Bishop Ireton High School | Archive | October, 2009

Ireton inducts 5 to Hall of Fame

Posted on 05 October 2009 by .

 Bishop Ireton selected seven athletes for induction into the Class of 2009 in a dinner and awards Friday evening at the school. Although two inductees, swimmer Rob Reilly (’73) and St Mary’s Academy alum Kathy Bowdring (’75) were unable to attend the affair, five athletes were formally presented during ceremonies marking homecoming activites at the school.  The five also were presented at halftime to the capacity crowd during the homecoming football game on Saturday afternoon.

Principal Tim Hamer, an Ireton football player in his high school days, opened the event and participated in presenting his teammate Marvin Ellliott, while Marty Marinoff, a 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, formally welcomed the new inductees.

Tom Donnelly, class of 1981 was a standout soccer player for the Cardinals, leading Ireton to two Metro Conference championships and was voted all-Met by the Washington Post. He was a Parade magazine all-American as a senior. After graduation, Donnelly moved west to play collegiately for Seattle Pacific University and an NCAA Division II national championship in 1983.  Mrs Donnelly, expecting the couple’s first child that day, gamely attended the event with Tom.

Marvin Elliott (’78) was an all star performer for the Cardinals on the gridiron as well as the basketball court. His 200 yards rushing in a single game remains an Ireton record, he was a two-time all state selectee, and player of the year in 1977.  Upon graduation, Elliott attended East Carolina University where he played football for the Pirates. He spoke movingly Friday evening of the influence of his family, especially his Uncle “Lucky” who steered the young Elliott to Bishop Ireton when TC Williams and the Titans were on Marvin’s mind. “He said, ‘no, you are going to get the best education you can, this sports thing won’t last forever,’ I remember him saying” recounted the two-sport all star. “I came to Bishop Ireton an athlete, but I became a student-athlete” Ellliott said.  His basketball coach, Gene Jaspar recalled the young Alexandria native nearly being forced to leave the school when his after school work with the custodial company was in jeopardy. “I came for practice and no one was in the gym,” recounted Jaspar, “then around the corner come all the boys in their practice uniforms, carrying trash, helping Marvin finish his work so he could stay on the job and still play basketball.”

Brothers Bill Foley (’76) and Bob Foley (78), a pair of tough-as-nails wrestlers were inducted into the hall.  Bill, a tri-state Catholic champion in 1975 and ’76 was also the Ireton Holiday Classic’s outstanding wrestler in 1976, and won the state independent championship, Ireton title and St Albans title in 1975.  Younger brother Bob, also a work-study classmate of Elliott’s, was the first 4-time champion in the history of the Ireton classic and the only wrestler to make the finals of every tournament in which he wrestled in his four-year high school wrestling career. He was named the wrestler of the year at Ireton in 1978.

Bob Keller (’71) earned five varsity letters as a football and baseball player at Bishop Ireton.  He was selected as the Ireton athlete-of-the-year and as the St Francis deSales award winner for his senior year, 1971. The Washington Post selected him to their second team all-Met team as a defensive back that year and he was a first team, all-state Catholic school selectee. As a baseball pitcher in his senior campaign he tossed a pair of no-hitters and was offered a professional contract by the Baltimore Orioles. Keller chose to accept a scholarship to Middlebury College, where he lettered 9 times in football, baseball, and track. After a short stint teaching at Ireton, Keller turned to the corporate world and is currently the chairman and CEO of ACCO Brands, a $1.5 billion manufacturer of office products. Married to the former Eilleen Stapleton, SMA class of 1973, the couple have a pair of daughters and reside in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Rob Reilly, (’73) was an all-American swimmer at Ireton for Harry Sobers and is a current member of the Notre Dame Hall of Fame, where he still holds the pool record in the butterfly.  President of Reilly Partners in Chicago, Illinois, he will be formally inducted with Kathy Bowdring next fall. The first St. Mary’s alum inducted into the hall of fame, she graduated as a member of the class of 1975.  Bowdring, whose mother passed away this past week, was a record-setting swimmer for St Mary’s and swam for Mary Washington College upon graduation for St Mary’s Academy.

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Happy Homecoming, 28-0

Posted on 03 October 2009 by .

 “I am happy that our team can now enjoy the homecoming after beating a well-coached Bullis team today.” said Coach Tony Verducci, after the Cardinals (4-1) capitalized on six Bulldog turnovers to shut out the visitors 28-0 at Fannon Field Saturday afternoon. A capacity crowd enjoyed a perfect day for football and the Cambridge defense found the Bullis (2-2) miscues a welcome treat on the afternoon.

