The first was that senior defensive end Darien Mayo — a 6-foot-7, 250-pound Clemson commit — would be in his face at any moment. The second was that senior linebacker Aaron Chiles — a 6-3 force who can power-clean 325 pounds and is committed to Florida — wasn’t far behind.
Weaver, eager to escape danger, let his instincts kick in. In a scene all too familiar for quarterbacks who have come through Olney over the past few years, the signal caller turned to his right, scrambled out of bounds and chuckled.
“Oh, man, it’s a scary moment when you see them coming,” Weaver said. “I can only imagine actually getting hit by those guys. I know sometimes they want to hit me, too.”
This fall, just three high school teams in America will feature at least four top-250 recruits in the Class of 2024 (as compiled in 247sports.com’s composite rankings). Good Counsel is one of them.
Opposite Chiles (No. 78) and Mayo (No. 213), the offensive unit includes running back Dilin Jones (No. 163, a Wisconsin commit) and wide receiver Elijah Moore (No. 188, committed to Florida State). Both rank atop their position in Maryland.
Then there’s cornerback Judah Jenkins and offensive lineman Kyle Altuner, who slot outside the top 250 but rank among the state’s top 30 senior recruits. During the recruiting cycle, the six seniors combined to receive around 160 Division I scholarship offers.
“The coaches told us before we even got here that this class had the chance to be special,” Moore said.
On Friday, the Falcons (No. 4 in The Washington Post’s local rankings after a season-opening loss to Ohio power St. Edward) return to Olney to face Jones (Fla.), their second consecutive test against a program MaxPreps had among the country’s 100 best last season.
While the arduous nonconference slate is a welcome sight for the Falcons’ competitive appetite, their ambitions remain hyper-focused on the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
“This year, it’s championship or bust,” Chiles said.
According to Moore, that fire was sparked when their class was in middle school. In 2019, the 6-4 wideout recounted, a group of Good Counsel recruits sat in the stands and watched the Falcons dispatch Caleb Williams and Gonzaga in the WCAC semifinals before knocking off St. John’s a week later for the championship.
The experience sealed many of their convictions: They would get to play for a winner. But expectations were another beast. And, as is the case when evaluating 14-year-old football players, the contingent arrived in Olney with a wide range of possible outcomes.
Chiles, who holds the highest recruiting ranking among the Falcons, was lightly recruited as a middle-schooler because he played a significant amount of snaps at fullback. Mayo, like many linemen, wasn’t much of a high-profile recruit, either, and because he hailed from Pennsylvania, he drew less local attention. Jones played most of his freshman season with the special teams unit. Only Moore entered with real cachet and a Power Five offer before he stepped on campus.
But all six of the Power Five-bound players began their shortened freshman season on the varsity team and got to reap the rewards of early growing pains. Brutal winter practices in Virginia, where pandemic restrictions were looser, helped the class find its physical edge. Even still, their 14-year-old frames couldn’t hold up against the older players they lined up against, so they went to the film room.
“When we were freshmen, we wanted to know all the little things,” Moore said. “We didn’t have the size; we didn’t have the experience. One thing we could do was know what we’re supposed to do on the field.”
That early attention to detail is paying dividends today. Often, Coach Andy Stefanelli said, a member of the senior core will correct a teammate’s technique before the Falcons’ dozen assistant coaches can blurt it out.
Their offense — which once hammered the run, as many high school offenses do — is more complex than any iteration the coach has designed in his seven years at the helm.
“When you combine the athletic talent with the football intelligence that some of these kids have, that’s when you can really do a lot more schematically,” Stefanelli said. “Physically, yeah, they can do things that enable you to run more advanced schemes, but also their ability to absorb and understand it — you can have guys who are really talented but can’t figure it out, and you have to simplify things for them. We’re able to really run more intricate schemes and do more stuff.”
Though the football is complex, the Falcons keep things loose. One assistant teased Chiles after a halfhearted practice rep and reminded him he was a four-star recruit, not a five-star. Stefanelli reminded his team to send in music recommendations before the next practice or he will be forced to play Post Malone.
Above all else, the Falcons credit their rise to intrasquad competition among the position groups. For four years, Moore has learned to deal with Jenkins, whom he called the most physical cornerback around; Jenkins has developed via battles with a wide receiver five inches taller than him, with a catch radius made even larger by his propensity for one-handed snags. Every day, the SEC-bound Chiles and Mayo are left to battle with Altuner, who, based on weight room numbers, is the team’s third-strongest player and has what Chiles called “the best technique around.”
And the entire defense is forced to grapple with Jones, a three-sport athlete who has made a habit of throwing defenders off his back. Stefanelli said he has both the best combination of speed and power of any player he has ever coached and the best pass-blocking ability of any running back he has taught.
“The way I’ve seen these guys embarrass my teammates,” Chiles said before pausing, “I’m not trying to get done like that.”