Keough 20, O'Neill 0 - Tony Zappia
Keough defeated rival O’Neill, 20-0, this Sunday in a battle of West Quad neighbors.
The two teams looked to air the ball out early, and both had some success in putting together sustained drives; however, the first points of the game were came in the final play of the half as Keough junior quarterback and captain Matthew Mooney found a receiver up the seam.
After receiving the ball to begin the second half, Keough (1-2) marched downfield and notched another touchdown against a 10-man O’Neill (0-3) defense, which has lost its 11th man to a broken finger. Sophomore quarterback Matthew Yoder said the injury hurt O’Neill’s chances.
“We put our best foot forward today,” said Yoder. “Unfortunately it was 20 feet instead of 22.”
O’Neill turned to trick plays to get its undermanned offense going but ultimately could not find the end zone.
Keough then tacked on another score on one of its few running plays of the day as the fourth quarter came to a close.
Mooney said he was pleased with his team’s overall performance.
“We won 20 to nothing, so we just played pretty well all around,” said Mooney. “[O’Neill] is right next to us, so it’s always nice to beat them.”
Despite the final score, Yoder, in the true spirit of the rivalry, said he had a reason not to be upset.
“At the end of the day, I’m going back to O’Neill, and they have to go back to Keough,” said Yoder.
Keough will take to the field again Sunday where its meet Dillon at 3:30 p.m., while O’Neill enjoys a bye week before returning after fall break.
Lewis 8, Badin 6 - Joe Everett
Badin and Lewis went down to the wire Sunday afternoon at LaBar Practice Complex. Looking to avoid an upset, the Chicks defense stepped up big on a 4th-and-goal from the three-yard line and held on to win a close game by a score of 8-6.
Lewis (2-0-1) started the game strong, thanks to a safety forced by senior captain Penny Vorissis. The Chicks defense, led by Vorissis, constantly disrupted the Badin offense up front. Vorissis said she thought her team’s defense played well for the third straight week.
“I thought the defense did a great job of re-configuring itself,” Vorissis said. “Those were the first points we’ve allowed all season, however, so that was a bit disappointing.”
Badin (0-3) played its most competitive game of the year and had an opportunity to pull ahead in the fourth quarter after an interception deep in Lewis territory. However, its inability to finish the drive was something senior captain Maggie Long noted after the game.
“This season we’ve not been winning, but we’re improving,” Long said. “We had some calls go against us, but we need to work on closing out games.”
Junior wide receiver Christine Zavakos scored Lewis’ lone touchdown on a 45-yard run in the first half, while junior running back Melange Gavin cut into the lead in the second half on a hook-and-ladder play for Badin. Both teams failed to convert their respective two-point conversions, which proved crucial to the final score.
“It was a lot closer game than we expected, but I was super pleased with our performance today,” Vorissis said.
Lewis looks to stay undefeated against Howard next Sunday at 4 p.m., while Badin tries for its first win against McGlinn, also at 4 p.m.
Pasquerilla West 25, Breen-Phillips 0 - Alex Bender
Pasquerilla West came out on top over Breen-Phillips, staying unbeaten in a 25-0 win Sunday afternoon.
The Purple Weasels (3-0) were able to get things going right away as they marched down the field and made their way into the end zone thanks to a long touchdown pass from junior quarterback Hannah Butler to junior receiver Monica Busse.
Breen-Phillips (0-3) saw its first drive stall, and a punt gave Pasquerilla West good field position. However, neither team was able to do much with its remaining positions in the first half, so the score stayed at 8-0.
As the second half began, Breen-Phillips continued to struggle up against the staunch Pasquerilla West defense. The Purple Weasels began to get the offense going as they went on to notch two more passing touchdowns, one to junior Grace Magro and the other to junior Allie Griffith.
Meanwhile, the defense remained strong for the Purple Weasels as they came up with two interceptions, including a pick-six by senior captain Bernie Jordan.
Jordan said she was happy with her team’s performance.
“It was a good team effort led by our solid performance on defense, so we’re happy to get another shutout,” Jordan said.
Breen-Phillips continued to fight, however, even coming up with an interception of its own thanks to sophomore Michele Pennala.
Babes sophomore captain Megan Resnik said this was a tough situation for her team.
“It was a rough game; a lot of our starters were out of town or swamped with homework, so we had a lot of girls playing both offense and defens,e which can be tiring,” Resnik said. “Everyone there put in a lot of effort, and hopefully our next game will be a lot more exciting.”
Pasquerilla West takes on Welsh Family next Sunday at 5 p.m. while Breen-Phillips plays Cavanaugh at 6 p.m.
Stanford 10, Dillon 7 - Elizabeth Greason
Stanford bested Dillon, 10-7, when the teams met on Sunday.
