Game Story: Concordia Prep Holds Off Archbishop Curley for Win

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Concordia Prep overcame a sloppy start and leaned on its defense to grind out a 14-7 victory over Archbishop Curley in a physical, back-and-forth game this past Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Archbishop Curley struck first in dramatic fashion. On Concordia's opening drive, pressure from defensive end Ballen Boutz forced the Saints' quarterback into a hurried throw. Curley's Jackson Athas jumped the pass and returned it down the sideline for a touchdown, giving the Friars an early 7-0 lead with 9:23 left in the first quarter. From there, both defenses dictated the tempo. The majority of the first half saw both teams trading stops and forcing turnovers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Concordia moved the ball at times, but Curley's front, led by Boutz and Jayden Wantland, clogged running lanes and forced the Saints into third-and-long situations. Meanwhile, Curley's offense struggled with turnovers of its own. They fumbled twice in the first half. Despite favorable field position, Concordia came up empty, including a missed field goal after reaching the red zone. At halftime, Curley still held the 7-0 advantage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second half belonged to Concordia. The Saints capitalized on strong field position midway through the third quarter. They had a nice drive going that saw them reach the Friars' 5-yard line, grinding out a drive. Running back [player_tooltip player_id='1432079' first='Nick' last='Blagmon'] powered in from one yard out to even the score at 7-7 with 4:47 remaining in the quarter. Moments later, Concordia's special teams blocked a Curley field goal attempt, swinging momentum further in their favor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='423015' first='Justin' last='Dixon'] connected on a big pass to [player_tooltip player_id='709999' first='Allen' last='Gillis'], setting up another red-zone opportunity. On third down, Dixon dumped a screen pass to Blagmon, who fought his way to the 5-yard line. Two plays later, he finished the drive with his second touchdown run of the night, giving Concordia its first lead, 14-7.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Curley threatened late, as [player_tooltip player_id='1127839' first='Adam' last='Cook'] found Athas for a 23-yard gain down to the 1-yard line. But Concordia's defense delivered in the clutch, recording back-to-back sacks before forcing a game-ending interception in the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was a defensive struggle that saw Concordia Prep hold on to win it in the end. The Saints (1-0) will take on Bishop McNamara (0-0) on August 22nd, while the Friars (0-1) will take on Saint James (0-0).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>EDDIE O'S TAKEAWAYS FROM THE GAME</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When Archbishop Curley looks back on this one, they'll feel like they should've won the game or at least pushed the game into overtime. Neither team had a lot of possessions in this game. In the second half, excluding the last possession, Concordia Prep ran out; both teams had the ball a total of four times. Both teams ran the football a lot. Concordia Prep was able to have more success with its passing game. The two interceptions for Archbishop Curley proved to be costly. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Concordia Prep was 2-for-3 inside the 10-yard line, ending up with two touchdowns and one missed field goal. Archbishop Curley had a total of three turnovers. The Friars had two prime chances to score but couldn't turn those opportunities into points. Both teams committed several penalties that you would expect in the season-opener. With that being said, moving forward, they'll both want to clean that up before their next game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->