Typically, a game preview is segmented by offense, defense, and special teams with some guy on a keyboard projecting which team has the advantage on each side of the ball.

That would be a futile exercise in regard to the upcoming Washington Catholic Athletic Conference semifinal between Gonzaga (DC) and Our Lady of Good Counsel (MD) on Friday night.

The Eagles and Falcons are, for most intents and purposes, as evenly matched as any two teams you’ll find this time of year.

Gonzaga (7-3, 3-2) dropped back-to-back league games vs. Good Counsel and St. John’s (DC) to end the regular season — but the Eagles actually led 7-0 at the half before the bottom fell out in the second half.

Good Counsel (8-2, 4-1) is a surprise No. 2 seed in the league in what was thought by many to be a transition year in head coach Andy Stefanelli’s first season at the helm.

It was anything but.

Tough victories against DeMatha (MD) and Bishop Sullivan Catholic (VA) highlight a season — the lone blemishes an early loss to Baltimore’s Mount St. Joseph and, of course, the 31-9 loss to St. John’s.

Good Counsel quarterback Kamerun Snell has been good to spectacular for the Falcons this season. He was the latter in the second half the last time these two teams met. 

After continuing to trail 7-0 for much of the third quarter, Snell led Good Counsel to 27 unanswered points in the final 17 minutes of the game — rushing for two touchdowns of his own and pacing an attack that piled up 166 yards in the second half alone.

Late-game heroics aren’t an aberration for Good Counsel, either. The Falcons scored 37 unanswered in a victory over Archbishop Spalding (MD) and shocked DeMatha on the road in overtime.

Gonzaga, meanwhile, was flying high prior to consecutive losses to the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the league to end the regular season. The Eagles rattled off six straight wins with a freshman quarterback — Caleb Williams — who doesn’t play at all like a freshman.

Some game tape.
Caleb Williams to John Marshall. How good is this guy? Nothing phases him. pic.twitter.com/Od26XfOwMr

— ((( Jacob Bogage ))) (@jacobbogage) October 7, 2017

Williams can’t even drive a car yet, but he can sure drive an offense. He went 14 of 20 for 200 yards and two scores in the win over DeMatha — which is about as impressive a line as you’ll ever see from any quarterback against that defense, let alone a freshman playing on the road.

And, while Williams has been great, senior Jason Labbe is the heart and soul of the Eagles, playing everywhere from running back to safety to special teams — and doing it all at a very high level. He can be the X-factor on any given night.

As for the defenses? There’s nothing not to like about both groups. Gonzaga pitched three shutouts during the regular season and only allowed more than eight points three times. Good Counsel was similarly consistent, serving as the catalyst in hard fought, low-scoring wins against DeMatha and Bishop Sullivan Catholic.

What, exactly, is in store for us when the teams square off once more on Friday night is anyone’s guess. What we do know is that it will be an intense, evenly matched game, and anything can happen.