It took both teams time to settle in, with no first downs and one pass completed in the first quarter. Stanford senior captain Mike Grasso said he was happy with the win despite the slow start.
“We started off slowly on offense,” Grasso said. “But we were able to put up 10 points in the second quarter, and it ended up being enough.”
Griffins sophomore quarterback Andrew Foster connected with sophomore Aaron Lopiccolo in the end zone to score the game’s first points. Stanford quickly followed up with a 40-yard field goal by senior Logan Welge.
Both Stanford (2-0) and Dillon (1-1) played strong defense at the line of scrimmage and in the secondary. Both grabbed interceptions, one by Stanford junior Justin Witte, stopping Dillon in the red zone. Stanford freshman Will Phillips and sophomore Aaron Lopiccolo also shared two sacks, while Dillon forced and recovered a Stanford fumble.
Dillon’s only points of the day came on a touchdown run by junior Tyler Dale. Dillon kept the ball on the ground for most of the game and only completed one pass.
Dillon sophomore captain John Walsh cited missing players as one reason for the Big Red’s struggles, but he said has high hopes going forward.
“Our biggest issue today was depth,” Walsh said. “We were tired. We only had 15 guys, but we fought hard. We’ve got to win next week. We’ve got a chance at making the playoffs.”
Dillon will play Keough next Sunday at 3:30 p.m., and Stanford will take on Keenan at the same time at Riehle Fields.
St. Edward’s 17, Zahm 0 - Molly Murphy
St. Edward’s defeated Zahm, 17-0, en route to capturing its third win and remain undefeated season Sunday.
Both teams ended the first quarter scoreless, with Zahm (0-2-1) holding St. Edward’s (3-0) to its running game with only one pass attempt. In the second quarter, a short punt by Zahm gave St. Edward’s possession at the 46-yard line. The Gentlemen offense capitalized on the first play of the drive, running a pass from the 20-yard line into the end zone.
St. Edward’s defense held the lead with a key interception by junior cornerback Griffin Hilly at the 25-yard line to enter the second half with a 7-0 lead.
In the second half, a failed fourth-down conversion from Zahm gave St. Edward’s strong field position at Zahm’s 20-yard line. St. Edward’s worked the ball to the four-yard line, and from there, junior running back Jahmel Jordon ran the ball into the end zone.
Several incomplete pass attempts by Zahm returned possession to St. Edward’s at the 25-yard line, where it executed its second field goal attempt of the game, going up 17-0.
Zahm senior quarterback Kyle Romera said he was disappointed by his team’s performance as a whole.
“We need to perform better in all three phases of the game,” Romera said.
St. Edward’s junior captain and lineman Phineas Andrews praised his team’s performance in all areas.
“We played a great game,” Andrews said. “The defense was strong again; we got a great pass rush. We did a great job with the kicking game. Offense is looking good: We hit the big pass play, so that was nice to see.”
St. Edward’s will look to continue its undefeated season next Wednesday against Sorin at 9:30 p.m., while Zahm plays Fisher on Sunday at 1 p.m..
Alumni 21, Duncan 12 - Brenna Moxley
Alumni kept Duncan winless Sunday, as the Dawgs dropped the Highlanders, 21-12.
The game opened up with a touchdown for Duncan (0-3), but Alumni (2-1) regained its composure, and the game was a show for the Dawgs from there on out.
On Alumni’s opening drive, sophomore running back Thomas Hellios pushed the ball downfield before junior receiver Nick Raven snagged a pass in the end zone to put Alumni’s first points on the board.
The following possession, Duncan rode multiple runs for first downs from freshman Micah Rensch, but the drive stalled and ended with a punt.
Duncan was forced to attempt a punt again on its next drive. However, the kick was blocked and recovered by Alumni freshman Luke Dawahare for a touchdown to make the score 14-6 at halftime.
The first drive of the third quarter ended with another touchdown catch for Raven to extend Alumni’s lead.
The Highlanders responded with touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Matt Kase to make the final score 21-12 after a failed two-point conversion.
Highlanders junior captain Stephen Treacy talked about absences and penalties affecting the outcome of this game.
“I think we played a pretty solid game, but we were missing a lot of players,” Treacy said. “For example, our standout linebacker and running back. Penalties killed us this game. We played hard but just couldn’t pull off the win.”
“We came out hitting pretty hard, and this was a great win for us,” he said. “[We are] looking forward, we anticipate making it deep in the playoffs.”
Alumni takes on Knott next Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. while Duncan will play Siegfried on Sunday at 2:15 p.m.
Siegfried 20, Knott 0 - Tori Llorens
Siegfried came out on top with a 20-0 victory in its battle for Mod Quad on Sunday against Knott (1-1).
In a game riddled with injuries and interceptions by the victorious Ramblers, senior captain and safety Grady Schmidt said he was satisfied by his team’s performance and ready to move on.
