The High School Celebrates Spirit Weekend and The 111th Game
"Anyone watching the game knows how hard our boys played right to the final whistle on Saturday. A special thanks goes out to our student body, our football parents, our faculty, and our alumni for their great support." - Head Coach Mark Gowin
November 15, 2011
Last week, campus was bustling in anticipation of Saturday’s 111th Game between Episcopal and Woodberry Forest.
On Monday, students and faculty showed their Episcopal spirit by dressing in costume according to each day’s theme. On Tuesday, the Class of 2012 surprised the entire student body with a flash mob during Community Meeting to get everyone excited for The Game.
Spirit Weekend kicked off Thursday as members of the Board of Trustees returned to campus for their fall meetings, which continued on Friday as other Spirit Weekend events began and special guests returned to campus. A special luncheon was held to honor the 2011 EHS Athletics Hall of Fame inductees.The inductees included Coach Ed Rice, Nelson Weston ’54, Percival Hunter Faulconer, Jr. ’57 (posthumous), Bill Flippin ’59, Vinny Giles III ’61, Derek Fitzgerald ’91, Amy Fannon Cupic ’94, Bryson Spinner ’99, the 1953 Football Team, and the 1972 Lacrosse Team. Members of the Class of 1951 returned to campus in honor of their 60th reunion. The Class of ’51 enjoyed a walking tour of campus, an afternoon of refreshments, a conversation with Headmaster Rob Hershey, and the rest of the Spirit Weekend’s activities. The Advisory Council, led by Chair Darren Wilcox ’89, arrived and met with students and faculty to discuss coeducation at Episcopal over the last 20 years.
On Friday evening, a cocktail reception was held for all guests on campus followed by The Spirit of The High School dinner. The dinner served as the culmination of the Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Coeducation that took place throughout the fall. Head Chaplain Gideon Pollach provided the invocation and Hershey welcomed guests to the evening. After the dinner, the program commenced with Hershey introducing the 20 Years of Coeducation video produced by Luke David ’93. After the video, George Logan ’63, Sandy Ainslie ’56, Rachel May ’00, and Caroline Haygood ’12 all provided remarks on coeducation. Logan was the Chairman of the Board and Ainslie was Headmaster during the move to coeducation. May and Haygood spoke about how Episcopal becoming a coeducational institution has affected the course of their lives. The Episcappellas and Jack of Hearts, the EHS a capella groups, performed and at the conclusion of the program, Hershey invited everyone to the annual bonfire out on Pool Field.
On Saturday, events and meetings continued for the Class of ’51, the Hall of Fame Inductees, the Advisory Council, and the Board. A men’s alumni soccer game took place during the morning on Hoxton Field. A special ceremony was held for the dedication of the Coach McLaughlin Locker Room in Hummel Bowl. Special guests in attendance were John Burress ’54, Nancy and Lee McLaughlin ’70, the 1953 Football Team, and the Class of 1951. Alumni, parents, students, and friends of EHS gathered in the dining hall for a pre-game lunch before heading out to the Bowl for the 111th Game.
Football Coach and Athletic Director Mark Gowin provided the following recap of The Game:
On Saturday, the varsity football team lost a hard fought battle to rival Woodberry 21-12 in the 111th playing of The Game. Woodberry ends their season with a record of 8-2 and Episcopal finishes with a 3-6 record. The score was 7-6 at halftime and 14-6 late in the fourth period. Woodberry scored all of three touchdowns immediately following Episcopal turnovers deep in our own territory. Unfortunately, we turned the ball over four times during the game. As well as our defense played, we were unable to force any turnovers.
Austin deButts ’12 scored on a one-yard run and threw a 70 yard touchdown pass to Johnny Bond ’12 to lead our offense. deButts accounted for 283 all-purpose yards on the day. Bond had two catches for 85 yards to lead our receivers, while Jonathan Pryor ’13 added two for 50 yards and Chris Wasden ’12 added two for 11. deButts was 6 of 14 for 146 yards passing. Pat McLendon ’12, Chris Marshall ’12, Jack Blaine ’12, Brian Mascatello ’12, and Lawson Sanford ’13 did a nice job up front, as Episcopal ended the day with 211 total yards to Woodberry’s 213 total yards.
Defensively, we played very well throughout the game. Bond had another outstanding day from his outside linebacker position, knifing in on a couple of jarring tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Bond led our defense with 11 tackles, Buck Armstrong ’12 followed closely with ten and Blaine added seven tackles. David Maybank ’12 recorded our only QB sack. Adam Lynne ’12 blocked a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. Although the boys mentioned above made some outstanding individual plays, the defense, under the direction of Coach Steve Castle, was once again hard hitting and played with great spirit and intensity. deButts and Armour Shaw ’12 both played well in the secondary, while Wasden, Brown Dubose ’13 and Thomas Coker ’13 did a nice job as linebackers. Foster Joseph ’12, Timmy Phillips ’15, Clarence Clanton ’12, Henry Trotter ’12, Bobby Myers ’13 and Marshall rolled in to make a formidable front four throughout the game.
Anyone watching the game knows how hard our boys played right to the final whistle on Saturday. A special thanks goes out to our student body, our football parents, our faculty, and our alumni for their great support. Our players fed off of the tremendous energy in the stands and we all appreciate it very much!
