Concordia at Bishop Dwenger
Final Score: 38-12 Dwenger
The pressure is on in these last weeks of the season. With Dwenger, Carroll, and Homestead coming into the night with 4-1 records, all it would take for any of those teams is one mistake, one misstep and their chances at the Victory Bell would diminish. Fortunately for the Saints, they’re more than ready for when things get tighter down the stretch. They’ve been in dozens of close games over the last few years, as well as this season, to where they can trust in themselves to make the right plays. Last night however, the Saints took the pressure off early.
After a promising opening drive by Concordia, Brandon Davis fumbled the ball when taking the snap and Dwenger recovered, kicking a field goal on their ensuing possession. Then after another steady strong drive by the Cadets, the Bishop Dwenger pass rush, which has caused so many problems for opposing offenses this season, forced another turnover on a John Michael Fabini strip sack, resulting in a 64-yard fumble recovery and return for a touchdown by big Vinny Fiacable, who looked more like a linebacker than a lineman when he ran it back for six.
“We just take pride in that,” Coach Garrett said. “Just trying to create disruption without getting ourselves out of position. They actually took advantage of our aggressiveness, hats off to them, we had to make some adjustments and settle our guys down. Our defense is based on playing fast, playing physical and we did a great job of that tonight.”
After getting out to a 10-0 lead Dwenger’s offense took flight. QB Brenden Lytle found his receivers for 154 yards and 2 TD while the rushing attack, anchored mostly by KJ Tippmann, had 127 yards and 2 TD themselves. This balanced attack on offense was what made the Saints near unstoppable in the fourth quarter against Carroll and it carried over to tonight with another great performance and impressive win over a tremendous defense.
“When we can throw it and run it that makes us very good,” Garrett said. “That’s Coach Dixon, that’s Coach Fabini, that’s our coaching staff on that side, they get all the credit. Then obviously we’ve got a great quarterback who’s leading us right now, he’s making some plays. We’re sharing it on the ground, we’re sharing it in the air, we’re staying balanced, can’t say enough about those guys right now.”
Concordia came into this game having only allowed 40 points all season, but they gave up 38 last night. The Dwenger offense drove down the field at will against a Cadets team that looked lost most of the night. It was a terrific job by the Saints to get up for this game on a shorter week, following a hard fought victory. This just speaks to how disciplined and experienced this team is. They just seem ready for anything, and right now they’re ready for another deep playoff run.
“In some ways it’s just as big or maybe even bigger than last week. Sometimes it’s harder to come back after a big, emotional win and then homecoming, so a lot of distractions, so hats off to our coaching staff, hats off to our seniors, and just a shout out to our military and National Guard, just a great night all around.”
Through all the festivities the Saints were laser focused and have put themselves in a position to have a shot at an SAC title, depending on what happens next week between Carroll and Homestead. The Saints just have Luers, Snider, and Northrop left, not a cakewalk by any means, but it’s safe to say that the most challenging part of their year is over.
North Side at Homestead
Final Score: 56-36 Homestead
We knew this game would have lots of offense, and based on what we’ve seen from these two offenses this year, it’s not even surprising that these two combined for 775 yards of total offense on Friday. While the Spartans won comfortably with an onslaught of points coming in the second and third quarters, Duce Taylor still found a way to throw for 193 yards and 3 TD in this game for the Legends. But it’s the quarterback on the other side that’s the story in this one. Evan Ormsby just followed up last week’s performance with an even better one, 18 of 23 for 294 yards and 5 TD. His leading receiver in this game was Nate Anderson with 5 receptions for 119 yards and 2 TD. The Spartans, much like the Saints, are coming around at the right time.
Bishop Luers at Northrop
Final Score: 35-25 Northrop
Luers wanted to follow up a win over North Side last week, with a win over Northrop last night. QB Carson Clark had a nice game with 217 yards and 2 TD, and RB Sir Hale had his way on the ground with 109 yards and 2 TD. This probably would have been enough to get the win if they hadn’t had to face the best running back in the conference with Damarius Cowen averaging 7.5 yards a carry in this game for 234 yards and 1 TD. Cowen’s game-wrecking rushing ability has been the difference in many of the Bruins’ wins this year and last night he pushed Northrop back to .500.
South Side at Carroll
Final Score: 66-0 Carroll
The Chargers have set the bar so high that scoring anything short of 50 would have been a disappointment in this game. Another indelible display of offense by the Carroll gave them their largest margin of victory in 7 years. Jeff Becker only had 19 attempts in this game, but he made the most of those opportunities with 228 yards and 4 TD. 3 of Mason Englert’s 4 receptions on the night also went for touchdowns. RB Aidan Lazoff had 81 yards on 5 carries for 2 TD. While this was another game that the Chargers were able to dominate on offense, they’ll have to be at their best next week when they face a stout Homestead defense.
Snider at Wayne
Final Score: 35-6 Snider
This was the type of win that Panther fans had been waiting for. A 35-6 beatdown against the Generals might be what Snider needed to get things going in the final weeks of the regular season. RB Tyrese Brown had a breakout game for 217 yards, 3 TD, as he averaged over 10 yards per carry. LB Domanick Moon had a busy night leading the team with 12 tackles, while DE Reece Thomas had 3.5 TFL and 2 sacks. Defensively the Panthers did exactly what they needed to by holding RB Chris Thomas to only 69 yards and stalling Wayne’s offense. With big games against Northrop, Dwenger, and Luers still remaining, Snider still has time to find consistency on the field before sectionals.
