BERKS CATHOLIC ROCKS McDONOGH MD 14-13
Tagged under: District 3, News
Bruce Badgley | September 8, 2018
(Reading, PA) It was unfamiliar territory for Berks Catholic Friday Night. The Saints were coming off a tough home loss to Central Dauphin. BC was also and underdog in a regular season game at home. How would Berks Catholic react? Like champions. The Saints stood toe to toe with powerhouse McDonogh MD for three quarters. In the fourth quarter the Saints took command and then hung on for dear life and a dramatic 14-13 victory.
The Saints win was the result of an outstanding defensive effort and a tough hard nosed ground attack on offense. Brandon George was huge on both sides of the ball for BC. Abdul MacFoy complimented George in the BC running attack. DE Luke Painton and DB Luis Garcia made the plays when they had to be made on defense to lead the Saints to the victory.
“Going into halftime 0-0 with that team we sent the message that we can play with a really good football team” said Berks Catholic Head Coach Rick Keeley. Coach told the players at halftime “now lets go out and wing T it up and play some good defense.” That’s exactly what the Saints did to come away with the win. Senior Brandon George credited a total team effort for the win “we are only as strong as our weakest link, everybody played absolutely wonderful, every link was Titanium tonight.”
The game was very much a field position battle for three quarters. Each defense played outstanding. The special teams efforts were just that special. McDonogh punter Harrison Beattie and Saints kicker Jamin Smith put on quite a display of pressure packed efforts. Each time it looked as if one team would get a field position edge, the opposing punter would flip the battle the other way. McDonogh had the only scoring opportunity of the first half in quarter one. A slippery ball went through the holders hands on an filed goal attempt and that was it for scoring chances in the first half.
Berks Catholic came out of halftime and dominated the line of scrimmage. Most of the third quarter was played in the McDonogh end of the field. Finally on the first play of the fourth quarter Abdul MacFoy’s 9 yard scamper put the Saints out in front 7-0. The BC defense came up big again and the Saints offense drove the ball deep into Eagles territory on the next possession. As MacFoy was driving to a score, he fumbled on the Eagles 1 yard line. McDonogh had the ball back. The Eagles had just given themselves some breathing space when BC Senior Luis Garcia picked off an Eagles QB Kris Jenner pass to set BC up on a short field. Quickly the Saints moved the ball and when MacFoy put the ball in the end zone it was 14-0 with 3:29 left. McDonogh’s sense of urgency got ramped way up. QB Jenner moved the Eagles quickly down the field. The outstanding McDonogh receivers of Curtis Jacobs, Dane Swanson and Giovanni Procaccini began to find some openings. Jabriel Johnson scored for the Eagles with just over 2 minutes to go. 14-7 Berks Catholic. The Saints went conservative on the next possession. McDonogh Head Coach Hakeem Sule effectively used his time outs and the Eagles got the ball back at their own 40 with plenty of time left. With lighting speed the Eagles pulled to within one, moving right down the field to score a TD. Coach Sule then decided to go for the win. The McDonogh two point attempt failed. BC was still in front 14-13. McDonogh then successfully executed an on side kick. The Eagles had new life down only one in the BC end of the field. Two plays later the Saints D came up huge. Berks Catholic forced a Jenner fumble as he went back to pass and a huge loss of yardage on the play. The Eagles had two desperation pass attempts fall incomplete, and Berks Catholic came away with a heart stopping 14-13 win.
McDonogh’s PA opponent next week is Malvern Prep. Berks Catholic is off to play Boyertown.
Watch the ENTIRE game HERE:
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