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Scranton Prep over Loyola Blakefield (MD) in a thriller

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| August 31, 2024

A recipe for success is to challenge yourself. We have been seeing teams in District 2 start to do this, emulating what Delaware Valley and others have done to prepare themselves for tougher competition later in the year. This season the LIAA let Scranton Prep out of the normal schedule and accommodated their desire to play some more teams from out of the area, to seek out different competition for the growth of their team.

It looks like this scenario might be working well for the Cavaliers.

Scranton Prep travelled out of state to play Loyola Blakefield, MD — a team with multiple D1-offered players — and took some early blows but eventually out-toughed the Dons 26-23 at Hargaden Field in Towson, MD. The Cavaliers used strong play on both lines and some strong option runs from QB Louis Paris and RB Will McPartland to wear down the Dons and get the big W.

Loyola Blakefield won the toss and deferred to the 2nd half. The Cavaliers took the opening kickoff and were stymied by the Dons defense who forced a 3-and-out. Starting their 1st drive at their own 23, QB Brad Seiss wasted no time and on a play-action pass hit WR Khary Adams in stride for a 77-yard catch and run for a quick score. With 9:46 still left in the 1st quarter, Loyola Blakefield had a 7-0 lead.

But if the Cavaliers were stunned, they did not show it. After both teams exchanged possessions, Scranton Prep started their 2nd drive at their own 22. On the first play, QB Louis Paris scrambled to his right under pressure and threw it to WR Brady Holmes for a 78-yard TD connection that tied the game at 7 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

Scranton Prep then changed strategy and employed the squib kick for the remainder of the game to keep the ball out of the hands of Adams who was so effective on the Dons’ first drive. Also changing strategy, Loyola Blakefield worked hard to establish their running game. After the Cavaliers tied the score, the Dons started their next drive on their own 18. RB Mason Russell had 2 short runs to set up 3rd-and-long. Seiss then tried to hit Adams again up the left sideline but WR/DB Treyvon Dickey played it perfectly and broke up the pass to force a punt.  Dickey then almost gave it right back to the Dons on a muffed punt, but he recovered the ball at the bottom of the pile and the Cavaliers took over. Unfortunately, disaster struck immediately as Paris heaved up a jump ball that was intercepted by DB Michael Robinson and returned to the Cavalier 33 yard line. Scranton Prep responded though, standing tall against 4 straight runs to force a turnover on downs.

As the 1st quarter gave way to the 2nd quarter, Scranton Prep started at their own 25 and began to establish their running game. RB Will McPartland saw some nice openings on his first 2 runs of the game that totaled 45 yards. Unfortunately, the Dons defense rose up once backed into their own territory and forced a turnover on downs at their own 27. They then went back to the well 3 plays later and it was Seiss to Adams again for a long score, this time from 74 yards out, and gave Loyola Blakefield the 14-7 lead with 7:27 left in the first half.

On the next drive, the Cavaliers were determined to grind it out the ground. McPartland had 2 runs for 11 total yards, and then Paris used the option pitch to Dickey for a nice 12-yard pickup and a 1st down at the Dons 46. Paris then called his own number 4 straight times for 28 more yards. The senior QB then used the option pitch again, and Dickey turned that into an 18-yard scoring run that tied the game again at 14 with 2:31 left in the half.

On the final drive of the 1st half, the Dons started at their own 37 and tried to establish the screen pass to their fast backs and receivers. The Cavaliers were ready though, and Loyola Blakefield only made it as far as the Scranton Prep 36. The Dons then lined up for a 51-yard FG attempt, and K Owen Scheihing just snuck it over the crossbar for the 3 points and the Dons had a 17-14 lead at halftime.

As Loyola Blakefield took the 2nd half kickoff at their own 30, they again tried to establish the run. Russell had 2 nice runs to begin the drive but the Dons drive stalled as Scranton Prep stood stout against the ground game. The Cavaliers started their next drive at their own 15. McPartland had a short 2-yard gain and then struck gold on the next play, taking the direct snap on the wildcat and scampered 83 yards to paydirt. The PAT was blocked, but Scranton Prep took the lead 20-17 with 7:39 to go in the 3rd.

Loyola Blakefield then started an extended drive with a mix of runs and screen passes. The Cavaliers eventually stopped the Dons at the Cavalier 17, but a FG attempt from there was wide left and the Cavaliers took over at their own 20. Paris hit the Dons immediately with a strong 39-yard run to the Dons 41. 2 plays later, he ran it on the keeper again and was stopped after a short gain but a personal foul on the Dons gave the Cavaliers a 1st and 10 at the 19. 2 runs by McPartland drove them down to the 9 and a 1st and goal as the 3rd quarter ended. Paris ran it to the 7 to start the final quarter and then McPartland hit on the wildcat to give Scranton Prep a 26-17 lead with 11:08 left in the game.

Loyola Blakefield then began an inspired drive at their own 40. Runs by Seiss, RB Carston Brown and Russell gained yardage down to the Cavalier 19. Seiss then tried the screen pass again to the speedy Adams, but the Scranton Prep defense stopped it for only a 1-yard gain. Facing 4th and 11 from the 20, the Dons tried another FG attempt but this time it was wide right. With under 6 minutes remaining, Scranton Prep tried to run down the clock and forced the Dons to use their remaining timeouts. The Cavaliers gained only 4 yards and punted it away.

Loyola Blakefield got great field position at their own 47 and used a run from Russell and a reverse from Adams to get to the Cavalier 38. Seiss then aired it out and hit WR Brayden Pross for an electric 38-yard TD. The PAT missed and with only 3:04 left in the game it was Scranton Prep still with the lead at 26-23.

The Cavaliers picked up right where they left off — on the ground. With the clock the enemy for the Dons, Scranton Prep had a false start penalty but got a 10-yard run from McPartland, 3 yards from Paris and then 3 yard from McPartland again to invoke the victory formation and seal the win for the Cavaliers.

After the game, coach Terry Gallagher told his team “This is a great win….you guys won the battle. It’s an awesome win and it’s a great win for the program.” I spoke with Will McPartland after the game about the wildcat: “It’s hard to defend because you don’t know who has the ball”, said the junior RB, “and we have 2 guys who can throw so it makes for a really diverse offense.” I also spoke to Louis Paris about the type of game it was: “It was definitely a state playoff type atmosphere….they came out and punched us in the mouth a little bit but that’s going to help us in the state playoffs because we rallied around each other.”

Scranton Prep now heads home for another big matchup against Canisius (NY).

Be sure to check out the photo gallery from the game, courtesy of Sherryl Samuel:  PHOTO GALLERY

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