Mount de Sales doomed by missed tackles in 41-10 loss to defending champ Deerfield-Windsor

As year to year comparisons go, numbers wise, Mount de Sales might’ve taken a step back.

Last year, the Cavs headed south and lost 35-14 to Deerfield-Windsor, which had gone 1-9 in 2023. But the Knights bowed up in 2024 and won the GIAA Class 3A state title.

Mount de Sales was the host this time, and Deerfield-Windsor looked pretty familiar as it rolled to a 41-10 win over the Cavs at Mike Garvin Stadium.

The difference in margins of defeat was 10 points, but Mount de Sales head coach Gray Yates didn’t feel like he saw his team go backwards at all.

“You make strides, and then you give up those plays,” he said. “And it’s just not necessary.”

Mount de Sales dropped to 0-2 and Deerfield-Windsor improved to 2-0.

The Knights rode the arm and brains of quarterback Lane Sceals to a title last year, and he only got better. Sceals was 17 of 27 for 269 yards with five touchdown passes.

The scouting report for the Cavs was simple.

“Nine, eight and 10,” Yates said, listing the numbers of Sceals, and skill players Gabe Daniel and David Hutchins. “Them, and their offensive line is going to give them a chance in every ballgame.

“But those three skill players are about as good as we’re going to see, as far as being able to throw the football and getting the ball to skill guys to make plays.”

Mount de Sales, though, made life for that offense easier with a night of missed and broken tackles. Yates knows there’ll be a lot of cringing and groaning when the Cavaliers see how many plays they could’ve made, and almost made.

“We’re right there being able to make plays, we just consistently have done that,” Yates said. “And in such situations, until you do, you’re not going to win ballgames against good teams.

“A lot of tackles, a lot of broken tackles. And a lot of times, that’s 8 and 10, that’s their skill players.”

It looked like things might be more interesting than expected when Mount de Sales forced a three and out on Deerfield-Windsor’s first possession, then got a 37-yard field goal from Landon Frawley that would’ve been good from another 10 yards out.

Having a 3-0 lead at the 3:55 mark was nice, but losing eight yards on a sack sabotaged the drive. Then there was a gaping bust on defense four plays later, and Brantley Michlig was wide open for a 41-yard touchdown pass from Sceals.

A penalty disrupted another Cavs possession and they failed on fourth-and-1 at the 40. Sceals connected with Hutchings for 41 yards, then with Brady Harris for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the Knights a 14-3 lead with 7:21 left in the half.

Mount de Sales moved well soon after, boosted by a 19-yard pass from Zavion DeShazier to Jackson Rowley, but a pass two plays later was batted into the air and came down in the arms of Deerfield-Windsor’s Cross Mitchell. The Knights then dealt a body blow seven plays later — with assorted busted tackles from the Cavaliers on the drive — on a 31-yard TD pass from Sceals to Daniel.

That made it 20-3 with 1:02 left in the half. The knockout came on the first possession of the second half when the Knights avoided third down on a seven-play, 80-yard drive, the final 18 yards coming on another pass to Harris.

DeShazier kept battling, and went 37 yards around the left side for a touchdown with 3:36 left.

The junior quarterback finished with 86 yards on 14 carries, completing 6 of 13 for 61 yards while usually being chased from the pocket. Marcus Wilson added 60 yards on 15 carries.

Sceals played like a senior who knew how to get better.

“He is a great play-caller,” Yates said. “He is a plus play-caller, and you’ve got a senior who’s been in control of the system for four years.”

While Deerfield-Windsor was better and stronger up front, the Cavs avoided giving up long, energy-sapping drives, but couldn’t make enough fundamental plays to keep it close.

Still, that’s something of a step forward. Yates listed a number of scenarios in which the Cavs self-destructed more than they were punished by the Knights.

“Tackling, a lot of high tackling, and a couple not wrapping up, but mostly trying to arm tackle good skill players,” Yates said. “We’ve got to address that, and kind of make sure we eliminate the big plays and create some of our own.”