DeMatha’s dominant 17-0 victory over Friendship Collegiate on Friday night at Catholic University was the second-ranked Stags’ fourth straight shutout and their first triumph this season over another team in The Washington Post’s Top 20.
Those feats ended up being mere footnotes because Friday’s victory was for “J.B.”
Friday was the first anniversary of the death of Marquis Jaylen Brown, a redshirt sophomore at Duquesne and former DeMatha starting linebacker. Brown died after falling 16 stories from a college dorm in Pittsburgh, and Thursday would have been his 22nd birthday.
Brown was honored with a moment of silence before the game. After the win, the game ball went to Melinda Simms, a friend of the family who accepted the gift for Brown’s mother, Dannielle.
“Losing a child, regardless of how old or how young he or she is, it is something that you will never, ever accept,” Simms said. “. . . It was a great honor to receive the text message to have me and my son accept the ball in her absence.”