At the halfway point of the season, the Cardinals (4-1) sit in the final playoff spot in this week’s Virginia Independent Schools’ Football Asssociation polls at #4. For the second week in a row, the defense would bend as the Bulldogs found their ground game effective inside  behind senior Jeff Kimm, but got themselves in trouble when throwing the ball, where Ireton pressured the Potomac, Maryland, school and sending starting quarterback, senior Mike Bombard to the bench after a number of crushing tackles. For the second consecutive game sophomore defensive back Moses Webb took a pass interception back for a Cardinal touchdown, this time in the first period of a scoreless game.  The offense struggled at times against a good Bulldog defense, but capitalized on turnovers and a short field to pull away from the maryland visitors.

The Cardinals rock ’em, sock ’em defense, lead this day by sophomore Andrew Denny with 15 tackles, was relentless.  “I like that much action,” commented Denny afterward, “their backs ran hard today, they play very physically, but we play hard too.” 

Ireton went three plays and out on the first series of the game and the miscues for the white-shirted visitors started on the third play from scrimmage as Webb stepped in to snare a Bombard aerial and motor 70 yards down the sideline for the game’s first score.  On the ensuing kickoff, the ball landed in an apparent “no-man’s land” around the 20, and in a wild scramble the Cardinals would come away with the ball.  The Cards could do little with the great field position however and turned the ball over on downs. The teams would then exchange punts and end the quarter with the redshirts up 7-0.

Bullis started its next drive on their own 35, but would fumble the ball to Richard Walker on the Bulldog 27.  The Cambridge gang would use 6 plays and a 14-yard pass from Mike Larrabee to Doug Vines to up the lead to 14-0, when Larrabee kicked the second of four PATs.   The visitors next drive of 6 plays would take them over midfield, but stalled on downs. The Cardinals drove deep into Bullis territory but a Larrabee field goal attempt was wide.

Ireton would hold the ‘dogs on their next series and the miscue bug bit Bullis again. A high snap to punter nearly went over his head and the Cards were in hot pursuit dragging the Bullis kicker down at the Bulldog 5. Two plays later, senior Doug Vines slammed up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown and Ireton’s lead ballooned to 21-0.  Bullis got the ball near midfield and stalled again on downs, leaving the door open for another offensive opportunity for the Cardinals, but senior Robert Spriggs intercepted a Cardinal pass at the Bullis 30. Two plays yielded little for the Bulldogs and the clubs headed to the locker rooms.

The second half followed a similar script to the first. Bullis took the opening kickoff to the 29 and ran six plays before turning the ball over on downs. The blue and gold visitors would force Ireton to go 4 and out, but yet again, after a three play drive, the Bulldogs put the ball on the carpet where junior Robert Chastian would recover for Ireton at the 49.  Six plays later, Ireton would suffer a similar fate when senior Wes Taylor picked off an Ireton toss and took it to the Cardinals 43.   The defenders, including Conlan “the barbarian” McCallister, Denny, Jay Green, and Kevin Galloway, stopped Bullis cold forcing another Bullis punt.  Bullis responded with a strong stand of their own, and it was three and another pass interception, the second of the day for the Bulldogs’ Robert Spriggs, as  the third quarter ended.

Once again, the Ireton defense shut down Bullis and took over on downs near midfield.  With Oliver Noon at the helm, the lankly senior led Ireton’s final scoring drive of the afternoon, a 5-play, 49 yard affair ending with a strike to junior Tommy Gallinaro.

From that point the fourth quarter was a series of mistakes after Bullis again gave back the ball on downs at the Bulldog 33.  Ireton ran 5 plays, then fumbled themselves and junior Tyler Martinez recovered for Bullis on their own 4-yard line.  Sophomore quarterback Kylor Bellistri  would return the ball with a pass downfield that was intercepted by sophomore Malcolm Westbrook, who returned the ball to the visotors’ 39.  Ever  the gracious hosts at this point, the Cardinals promptly returned the favor and fumbled the ball back to Bullis’ Darren Buck with under a minute to play. One play later the game went into the books as the first shutout of the season for the 4-1 Cardinals.

Bishop Ireton looks ahead to three straight road contests, beginning with a deceivingly tough St Albans (1-3) on their homecoming and Centennial Day at Mount St Albans in Washington. “They have played very tough ballgames and have been in every one of them, including a huge overtime win against a rugged Allegany Campers squad in Cumberland, Maryland.” remarked head coach Tony Verducci. “I hope no one looks at their record and thinks this isn’t going to be a battle.”  These Bulldogs have dropped close games to Bishop O’Connell, the VISFA’s second-ranked Collegiate Cougars, and to Bishop McNamara, a WCAC heavyweight.  Gametime at St Albans is 2pm.

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