WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic hosts is home opener on Saturday as the Capital Comets come to D.C. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

SERIES HISTORY: 1st ever meeting

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

The Capital Comets come to town representing the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). A 1-9 team in their 100th year of football in 2023, Capital's lone victory came against Otterbein on September 30 as the Comets came away with a 35-31 victory. An eight-yard touchdown pass from Donovan Duncan to Mike Elmore with 27 seconds remaining gave Capital the victory. Tori McClary ran for 100 yards and two scores for Capital while Elmore added 78 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

Quarterbacks Ben Owens and Donovan Duncan are back for the Comets with Owens expected to start over the more experienced Duncan. Kassim Johnson is expected to take the reigns in the backfield after rushing the ball 21 times as a freshman. Nate Younker, the team's leading receiver from 2023 is back after 34 catches for 660 yards and six touchdowns. 

Defensively, Griffin McKinney is the top returning tackler for Capital after making 73 stops last season. Bryson Roberts is also back at safety after 56 tackles, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries as a freshman. 

Head Coach Brian Foos and Catholic's Mike Gutelius worked together at NAIA program Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) before both went on to become Division III head coaches. 

WEEK ONE STANDOUTS

• Carson Henry | Senior | Linebacker - 11 tackles, 1.5 TFLs
• Michael Hopkins | Junior | Linebacker - 7 tackles, 1 INT, 1 QBH
• Connor Jennings | Sophomore | Defensive End - 4 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, 1 sack

WHAT'S NEW IN '24

The Catholic football staff will feature some familiar faces in new roles this season. Former Assistant Head Coach & Special Teams Coordinator Jonathan Rutledge earned a promotion to Associate Head Coach and will take over play-calling duties as the program's offensive coordinator in 2024. 

Also moving up the ranks is seventh-year assistant Brandon Beech who will serve as Assistant Head Coach in 2024 after taking over as the Defensive Coordinator in 2023. 

Also joining the staff for the upcoming season is George Coles who will coach the offensive line after leading the running backs at Wilkes University in 2023. Coles helped develop All-Landmark First Team running back Elijah Jules and helped the Colonels to a bowl game in '23. 

Catholic will feature fresh faces at several key positions on offense in 2024 after the departure of Madden Lowe, Preston Jeffrey, Javier Oliver, Grant Wicks, and John Diaz. Defensively, Catholic will look to replace the production of Luke Brautigan in the front seven. Also departed are Aidan Long and Jack Baldridge from the back end. 

THE NEWCOMERS

The Cardinals welcome 34 new faces into the program and welcome back one old face in 2024. The freshman class includes: Julian Fresen (QB), Augustine Howard (WR), Tyler McVicker (DT), Omid Aliaskari (DB), Khamari Wilson (RB), Ja'Khi Boulware (DB), Latevias Cunningham (DB), Carter Virsik (DB), Malachi McIver (WR), Isaiah Green (WR), Roman Landamia (RB), George Mekras (RB), Justin LaMorte (K), Duron Bruce (DB), Caden Lopez (LB), Daniel Moore (LB), Alexander Saunders (LB), Charles Beckwith III (LB), Jake McGowan (DE), Gavin Drescher (DT), Mark Enamorado (DE), Ethan Carmichael (OL), James Varellas (DE), Dalton Orsak (TE), Shan Azamy (WR), Adrian Fresen (WR), Jake Melograna (WR), Tory Scott (DE), and Storm Haney (DT). Other newcomers include: Daequan Harvin (RB), Tabari Muhammad (WR), Joshua Mun (RB), Hugh Connell (DE), and Joe Gulbin (QB). Returning back after a year away from the team is Nicholas Chang (DB).

WE'RE BACK!

While a number of key pieces are gone, Catholic returns a strong core from last year's 5-5 team. Leading rusher Zach Williams returns for a fifth year after a breakout campaign that saw him total over 800 yards from scrimmage and score five touchdowns. 

Despite losing 871 yards from Jeffrey, Catholic returns 2,180 receiving yards, including seven players who logged at least 150. Anthony Giordano is the top returner with 379 yards, Tabor returns the most receptions with 59, and Maynes returns the most touchdowns with five. 

