PVI stuns Cardinals at homecoming, 28-21

PVI's Thomas Tutone took this muffed snap and turned it into a 56yd TD pass in second quarter. It was that kind of day for the previously unbeaten Cardinals.

It was a great homecoming week for Bishop Ireton with alumni gatherings and a hall of fame induction. The game, featuring a winless opponent visiting the undefeated home team, followed the script, one team building a big 21-7 halftime advantage, with one glaring exception.   On this Saturday, it was a role reversal with the Panthers dominating the homecoming game in the first half in a surprising 28-21 win for Coach Gordon Lieb, his first as the PVI head coach.  Four turnovers doomed the Cardinals in front of an overflow crowd at Fannon Field.

The contest followed a familiar pattern in the Cardinals’ opening moments as the Ireton defense forced a three-and-out series from the Panthers and the Cardinals responded with their own three and punt series. Aurelian Guillaud got off a 44-yard punt that  junior Owen Costello returned 18 yards to the Panther 33. That would be the start of an 11-play, 67-yard drive, highlighted by senior quarterback Thomas Tutone’s 22-yard scamper, capped by fullback Raymond Geier’s 1-yard plunge.  It was the the beginning of a key point in the ballgame as the Panthers had burned significant time off clock already.

On the ensuing kickoff junior Justin Paige corralled the ball at the Ireton 8-yard line and dashed up field with a good return until the pigskin came loose at the Cardinal 35 and was recovered by the Panthers’ Sean O’Brien.  PVI would take 6 plays, aided by a personal foul on the Cardinals, to cover the 35 yards and when Costello plowed in from the 4, the Panthers had a 14-0 lead one play into the second quarter. So complete was the ball control of the Fairfax visitors that the high octane Ireton offense had but a mere 3 plays in the opening period.

The Cardinals got on the board on their next possession with a 15-play, 76-yard drive as junior Brandon Price-Williams carrying the ball 4 times for 20, junior quarterback PJ Zingler scampering twice for 30 yards on the drive including a 19 yard dash to the PVI 2, where senior Moses Webb would bolt to paydirt for Ireton’s first score at 14-7.

The Panthers answered immediately however, with a Tutone pass to O’Brien, sophomore Jamon Cofield rushed for 12 more to the PVI 44. The football gods were smiling on the visitors this day as Tutone fumbled the center snap, scrambled to retrieve it, then hurled a pass downfield to Nick Carpenter who was behind everyone and hot-footed it 56 yards to the goalline to push the Panthers back to a 21-7 advantage.

Bishop Ireton gained a first down on the ensuing drive before turning the ball over on downs at the PVI 16.  Costello rambled 35 yards on 3rd and 10 to get the Panthers some operating room, but a pair of back-to-back sacks by Hudson Sullivan, with a helper from Sean Boldaji on the first, stopped the drive but Ireton could not capitalize on the final opportunity of the first half.

The teams moved the ball during the third quarter but neither team could get in the end zone, though for the Panthers, the damage was being done as the clock became their ally.  The end of the quarter saw PVI again on the march, grinding up yards on the ground and clock on the scoreboard following an interception by the Panther’s cornerback Owen Costello.

It was Sean O’Brien for a 5-yard touchdown on the second play of the final quarter that scored what eventually became the winning marker.  Bishop Ireton followed with it’s 4 th turnover of the day when senior Moses Webb lost the handle on the kickoff at the Ireton 32 yardline.  The Cardinal defense stopped PVI on this drive and the redbirds took over on downs.

A pass interference call on the visitors gave Ireton a first down on the Cardinals’ 42 and Zingler went to work on engineering a comeback. He ran for 11, hit Paige for 6, then Matt McShea for 11, Webb for 11, before Webb weaved his way  the final 9 yards for the touchdown, drawing Ireton to 28-14 with 6:54 left.

To this point, Paul VI looked like the best 0-6 team in America, nearly everything was going their way.  As they moved from their own 26 on the shoulders of Sean O’Brien’s rushing, Ireton stiffened on defense, forcing a punt from the 50.  When the snap from center was fumbled, Ireton junior Michael Sampson pounced on the ball and Ireton started on the PVI 37. Ireton moved quickly deeper into Panther territory on passes to Price-Williams and Paige before the drive appeared to stall at the 22. On 4th and 5 Zingler laid a perfect pass over the shoulder of senior Merid Merid, who made a great catch while the defender was right with him to pull Ireton to 28-21 with 2:31 still left on the clock.

Ireton’s onside kick was unsuccessful and PVI took over at their own 49. After a pair of O’Brien dives for  2 yards, Tutone lost the football on 3rd and 6 and linebacker Ned Curry recovered for the Cardinals with :58 left in the contest.

Zingler quickly hit Merid on consecutive aerials for a combined 13 yards, before being sacked for a loss of 8. He misfired on his next pass, then connected with Williams-Price for 15 yards on 3rd and 18. As the clock raced toward :00 and the team scrambled to the line of scrimmage, perhaps confusion on whether the Cardinals had earned the first down may have occurred. Whatever it was, Zingler quickly spiked the ball as the stunned sideline and team realized what had happened and the ball went over on downs with only time for one final play.  Tutone took a knee and the surprising upset was in the books.

The postgame statistics confirmed the turnovers were the difference. With Bishop Ireton losing the turnover battle by a wide margin, PVI rushed the ball 52 times for 190 yards on the ground, unofficially, and were 5-7 passing for 80 yards, 270 total yards.  Ireton ran 60 plays, with PJ Zingler 20 for 35 for 120 and the Cardinals rushing the ball 25 times for 151, for a total of 271 yards.

For the Cardinals (7-1), it was a disappointing end to the week of homecoming activities as well as a 9-game winning streak and the possibility of an undefeated season. For the visiting Panthers (1-6), the roar from the locker room was audible almost to the field.  Liberty Christian dumped Hargrove Military Academy on Friday to likely ascend to the top of the coming week’s poll, while the Cardinals must regroup as they head on the road and take care of their final two opponents, Potomac School and St Mary’s Ryken.

Scoring Summary                 1          2          3          4         Final

Paul VI Catholic                   7        14          0          7            28

Bishop Ireton                       0          7          0         14           21

News and Notes:

– The 9-game winning streak over the past 2 years is a school record, as is the 7-0 start.

– The Cardinals have 11 wins all time over the Panthers, only St Stephens/St Agnes has been victimized more, falling 12 times in the series.

– Cardinals are 5-0 all time against Potomac School, 4-0 all time against the Knights of St Mary’s Ryken, team’s final 2 opponents.

– LCA will likely become the #1 seed, but still has a season-ending date with Benedictine.

– Cardinals 2012 football schedule is set with 6 home games, slight shuffling of the order. See the website for 2012-13 schedule on the football page.

– First and second seeded teams in the final poll host the 4th and 3rd ranked teams respectively.

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