”That was good, very good,” Schmidt said. “That’s what we expected, so we’re very happy with it. The injuries were bad. We have been hurting a lot anyway, so to lose two or three guys today didn’t help us, but we’ll try to regroup moving forward.”
JuggerKnotts captain and senior middle linebacker Casey McCaffrey his team beat itself, but the loss has only motivated them.
“I think that the biggest factors were turnovers, penalties and pass defense,” McCaffrey said. “We were pretty bad in each of those categories.”
Ramblers senior tackle James Boyer said he is looking toward the future with high hopes and that the win will carry them through the rest of the season.
“We are ready to move forward,” Boyer said. “We are looking forward to Duncan. It is just straight to the stadium from here.”
In spite of the loss, McCaffrey said he was happy with moments of play from both the team and individual players throughout the game.
“We played great defense against the run but not particularly against the pass,” McCaffrey said. “The field goal block was great, but unfortunately, we could not turn it into any points.”
Knott plays against Morrissey and Siegfried will go up against Duncan next weekend. Both games will be held Sunday at 2:15 p.m. at Riehle Fields.
Farley 27, Pasquerilla East 12 - Tobias Hoonhout
Farley defeated Pasquerilla East on Sunday, 27-12, in a contest in which both teams had something to prove. Both the Finest (3-1) and the Pyros (2-2) were coming off losses to Howard in their previous games and were looking to get back on track with the playoffs suddenly looming.
Farley started off hot, as senior captain Michelle Summers intercepted a Pasquerilla East pass on the first play of the game. The Finest then capitalized when sophomore receiver Sydney Manista hauled in a 30-yard bomb for the touchdown. The extra point was converted, and Farley led 7-0.
The rest of the half, however, was all Pyros. Led by sophomore running back Hana Jenks and junior receiver and captain Noelle Gooding, Pasquerilla East scored two straight touchdowns to go up, 12-7. The defense closed the second quarter with an interception by junior captain Madeline McGovern and held Farley scoreless for the remainder of the half.
In the second half, however, Farley, led by the dual-threat capabilities of junior quarterback Elizabeth Moulton, took the lead and never looked back.
Moulton ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as the Finest surged to a 27-12 lead, and the defense held the Pyros scoreless for the entire half. Moulton said she was proud of how the defense played.
“A key factor was our defense,” Moulton said. “They really stepped up and made some big plays that ultimately took some pressure off of our offense. Overall, it was a great win for our team coming off of a disappointing loss against Howard.”
Pyros freshman safety Monica Schrand said her team will regroup after the loss.
“We just need to clean up our execution,” Schrand said. “We have great plays and great coaches, and as long as we trust those and capitalize on opportunities throughout the games, we will be a contender.”
Farley will face McGlinn on Sunday at 5 p.m., while Pasquerilla East has a bye week.
Sorin 12, Fisher 7 - Jackie Brebeck
Sorin prevailed 12-7 against Fisher in a close battle on the field Sunday.
Capitalizing on turnovers by Fisher (0-2), Sorin (3-0) worked cohesively to secure the victory.
Sorin senior John Shea forced a turnover on the first Fisher drive that led to a missed field goal opportunity, and junior Abd-Eljaami Madina recorded an 80-yard pick-six. Senior Aidan Baldwin was also a key player on defense, putting pressure on the Fisher quarterback by regularly breaking through the offensive line.
On the offensive side for Sorin, the chemistry between sophomore quarterback Shane Anderson and sophomore receiver Charles Edwards was evident through the completion of many long passes. Sorin captain Matthew Requet said he was happy with his team’s play but also thought there was still room for improvement.
“We completed passes and won the turnover battle, which was key,” Requet said. “The defense also played well and only gave up a couple deep plays. [The team] still needs to work on putting together consistent drives.”
Despite the turnovers, Fisher didn’t go away. In the last minute, the Green Wave executed a lateral play that gained them 30 yards but no points.
Fisher’s defense succeeded in stopping Sorin's run game the majority of the game, and although junior quarterback Michael Cooney was frequently pressured, he got the ball out of his hands fast. Junior receiver Luke Hamel caught Fisher’s only touchdown.
Junior captain Shannon Massey was a major force on the offense, making substantial gains in the run game. On many runs, it took more than one defender to bring him down. Despite his team’s loss, Massey said he felt positive about the game.
“I feel pretty good. We lost, but as far as playing, we did what we wanted to,” Massey said. “We spread the ball and were able to throw the ball pretty well. Our defensive line played really well; we only gave up a few deep plays because we were out of position. Other than a few fluke plays, we played well."
Next week, Sorin faces Carroll, and Fisher faces Zahm. Both games will take place at 1 p.m. at Riehle Fields.
