Cardinals Rebound in Richmond, 17-7

Bishop Ireton’s latest stop on “homecoming tour 2009” was Richmond for St Christophers’ alumni gathering, the 4th of five straight homecoming contests Ireton will play this fall. It was an overcast, dreary day, not improved by the visitors’ 17-7 win over the Saints. Again, the defense set the pace for the Cardinals, with their third shutout of the season, giving up fewer than 150 yards total offense to St Chris, who was averaging better than 300 yards offense in winning 3 of their previous 4 games. Dom Puglise had an interception late in the game to seal the outcome and Anthony Rivers picked off a Saints aerial to thwart the final drive of the first half.

Coach Tony Verducci liked the play of both his quarterbacks, and indeed, it was the best game of the season from quarterbacks Mike Larrabee, 14 of 23 for 130 yards, and Oliver Noon, 3 of 4 for 44 yards and 1 TD.

Teams traded possessions without threatening to score until Ireton’s defense forced their fourth consecutive “three and out” with two minutes left in the half. Doug Vines got the Cardinals started with an 8 yard run before Larrabee found Conlin McCallister for a 7 yard gain and a big first down. Noon entered the game and threw his only incomplete pass of the day before he found McCallister for 8 yards, setting up a 3rd and 2 from the Saints 28 with less than a minute to play. Noon found Mark Holmes, playing for the first time in a month since re-injuring a collar bone against Woodberry Forest, down the right sideline for the game’s first score.

The Cardinals gave the hosts an easy 7 on the first series of the second half when LB Kyle Wittenauer stepped in front of an intended receiver and rambled 15 yards for a touchdown. The turnover seemed to jump start the Cardinal offense for the remainder of the third quarter. Holmes and Vines made a number of big plays in a drive that culminated with Larrabee booting a 29 yard FG to give Ireton a lead it would not relinquish. The Cardinals’ next drive was a things of beauty, covering 82 yards in 7 plays with plays of more than 20 yards from sophomore Moses Webb (a 20 yard catch and run for a first down), sophomore Malcolm Westbrook (a 28 yard catch and run), and Larrabee’s 33 yard QB draw to paydirt.

The Cardinal defense slammed the door shut with about 5 minutes to play when senior captain Dom Puglise intercepted a ball at the 2-yard line. Vines and junior Tommy Gallinaro made key plays and helped the Cardinals take the ball to mid-field before Noon took a knee to end it. The Cardinals (5-2) now head to Wilson High School where they will play Sidwell Friends School at the Quakers homecoming contest, a 2pm start, before returning home for a final time this campaign to host Friendship Edison Collegiate Academy on Senior Day. Bishop Ireton will host a middle school skills clinic in conjunction with the finale.