SCH has always worn the ‘underdog’ label, whether in the Inter-Ac or in Pennsylvania. On Friday night, they had a chance to prove that against the #9 team in the state: Roman Catholic. While SCH played them well, it was the team’s own mistakes that led to a 21-12 loss.
A team might be able to survive a bad snap, lapse in coverage, or even an interception, but SCH suffered from all of that and more. Ultimately, the Devils did more damage to themselves than to Roman Catholic.
Things started to head downhill early in the 1st quarter, after Buffalo commit, senior Aaron Clark, caught a long pass to set the Devils up at the goal line. There, however, a string of bad snaps turned 1st and goal into 4th and goal from their own 47.
Then, after stopping Roman Catholic and driving down to the Catholic’s 27-yard line, senior QB Liam Zelman was stripped, ending yet another promising scoring drive without putting points on the board.
A turnover on downs in the third quarter led to a long Roman Catholic drive, ending in a touchdown. By then, the Devils were exhausted, and another sustained Roman Catholic drive led to a short passing touchdown to put the Devils down 14-0.
A Zelman rushing touchdown put it back to a one-score game, but time was winding down, and SCH missed the extra point. SCH finally forced a stop, but with time winding down, they needed to score quickly – and that’s when the game slipped away.
On 1st and 10, Zelman dropped back to pass. As he looked right, the linebacker faked blitz, dropping back into coverage and intercepting his pass, which was taken all the way for a touchdown to put the Devils down 21-6.
While the Devils managed to get the game just a bit closer thanks to senior WR and former QB Joey Markey, who tossed a touchdown off a flea flicker play, junior kicker James Brennan-Rothschild narrowly missed the extra point, setting them up in a two-score game, which they never recovered from and resulting in a 21-12 final score.
Despite the loss, there were flashes of great things. Sophomore running back William Howard had himself a night, turning 19 carries into 121 yards against a talented defense.
“I expect to come out, dominate early,” said Howard during the Gametime Sports pregame show. “[We’re gonna] show them who we are.”
SCH did just that, revealing their identity as a ground and pound offense. Holy Cross commit, QB Liam Zelman, built on a strong start to his senior season with 163 yards and a TD on 22 carries. While they might’ve lost the game, the combination of Howard and Zelman seems to be a deadly duo that’ll make noise in the Inter-Ac this year.
However, the most impressive thing was the defense. SCH held Roman Catholic scoreless at the half, stifling an offense that’s been averaging 38.5 points per game behind a tight game plan. The linebacking core of seniors Harry Kull, Johnny Nosa, Spencer Meile, and junior Colin McFadden had spectacular showings, combining for 15 total tackles, tacking on a sack as they stifled the Roman Catholic rushing attack.
The defensive line played fantastically as well, with the senior trio of Sadiek Willis, Amari Fallen, and Kyle Knox helping to not just contain the run but also keep up with a fast-paced Roman Catholic offense.
“[We] gotta be physical,” said Willis during a pre-game interview. “We’re gonna make an emphasis on playing into the physical and violent aspect of football…we embrace that.”
Willis and the D-Line certainly played up to those standards. There was consistent, heavy contact down in the trenches throughout the game, and the Roman Catholic QB was consistently under duress as he attempted to make plays, resulting in multiple mistakes.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to overcome their errors, leaving both players and fans incredibly frustrated with the game’s results. At 1-1, SCH now has to take care of business against Lincoln this Friday, before coming out to their home opener against Hun in the following week.
Tune in to Gametime Sports to catch the Hun v. SCH game next Saturday!