Annandale Overpowers Holy Family in Strong Second Half Effort

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VICTORIA--</strong> We took our talents to a big 3A tilt on Friday night between #4 ranked Holy Family Catholic versus #1 ranked Annandale which was a battle of two undefeated programs. The first half was barnburner with each team peaking their momentum from time to time but the scoreboard showed that it was pretty balanced. We'll touch base over the next day or so with the game, and scouting reports on each team that we logged from our notebook.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>First Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Annandale</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was the #1 ranked Cardinals that got on the scoreboard first in this 3A highly ranked tilt without much effort. The Fire had a botched snap deep in their own territory that ended up on the inside edge of the end zone. Although they were able to recover, the Annandale defense was right there to assure that they got the safety. This happened within the first 45-50 seconds of the game giving the Cardinals their first lead of the evening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Annandale 2, Holy Family Catholic 0</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Annandale</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Annandale had some bad luck of their own came their way in the first quarter as well. One of the top-tier prospects we wanted to watch in this one was WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='1362932' first='Gabe' last='Westman']. Gabe returned a kickoff for a Cardinals touchdown, however a holding penalty on the return took the Cardinals all the way back to their own territory. After a huge splash play by 2026 wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1257442' first='Isaiah' last='Turner'] getting the Cardinals deep into Fire territory, it was the start of the multi-touchdown day for 2026 running back Cameron Ergen who got the Cardinals a two score lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Annandale 9, Holy Family Catholic 0</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Second Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Holy Family </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holy Family had trending momentum throughout the second quarter, but it was the last two minutes of the second quarter where we saw the most of it. 2027 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1547262' first='Ethan' last='Ryan'] dialed up some well-thrown balls to his receiving core lead by 2027 WR/DB Mawell Simpson and 2028 WR [player_tooltip player_id='1651475' first='Kevin' last='Tennin-Gray'] getting them deep into Annandale territory. Deep in the red zone in the end, it's the 1-yard rushing touchdown for 2026 running back <strong>Noah Galvin</strong> which put the Fire down two with just under two minutes left on the clock, but not there last score of the half either.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/NWahlScouting/status/1971738699298709970","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/NWahlScouting/status/1971738699298709970 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"16px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:16px"><em><strong>Annandale 9, Holy Family Catholic 7</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Holy Family</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Fire would end up taking the lead into halftime against Annandale as they got the ball back quickly as Annandale's two minute offense stalled quickly. [player_tooltip player_id='1651475' first='Kevin' last='Tennin-Gray'] kicked a short field from the right hash to put the #4 ranked Fire up on the #1 ranked Cardinals at halftime</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Holy Famly Catholic 10, Annandale 9, HALF</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Third Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Annandale</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you had thought the #1 ranked team in 3A was going to go out without a battle, you would be mistaken as the Annandale Cardinals didn't mess around in the second half. It was similar to one of the Cardinals first half drives, 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1257442' first='Isaiah' last='Turner'] got loose in the open field and utilized his great vision and in the end it was 2026 Cameron Ergen in for his second rushing touchdown of the night giving the Cardinals the lead with just over 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='1257442' first='Isaiah' last='Turner'] was also key on the 2-point conversion for the Cardinals. This was the only scoring drive in the 3rd quarter</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Annandale 17, Holy Family Catholic 10, end of 3rd quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Fourth Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Annandale</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You can write this down as my superlative for <strong>best drive of the game</strong> between both teams as it came in the fourth quarter for Annandale. The Cardinals identified that they had the momentum and started to open up their passing game more downfield with 2026 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1489404' first='Michael' last='Kovall']. In the end, this paid off for Annandale as Michael found 2026 NSIC target WR [player_tooltip player_id='1362932' first='Gabe' last='Westman'] who ran a stellar route to take the top off the corner and haul in their first non-rushing touchdown of the evening. At this point, it was all gas no brakes for the Cardinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Annandale 24, Holy Family Catholic 10</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Annandale</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Consistency is key in evaluating prospects, and [player_tooltip player_id='1257442' first='Isaiah' last='Turner'] was the defintion of that on Friday night. We saw probably what were his best reps on the last Annandale scoring drive of the game where he ate up several yards after contact around the edges. Talking about consistency again came from 2026 running Cameron Ergen who logged his third touchdown of the evening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Annandale 30, Holy Family Catholic 10</em> FINAL</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Incoming we have our Big Dogs of the Game from each team!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->