Varsity Football
Record: 10-1
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OVERVIEW
GAME TICKETS
Game tickets are sold at the gate for $5 CASH ONLY, children six and under are free. You may also purchase tickets online through Hometown Ticketing or click here and search DeMatha. For post-season tickets search "WCAC". Post-season games are WCAC events so NO cash tickets will be sold at the door.
DeMatha Catholic Football History:
DeMatha Football is a nationally renowned program filled with years of glorious history, championships and Stags later playing in college and the pros. The success of the program wouldn’t have been easy to predict when the school fielded its first football team in October 1949. The first teams were a competitive bunch led by Coach Jim Curran, a Notre Dame alumnus. But the best was yet to come for DeMatha football with Morgan Wootten (1956-68) and then Bill McGregor, who, beginning in 1982, coached the Stags to 17 conference championships.
After playing for McGregor, Elijah Brooks ’02 served as head coach from 2011-18 and continued that winning tradition by claiming four WCAC titles. McGregor returned in 2019 and three years later won his 300th career game. In 2004, he was named NFL High School Football Coach of the Year.
Virtually every season, 10 or more seniors receive college football scholarships, and the school is recognized each fall as having among the highest number of alumni who have played in the NFL. Recent players to earn Super Bowl rings include John Lovett ’14 (Kansas City Chiefs) and Rodney McLeod ’08 (Philadelphia Eagles). Chase Young ’17 was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. With Coach McGregor, a talented roster and outstanding assistant coaches, the future continues to look bright.
DeMatha Football Since 1982
- 2023: 9-2, #5 Washington Post
- 2022: 10-2, #6 Washington Post
- 2021: 9-3, #3 Washington Post
- 2021: 7-3, #9 Washington Post
- 2020: 2-1, Season shortened due to COVID-19
- 2019: 7-4, #6 Washington Post
- 2018: 8-3, #3 Washington Post
- 2017: 6-5, #17 Washington Post
- 2016*: 12-0, #1 Washington Post, #4 USA Today
- 2015*: 11-1, #2 Washington Post, #12 USA Today
- 2014*: 9-3, #2 Washington Post
- 2013*: 11-1, #2 Washington Post, #20 USA Today
- 2012: 8-3, #7 Washington Post
- 2011: 6-4
- 2010: 9-3, #10 Washington Post
- 2009: 11-1, #3 Washington Post
- 2008*: 10-2, #4 Washington Post
- 2007*: 10-2, #5 Washington Post
- 2006*: 12-0, #1 Washington Post, #10 USA Today
- 2005*: 11-1, #2 Washington Post, #14 USA Today
- 2004*: 10-1, #1 Washington Post, #20 USA Today
- 2003*: 12-0, #3 Washington Post, #17 USA Today
- 2002: 7-3, #14 Washington Post
- 2001*: 11-0, #1 Washington Post, #23 USA Today
- 2000*: 11-1, #1 Washington Post
- 1999: 10-1-1, #13 Washington Post
- 1998*: 12-0, #2 Washington Post
- 1997: 11-1, #6 Washington Post
- 1996: 8-2, #9 Washington Post
- 1995*: 9-1, #1 Washington Post
- 1994*: 8-3, #3 Washington Post
- 1993*: 8-3, #3 Washington Post
- 1992*: 11-1, #1 Washington Post
- 1991*: 9-2, #2 Washington Post
- 1990: 9-1, #7 Washington Post
- 1989: 8-3, #6 Washington Post
- 1988: 7-2-1, #10 Washington Post
- 1987: 8-1-1, #7 Washington Post
- 1986*: 10-0 #1Washington Post, #6 USA Today
- 1985: 8-2, #8 Washington Post
- 1984*: 10-0, #2 Washington Post, #16 USA Today
- 1983: 8-2, #9 Washington Post
- 1982*: 10-1, #2 Washington Post
* Conference Champions
SCHEDULE
| Opponent | Date | Time | Location | Advantage | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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vs.
