| JCA scores 54 first half points, and wins 61-0 |
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by Peter Clemenza staff writer for JoiletCatholicFootball.com
The Lions had hoped to play ball control offense and keep JCA’s offense off the field for much of the game. It didn’t quite work out that way, the Lions were blitzed for 54 points in the first half, en route to being crushed 61-0.
Brad Bourg returned the kickoff to the Lions 47, two plays later Bourg pitched to Buchanan who lit the afterburners around the right end for 39 yards and the first score of the night.
The Lions went 3 and out on their first possession with a net loss of 7 yards. Eastman muffed the Lions punt at the JCA 32, and the Lions were in business – or so they thought. Little did they realize, it would be the closest they would get to the end zone all night.
JCA’s defense rose to the challenge and stuffed them on four plays with a net gain of 5 yards. After taking over on their own 29, JCA scored again with a 49 yard TD run by Bourg making it 14-0.
After another change of possession, Bourg scrambled for 13 yards keeping the drive alive and setting up a 31 yard TD run by Clancy making it 21-0 with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
Shortly before the end of the 1st quarter, LB Jake Trader came to the sidelines after being injured. Immediately after the game head coach Dan Sharp said, “Trader got hit in the kidney, a helmet in the back, they’re checking him out to see how severe it is, hopefully it’s just a deep bruise, but he was in a lot of pain when they took him off the sidelines.”
Kiernan took over at QB and led the next drive for a TD, Clancy went in from 5 yards out making it 28-0 with 10:52 left in the half. McKeon accounted for about 30 yards in the drive. “McKeon had a couple nice catches, and Clancy ran very well. They’re handling the ball well, misdirection is working well, I’m very pleased."
As if to not let himself get to positive about the evening, Coach Sharp said "I know we’ll find a few things on the tape, and we’ll correct them.”
Another change of possession and another TD. Buchanan sprinted 60 yards for a TD run after taking the pitch from Bourg who turned inside and pitched outside to Buchanan who made a move on two Lion defenders and was gone. Making it 35–0 with 8:29 left in the first half.
Junior Chris Clancy added a 39 yard TD run making it 41-0, the extra point was missed. 7:18 remained in the half.
Bourg hit Eastman for a 46 yard TD pass to make the score 48–0 with 5:30 left in the half. Sharp said “Bourg’s been working on that sprint out of the pocket and throw on the run, when he does that he provides the defense with something else to defend against. Will he throw, or will he run? It’ll give them something to think about.”
Kleeman took it up the middle for a 17 yard TD run making it 54-0, the extra point was blocked, with 1:42 left in the half.
JCA took the 54-0 score into halftime, and the starters were done for the evening.
Eastman retuned the second half kickoff and nearly broke it. The last Lion defender tripped him up or he was gone.
Hooks completed the scoring when he added a 3 yard run for the last score making it 61–0 with the extra point.
JCA finished with 418 rushing yards in 29 carries, your basic 14.4 average. And for good measure, Bourg and backup quarterback John Kiernan combined to hit 4 of 6 passes for 86 yards, giving the Hilltoppers 504 total yards.
Coach Sharp added after the game, “The score isn’t indicative of their team, they have a good team, we just came out and executed very well. Our speed really showed again tonight. These types of games are so tough to coach, on both sides of the ball. You want to get your starters some playing time, and you have to run your offense. You’ve got plays you want to run, and when you execute well, you score a lot of points.”
“Nobody likes scores like this, but we have to play our game, at least for the first half. The second half we substituted everyone and I think it worked out well”
St. Viator (0-2) managed three first downs and 88 yards of offense.
If the Lions have something to look forward to it may be their quarterback, Jared Funk. Only a sophomore, he showed good arm strength, and while he wasn’t all that accurate, that was largely due to the number of JCA defenders in his face all night long.
When asked about next week, Coach Sharp furrowed his brow and is genuinely concerned about the next opponent, St. Patrick’s. “We’ll have a bobcat on our hands next week. St. Patrick’s is a very good football team. They have talent and depth, they’re very good. A good size line, and a bunch of guys that like to hit and are great tacklers.”
St. Patrick’s defeated St. Viator in week one 23-8.
Note that the St. Pat’s game is Friday night 6pm start time for the sophomores, and 8pm varsity.
Bus rides are always long, but especially long after a loss. St. Viator boarded the bus for a really long ride home after running into the JCA buzzsaw.
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