Cardinal defense allowed few yards and held the area's top rusher, Jalen Broome, in check, as well as quarterback Kevin Havermann (18) to win on the road.
In a defensive battle on a picture perfect day for football, Bishop Ireton used a late scoring drive to dampen a homecoming/senior day gala Saturday in McLean and earn their third win of the season 20-17 over the Panthers of Potomac School. The Cardinals improved to 3-6 on the year while the Panthers lost for the second weekend in a row to fall to 6-2 on the campaign.
Ireton moved the ball well in their opening only to be stopped by a Josh Hansan interception on the Panthers’ 3 yard line. Neither club could generate any offense on their subsequent drives, leading to the game’s first break. With Potomac deep in their own territory, junior Josh Ammon blocked a Panther punt and sophomore Charlie Ladd chased the pigskin down in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown. While the teams would continue to move the ball up and down the field, no one got on the scoreboard until Ireton rode a 35 yard gain by Andrew Latrash deep into Panther territory. With the clock winding down, the drive stalled and senior Matt Bocchi’s 27 yard field goal gave the Cardinals a 10-0 lead at halftime.
Potomac got on the scoreboard with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter when Kevin Havermann tossed a 2o yard scoring pass to Hansan in the right corner of the Ireton end zone to cut the Cardinals advantage to 10-7. The visiting redbirds would add 3 more on a Bocchi field goal at 11:20 to play in the game.
Potomac School rebounded on their next possession as the Washington Post’s leading rusher Jalen Broome and quarterback Kevin Havermann drove the Panthers deep into Ireton territory. A holding call negated a Broome touchdown run, but Havermann responded with a 15 yard scramble to dive into the end zone with 7:08 to play in the game to give the host team their first lead of 14-13. After the Cardinals turned the ball over on their own 38, losing a fumble, Ireton’s Josh Ammon ran Broome out of bounds to save score. Holding on the Panthers stalled the drive, but they added a 31 yard field goal with 4:06 remaining to play to increase the lead to 17-13.
This time it was Alex Duke that looked like the area’s leading rusher as he again ripped the ball on the ground and Andrew Latrash passing launched the Cardinals on a 10-play, 70 yard drive. A 31-yard pass to Drew Smith put the Cardinals on the door step and Latrash finished the drive with a quarterback sneak for 2 yards and the winning touchdown with :49.6 to play. Try as they might, there was not a pass, run, or gizmo play in the game’s final minute that the Panthers could get passed the Cardinals to score.
Bishop Ireton returns home for the season finale, Senior Day for ten players that will take the field one final time for the Cardinals. Pregame activities will begin at 12:30 with kickoff slated for 1pm when the 7-2 Pope John Paul the Great Wolves visit Fannon Field.
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