Archbishop Spalding High School
|
|
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Archbishop Spalding High School | Away | Loss | 10-26 |
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vs.
Mt. Zion Prep
|
|
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The St. James | Home | Win | 48-0 |
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|
All Day
|
Home | ||||
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vs.
Roman Catholic (PA)
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|
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Roman Catholic (PA) | Away | Win | 42-12 |
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vs.
Washington High School
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|
All Day
|
Washington High School | Away | Win | 20-14 |
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vs.
Life Christian Academy
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|
|
Bowie State University | Home | Win | 35-0 |
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vs.
Gonzaga College High School
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|
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Gonzaga College High School | Away | Win | 28-13 |
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vs.
Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School
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|
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PG Sports & Learning | Home | Win | 35-7 |
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vs.
St. John's College High School
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|
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St. John's College High School | Away | Win | 31-15 |
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vs.
Bishop McNamara High School
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|
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Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex | Home | Win | 37-0 |
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vs.
St. John's College High School
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|
|
PG Sports & Learning | Home | Win | 42-7 |
|
vs.
Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School
|
|
All Day
|
Navy | Win | 16-7 |
COACH
Head Coach
Bill McGregor
Kevin Davis graduated from DeMatha in 1987. But the Fairfax County (Va.) police chief doesn’t make an important decision without contacting his former football coach Bill McGregor.
“There hasn’t been a time in my adult life that I’ve lost contact with Bill. I still rely on him as a mentor, a coach and a teacher to this day,” said Davis, who played two years of varsity football for the Stags. “He’s still an influential person in my life.”
McGregor enters his 35th year as DeMatha’s head coach in 2024 with a career record of 313-52-3. He is one of just four coaches in Maryland high school football history to have won 300 or more games. His .855 winning percentage is No. 1.
McGregor has never had a losing season and has coached six undefeated teams. From 1997-2006, his record was 107-8-1 (.927). Former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, whose son Coy played for the Stags, called McGregor “the best high school coach in the country.”
McGregor came to DeMatha in 1972 and served as defensive coordinator from 1979-81. He became head coach in 1982 when Jerry Franks departed. That year he led the Stags to the Washington Metropolitan Athletic Conference (WMAC) championship, the forerunner of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). It was the school’s first league title in 15 years.
Glory and Honors
McGregor has guided DeMatha to 17 conference championships. In addition to 1982, his teams won the WMAC in 1984, ’86, ’91 and ’92. The Stags captured the first three WCAC titles (1993-95) and again in 1998, 2000 and 2001. From 2003-08, they dominated the league with six consecutive crowns.
In The Washington Post’s annual football rankings, McGregor-led squads have seven times finished No. 1. In 1999 and 2009, the publication named DeMatha the “Program of the Decade.”
He returned to lead the Stags in 2019 and was named WCAC co-Coach of the Year. Since the formation of the conference in 1993, it was the 12th time McGregor was recognized as the league’s top coach. The Post honored him as Coach of the Year in 2003.
McGregor drew national attention to DeMatha when he was named 2004 NFL High School Football Coach of the Year. The award honors “coaches who profoundly impacted the athletic and personal development of NFL players.”
McGregor was recognized at the 2005 Super Bowl and was on the field for the coin toss. Brian Westbrook, one of his star players who played in that Super Bowl, nominated him.
“Bill was and continues to be an inspiration and source of support to me,” Westbrook said.
Using Football to Pay for College
Westbrook is one of more than 20 of McGregor’s former players to play in the NFL. They include, among others, Rodney McLeod, Josh Wilson, J.B. Brown, Bobby Houston, Mike Johnson, Tony Paige, Steve Smith and Cameron Wake. More importantly, McGregor has helped over 400 former players get an NCAA Division 1 scholarship.
“One of the things that’s really helped the program is that we’ve gotten so many young men into college on full football scholarships,” McGregor said. “A big part of my job is helping the kids get into school and get a free education.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the Hyattsville Life & Times.