No. 10 Falcons Prove That Size Matters Not

If Good Counsel's very impressive 38-12 home victory over fifth-ranked Dunbar last night showed anything, it's that neither team judged the other very well.

The 10th-ranked Falcons figured they had neither the size nor the speed to match Dunbar's defensive front. They thought they would have to throw the ball a bit more than they would have liked to sustain much offense.

So what did Good Counsel ultimately wind up doing? Using a dynamic backfield of juniors Caleb Porzel and Jelani Jenkins, the Falcons (2-0) ran the ball directly at the Crimson Tide, overpowered Dunbar with clever traps at the line of scrimmage, and outran it on sweeps and in the open field.

The small and shifty Porzel rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while Jenkins, a 220-pound bruiser who is also a top national recruit, gained 77 yards and scored two touchdowns. All told, Good Counsel amassed 192 yards on the ground against Dunbar's vaunted front four that averaged 275 pounds.

"They're some big, thick, rugged guys," Good Counsel Coach Bob Milloy said. "We thought we would have trouble running against them. But we've got some good speed."

That was evident on the first play of Good Counsel's second possession, following an exchange of punts. Porzel, following Jenkins's lead, zipped around right end for 22 yards to the Crimson Tide 27-yard line. That was the first of several instances where Dunbar simply could not keep up with Porzel.

"We tried to trap them," Porzel said. "Me and Jelani had to hit holes because their defense likes to swarm."

Four plays later, Jenkins barged up the middle before tiptoeing past the last two defenders for an eight-yard touchdown run to make it 6-0.

After a quick Dunbar punt, Porzel ran for 36 yards on third and nine. Jenkins capped a seven-play drive with a 13-yard scoring run off an inside counter, in which he ran untouched, to make it 12-0.

Meantime, Dunbar (1-2) could not get anything going offensively, while trying to break in several new skill-position players. Until midway through the second quarter, the Crimson Tide's only first down came on a Good Counsel penalty.

"My guys weren't physical," Dunbar Coach Craig Jefferies said. "Good Counsel was more physical than us. We didn't think they'd be as strong as they were. They pushed us around."

After Good Counsel junior linebacker Michael Nittoli intercepted a third-down screen pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-0, Dunbar put together its best drive. On the eighth play, junior Tyree White hit senior Deon Long for a 48-yard scoring pass.

No. 10 Good Counsel 38 No. 5 Dunbar 12 Who's That? Good Counsel has won 19 straight against teams other than DeMatha since a Sept. 16, 2005, loss to Georgetown Prep. Big Weekend Coming Up: Dunbar will play its first game on its new FieldTurf complex next Friday against Carroll.