Ireton earns hard fought win at Paul VI, 20-13

Bernie Hayes III (32) and Tre Lovisone (51) stop the Panthers in Cardinals 20-13 win in Fairfax Friday.

When rivalry games roll around, you can often throw out the records and just roll up your sleeves. That was the case when the Cardinals (6-2) called on PVI (2-6) Friday night, clawing out a 20-13 win that took a last minute stand in Ireton territory to seal the victory.

Panther Field has been a tough place to win for the Cardinals and Friday night was no different. Paul VI, aided by a personal foul in the game’s opening drive took an early 6-0 lead on a 20-yard toss to Thomas Gill. The PAT attempt failed and the home team had chewed up nearly 8 minutes of game clock and earned an early advantage.

Bishop Ireton countered on a 39-yard pass to sophomore Perris Jones that pushed the Cardinals deep into PVI territory. They finished the drive with an 18-yard screen pass to sophomore Sam Smith for a touchdown and David Cooper gave Ireton a 7-6 lead. Cooper extended the margin to 10-6 with 1:10 left in the opening half with a 20-yard field goal and the ball clubs headed to the locker rooms shortly thereafter.

A holding penalty killed the Cardinals opening drive of the third quarter, but the Panthers struck on their first possession of the second half, this time on a 7-play, 50-yard series when Colton Davis dashed around the left end for a score and Josh Romano added the extra point, giving PVI a 13-10 lead.

A pair of 15-yard penalties extended the Bishop Ireton drive as the third period wound down and the Cardinals took advantage of those mistakes when Drew Smith hauled in a 25-yard toss from Joe Dickinson to regain the lead at 17-13.

The defense took over in the final act, Panther mistakes covering for the visitors when the defense wasn’t throttling the home team’s battering running game. The Cardinals got to the doorstep, but couldn’t get in on their final scoring drive with 7:57 left, settling for a field goal to extend the PVI deficit to 7 with a 25-yard boot by Cooper, his second of the game.

Senior linebacker Josh Ammon picked off a Panther pass to stymie one 4th quarter drive. Later, PVI would mount one final assault, but a holding penalty wiped out a potential touchdown and the Cardinals defense denied the Fairfax school any further opportunity to score. A pair of kneel downs by the visitors secured a hard fought 20-17 win, pushing the club to it’s 6th win in 8 tries.

Next up for Bishop Ireton is a senior day date with another set of Panthers, this time from McLean’s Potomac School. Those Panthers come into Alexandria riding a three-game winning streak, having stopped Flint Hill 21-7 on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30pm at Fannon Field, senior day ceremonies will precede the contest.

Box Score 1 2 3 4 Final

Bishop Ireton 7 3 7 3 20

Paul VI 6 0 7 0 13