Hopkins (78) and Carson Henry (72) return, giving the Cardinals their top two tacklers back. Henry also led the team with 14.0 TFLs. Conor Jennings is back after a strong freshman campaign that saw him log 32 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, and 4.0 sacks. Eight of Catholic's 10 interceptions a year ago return with Hopkins, Tyler Donnelly, and Ryan Creston each logging two. Stillwell captains the defense along with Henry in 2024. 

Catholic returns plenty of experience on special teams as both Connor Gill and Andrew Petrino are back in 2024. Gill made six field goals a year ago and averaged 39 yards per punt while Petrino made two field goals and was a perfect 9-9 on extra points. A three-time all-conference returner, Hansen is also expected to return kicks and punts in 2024. 

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM

After the 2023 season, Catholic placed a program-record five student-athletes on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. To be eligible for nomination, a student-athlete must; be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, play in at least 90 percent of the team's games OR start at least 66 percent of the team's games. 

Earning the honor for Catholic were Samuel Dumas, Giordano, Hopkins, Connor James, and Wicks. Dumas, Giordano, and Hopkins are all back and will have a chance to be in the mix for the honor again this season. 

.500 OR BETTER

Catholic has finished each of the past three seasons with a winning percentage or .500 or better. After a 2-5 start, the Cardinals rallied to finish 5-5 to keep the streak alive, giving them three such seasons in a row for the first time since Tom Clark did it seven years in a row, finishing in 2001. 

Catholic went 6-4 in 2021, 6-5 in 2022, and 5-5 in 2023. The Cardinals spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons in the NEWMAC before the Landmark launched its inaugural football season this past year. The Cardinals reached the New England Bowl in 2022. Gutelius has four seasons of .500 or better ball under his watch, matching Dave Dunn. 

HALL OF FAME REPRESENTATION

On September 20, former running back Matt Taylor will be inducted into the Catholic Athletics Hall of Fame. An All-American in 1996, Taylor is second in program history with 3,802 yards and 52 touchdowns. He holds the program record with 22 rushing touchdowns in a single season. He joins former teammates Kevin Ricca (Class of '20 inductee) and Jeff Clay (Class of '16 inductee) in the Hall of Fame. 

ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS

Catholic returns four players from the seven that earned all-conference honors in the first season of Landmark football. Stillwell, a senior captain, was a first-team all-conference defensive back in 2023 after totaling 55 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and six PBUs. For his career, Stillwell has 147 career tackles, six interceptions and 16 PBUs. 

A second-team linebacker in 2023, Henry is back as well after tallying a career-high 14 TFLs to go with 72 tackles and two sacks. Henry is nine tackles shy of 200 for his career. 

Fellow linebacker, Hopkins, was an All-Landmark Honorable Mention choice at linebacker. As a sophomore, he led the team with 78 tackles, adding seven TFLs, and picked off two passes. Playing in all 21 games of his career, he has totaled 133 tackles and 13.5 TFLs. 

Finally, despite missing time, Hansen was respected as an all-conference return man, marking the third straight year in which a conference honored his return ability. He averaged 32 yards per kick return in the eight games he saw action in. 

MILESTONES REACHED

Henry joined the 200 tackle club on Friday night at McDaniel, logging 11 stops to give him 202 for his career. Henry reached double digit tackles for the first time since September 23, 2023 vs. Alfred. Henry now has four games with 10 or more tackles for his career. 

Senior captain Stillwell reached 150 career tackles with four on Friday evening. The senior safety had a career-high 62 tackles in 2022, following it up with 55 stops last season. He also has six career interceptions. 

MILESTONE WATCH

• #6 Michael Hopkins is 10 tackles shy of 150 for his career. He has averaged over six tackles per game as a collegiate athlete. 
• #11 Anthony Giordano is 267 yards shy of 1,000 for his career after logging a career-high 379 yards on 40 catches a year ago. 
• #33 Malachi Hansen's next touchdown reception will be the 10th of his Catholic career. He has found the end zone 10 total times for his career after adding a rushing touchdown in 2021.