Friendship Collegiate Academy shook off the tenacious Cardinals with a key drive to tie the game with only seconds left in the first half, then exploded with 26 second half points to down the Cardinals 40-22 at Fannon Field Saturday on senior day. ” I am disappointed for the boys, but I am not disappointed in the boys.” said head coach Tony Verducci. The loss put Ireton in a position to need help from a number of teams to get the Cardinals back into the playoff picture. This week’s poll has the Cardinals in 5th place behind Collegiate, Potomac School, Liberty Christian Academy and Fork Union.
The overcast day started as a defensive struggle with the Knights and Cardinals battling unsuccessfully until Ireton put together a a four-play, 49 yard drive capped by Doug Vines’ 29 yard run to take a 6-0 lead. Mike Larrabee’s PAT attempt went wide to the left. FCA responded immediately with their own 8-play drive from their own 32 yard line. Sophomore Albert Reid’s 2-yard run, the first of two touchdowns he would score, and his 2 point conversion run, put the Knights on top 8-6 early in the second quarter.
The second quarter saw a continuation of the defenses dominating the contest. Moses Webb picked off a Chris Griggs pass at the FCA 41. Ireton drew new life from the game’s first turnover and Larrabee directed the Cardianls’ second scoring drive, a 5-play march with Vines scoring a second TD on a 14-yard scamper. Verducci sent the offense back on the field and Larrabee found Vines in the end zone for a 3-yard pass and the two-point conversion to send Ireton back on top, 14-8.
FCA had 2:57 left in the half, and used all but 9 seconds of it to tie the game with a 4-yard toss from Griggs to Larenzo Fisher at 14-14. That foretold the avalache that would hit the Cardinals in the second half when the Washington DC school would score on every possession except one before the game’s final drive.
The Knights took the second half kickoff and in four plays drove 50 yards with Griggs finding a wide open Denzell Stanbeck and the tight end hauled in the 13-yard touchdown pass. The conversion failed but Friendship was up 20-14. Ireton and FCA would exchange punts before the Knights Albert Reid picked off a Larrabee pass at the Cardinal 49. Four plays, capped by senior Malcolm Crockett’s 32 yard run, pushed the lead to 26 – 14. Again, with a penalty to the Minnesota Avenue school the 2-point conversion failed, but the Cardinals were in a big hole as the third quarter ended.
Reid’s second TD of the afternoon, this one a 58-yard dash, and subsequent 2pt conversion with Griggs hitting Juabril Ezell, pushed the advantage to 34-14.with 11:08 left in the game. The “good guys” were stymied after a 7 play drive and turned the ball back to FCA on downs with 6:49 to play on the Knights’ 35. Ezell would plague the Cardinals again, this time capping a 7-play drive with a 28 yard touchdown gallop, ballooning the lead to 40-14. Ireton had a final drive left with just over 3 minutes to play and Oliver Noon drove the Cardinals from their own 31 to score when junior Ricky Baier bolted 15 yards into the east end zone. Noon passed to Tommy Kestermann to close the scoring for the day at 40-22. FCA ran out the clock and headed back to the District with their 5th win of the year against 4 losses.
“We didn’t make a lot of adjustments,” said the Knights skipper, Aazaar Rahim. “We are a young, athletic team. We suffer from a lack of focus and discipline at times, but we stressed making your blocks, executing the play and the second half was more of what we wanted to do.”
For Ireton, and 19 seniors honored in pregame ceremonies, there is only the certainty of one final game on Friday in Leonardtown, Maryland against WCAC opponent, St Mary Ryken. The Cardinals (6-3) will play their first night game of the season with a 7pm kickoff at Lancaster Park in Leonardtown.
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