deCarteret College made it through the group stages and went on to the second round of the DaCosta Cup competition for the first time since 2015. Getting to the second round, which is the knockout round of the competition, was seven years in the making. Unfortunately, it was in the second round that the road would end for deCarteret College.

​

 After making it through the group stages, deCarteret College had to draw a team to play in the second round. Unfortunately, they drew Garvey Maceo high school who were the reigning champions of the competition. Garvey Maceo boasts an elite team that would be a great force to reckon with no matter who the opposition was. It would prove to be an extremely difficult contest for the boys and despite their valiant effort, they slumped to defeat. The first leg, which was held at Brooks Park, ended in a painful five-nil (5-0) defeat. This was a tough pill for the team to swallow. But the worst was yet to come. For in the return fixture Garvey Maceo scored double their previous tally with a thunderous ten-nil (10-0) score line. These two games combined into an unfathomable fifteen-nil (15-0) aggregate score for Garvey Maceo who moved on to the next round.

​

Despite making a second-round exit, and in the manner that they did, we must commend our boys for the incredible effort shown to get to that point. Although it was not to be, the team showed class and character to force their way out of the group stages, which was not an easy task. They showed a lot of passion, determination, quality, effort, and courage. They showed us what a deCarteret College Football team is truly capable of. And that is why, without a doubt, deCarteretCollege will come back stronger and better next year. Simply because the team exhibited the qualities of true winners.

​

Finally, we acknowledge that the team could not do it on their own. And so we must appreciate those who helped them along the way. The coaching and managerial staff played a massive role in guiding the boys and deserve a huge round of applause. The deCarteret College Alumni were undoubtedly one of, if not the biggest supporters of the football team. The support from the entire deCarteret College family was immense and deserves to be highlighted. They were at times the twelfth player on the team. They spurred the team on in the face of adversity and motivated them to keep going. Without their support, it would have been an even more difficult task to make it out of the group stages.

​

One can only hope that the team is not too disheartened by their exit and the manner of their defeat and can find it within themselves to go again. Next year they will be back to challenge and will hopefully be able to replicate what they have done this year