COLLEGE PARK — Talk about keeping your game plan a secret.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Caleb Rowe let his teammates, coaches, friends and family in on his intentions to propose to longtime girlfriend Sarah Molina after Saturday's regular season finale against Rutgers at Maryland Stadium.
Molina's family and friends – including those on the Maryland women's soccer team for which she played until last year – were also in on Rowe's plans. Keeping it from Molina was the most difficult part, perhaps in their 3½-year relationship.
"It's been a lot of time coming. Everyone pretty much knew but her," Rowe said. "Friends knew, parents knew, family knew, even my whole team knew."
Shortly after the Terps went into the locker room at Gossett Team House following a 31-13 victory, Rowe emerged. With a few hundred fans watching from the stands and the band playing "The Only Exception" by Paramore on the field, Rowe got down on a knee and proposed. Molina tearfully accepted.
As they kissed and embraced, several of Rowe's teammates joined him on the field to celebrate.
"It was a lot of fun," Rowe said."This is where we both met each other, and both our families were coming for my senior night. So it worked out perfectly. She's an awesome girl. I'm very lucky and I'm ready to celebrate with my family."
Molina said she suspected something was up when her father, who lives in Arizona, told her he was flying in for Rowe's final home game.
"He kept saying, 'It's just to support Caleb, it's just to support Caleb,'" Molina said. "I kind of had an idea when I saw all the families still waiting. I was like, 'Why is everyone still waiting?' And Caleb was taking a really long time and normally he's like the first person out there."
When the band stopped playing for a moment, Molina said she noticed "everyone [in the crowd] started looking at me. I was thinking, 'What is going on?' And the second the song played, I started sobbing."
DJ Durkin watched the scene unfold from his office that overlooks the field.
"I think she said, 'Yes,'" Durkin said of his first postgame marriage proposal by one of his players.
Asked if he told Rowe to take a victory knee, Durkin said with a smile, "I didn't coach him on it at all. I'm very happy for Caleb. I'm excited for him. He's a fine young man and I know he wants to get into coaching. He'll be a tremendous coach someday."