Undefeated Archbishop Spalding Stuns Gonzaga in Overtime

Archbishop Spalding and Gonzaga played in an all-time classic this past weekend. Both teams played tough defense, and it was an extremely competitive contest overall. Spalding’s victory catapults them to an impressive 5-0, and they’ll look to continue their dominance this Friday night against Calvert Hall. Let’s take a closer look at which players impacted last week’s game the most. &nbsp; <strong><u>SPALDING 20 </u></strong> <strong>2022 6’1 170 QB – Nick Gutierrez </strong> Nick Gutierrez was far and away the MVP of this football game. He ran circles around the Gonzaga defense, and he also added the game winning rushing touchdown in overtime as the cherry on top. Spalding finished the contest with more than 250 yards of offense on the ground and almost 300 yards overall. Nick Gutierrez, and his legs, were nothing short of spectacular against Gonzaga, and he definitely has the Cavaliers in a prime position to continue their unbeaten streak this week against Calvert Hall. <strong> </strong> <strong>2022 5’10 195 RB – Jordan Harris </strong> Jordan Harris was an absolute bulldozer against Gonzaga’s defense, and he cumulated most of his rushing yards after contact. Harris did not shy away from adversity in this contest, and because of his efforts the Cavaliers found themselves leading early by almost two touchdowns. When combined with Nick Gutierrez’s dual threat capabilities, Jordan Harris takes this Spalding team to the next level, and there’s no doubt that he will continue to dominate this Archbishop Spalding backfield relentlessly. Expect Harris to get the majority of the touches at running back for Spalding against Calvert Hall. <strong> </strong> <strong>2022 6’3 190 DB – [player_tooltip player_id="90532" first="Lavain" last="Scruggs"] </strong> [player_tooltip player_id="90532" first="Lavain" last="Scruggs"] is undeniably the leader of the Archbishop Spalding defense, and he does so all the way from the secondary. The University of Maryland commit dominates all of his matchups, therefore it’s rare for opposing quarterbacks to throw to their primary target when facing Spalding. Scruggs was absolutely lockdown against Gonzaga and, besides Jalen McDonald, not a single Gonzaga receiver was able to get open consistently. [player_tooltip player_id="90532" first="Lavain" last="Scruggs"] is going to do big things at UMD and that is a fact. <strong> </strong> <strong>2022 6’2 225 LB – [player_tooltip player_id="90519" first="Kellan" last="Wyatt"] </strong> The entire Archbishop Spalding defense deserves a lot of credit for their performance in this contest. As it relates to the pass rush, [player_tooltip player_id="90519" first="Kellan" last="Wyatt"] was an anomaly at linebacker where he somehow was making every tackle in the backfield. The pressure Wyatt put on [player_tooltip player_id="90654" first="Carson" last="Petitbon"] was very smothering, and the Gonzaga quarterback did not have time nor space to run to as a result. Calvert Hall and their offensive line must game plan for [player_tooltip player_id="90519" first="Kellan" last="Wyatt"], or next week’s game will be over before it even starts. &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong><u>GONZAGA 13</u></strong> <strong>2022 6’3 225 TE – [player_tooltip player_id="90516" first="Nate" last="Kurisky"] </strong> [player_tooltip player_id="90516" first="Nate" last="Kurisky"] is both the physical and vocal leader of this Gonzaga team. On the sidelines he can often be heard adamantly energizing his teammates to go for the win and to always play together. The Purple Eagles truly fought for each other in this game, and, even though they fell short, there’s no question that they will be back better than ever this week against Avalon. [player_tooltip player_id="90516" first="Nate" last="Kurisky"] is primed for a big game as a blocker and a receiver. <strong> </strong> <strong>2023 5’11 180 WR – Jalen McDonald </strong> The most consistent receiver this year for the Gonzaga Purple Eagles has been Jalen McDonald. McDonald showed out again with another fantastic performance where his speed and agility were both on full display. His chemistry with his quarterback also improves every game which will certainly benefit him in the long run. Watch out for Jalen McDonald to have another breakout performance this week in a home game against The Avalon School.