Gonzaga HS put up a massive score on rivals and defending Single-School national champions St. Ignatius Saturday in DC.
Exploiting some St. Ignatius mistakes and riding the positive feelings of getting some injured players back, Gonzaga put SIHS to the sword 49-7. Ignatius has some issues, and in fact they've had a few issues this season. Expected to be a bit of a work in progress after graduating 12 of their 15 regular starers from 2022, the Wildcats then saw two of those returning three go down with injury.
Still, they had started well with some impressive scores. But the gravity of the day perhaps got to them as St. Ignatius made some key errors (losing possession within a few meters of the tryline). Gonzaga had errors, too, but were much more polished overall. Capping of an intense week of training Gonzaga and being able to field their most experienced starting 15, the Eagles took flight.
Burke Carroll scored three tries. Joey Ries was back at scrumhalf and working the tempo of attack well. Jacksion Tanklersley added two tries and Emmett Cook scored a try and converted seven for 19 points.
"For us it's always about building toward May," said Gonzaga Head Coach Peter Baggetta. "So we are OK with taking our lumps early in the season." He said this talking about a loss to Granite Bay on a recent trip to California. "We've never had an undefeated season, but yes the boys wanted to put down a market with this game."
