old cliche.

"Anything can happen on any day," Tate said. "We might have more talent or we might be bigger or stronger, but it doesn't come down to that all the time."