Linebacker Andrew LaTrash (15) and defensive end Andre Robinson (77) stop Park View for a short gain in Ireton's 46-12 win Friday.
It was a beautiful night to do just about anything Friday in Sterling, Virginia. With newcomer Joe Dickenson at quarterback, senior wide receiver Drew Smith spent the evening catching touchdown passes as Bishop Ireton raced past Park View 46-12 in a non conference season opener for both squads. Â Or more precisely, Smith spent the first half catching touchdowns as the pair linked up three times sending the Cardinals out to a 32-6 advantage.
Senior quarterback Joe Dickenson tossed four touchdown passes and more than 300 yards in his first varsity start, three scores and 132 yards to Smith. Â “I played behind a division one quarterback in El Paso so I didn’t play a lot in games.” commented the son of a career Army officer. Â “I was a little nervous early in the game, but once I completed that first pass, I felt fine.”
Senior Josh Ammon blocked an extra point attempt and a punt for the stingy defensive squad that bottled up the Park View offense for most the evening  while the coaching staff lauded the kicking game’s substantial contribution, both the punting of LaTrash and David Cooper’s field goal and five extra points.
Bolstered by that smothering defense and precision kicking for much of the evening, aspects that consistently gave Bishop Ireton good field position, the offense pounded the ball on the ground behind a group of backs, from Andrew Latrash and Bernie Hayes inside to Perris Jones and Aaron Speight on the outside. Â When the Patriots tried to slow the rushers, Dickenson took to the air and had more success.
“We didn’t expect the game to be that lopsided actually.” said Dickenson. “We were confident, we were a tight knit group coming into the game, things really went well for us.”
It was a marathon first period with penalties and mistakes slowing the game to a crawl at times. But the Cardinals kept after it, recovering a fumble on the game’s third play on the Park View 34. Â Dickenson threw his first completion to Smith for 31 yards before Ireton eventually settled for a 19-yard field goal by another Army transfer, David Cooper, at 10:09 remaining in the opening quarter.
A bad snap caused the Patriots’ punter to drop to a knee and field the ball, but in high school, that makes the ball down at the point of the knee, giving the Cardinals’ another gift that would result in Smith’s first of three touchdown passes, a 19-yard strike at 7:59.
Park View had their best offensive series of the first half when they connected on a 50-yard pass play and followed with a 32-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Ramirez to cut the margin to 10-6. Â Senior Josh Ammon burst through the line to block the PAT and maintain the four point margin.
Andrew Latrash had a strong game punting the football and his boot downed at the Park View 2-yard line set up the next scoring opportunity, this time for the defense. Â The Cardinals entire left side collapsed the Patriots and an inside counter was stuffed two yards behind the goal line for a safety, building the advantage to 12-6.
Alex Duke returned the free kick from the Patriots more than 40 yards into home territory and Dickenson and company were back to work at the Park View 33 yard line. Though the Cardinals stalled on this drive, LaTrash again pinned the Pats inside their own 10.
The teams would trade punts as the game moved into the second quarter with Ireton again playing the game deep in Park View territory. Â After a pair of Hayes scampers bringing the Cardinals to the 12 yard line, Dickenson found Smith in single coverage and the speedy senior made one move and bolted to the end for his second touchdown at 6:26 for a 19-6 lead.
The lead grew to 25-6 when Alex Duke rushed 7 yards to paydirt, the two-point attempt failing for Ireton. Â The clock was racing away from the Cardinals in the first half, but the defense gave the offense one more opportunity and Drew Smith caught his third touchdown with 1:04 remaining in the opening half to widen the advantage to 32-6 at intermission.
Park View would get on the board in the third quarter while the Cardinals would tally twice in the final quarter, an 8-yard pass to sophomore Sam Smith with 11:25 remaining and a 9 yard scamper to the endzone by Andrew LaTrash that ended the scoring for the contest.
A day earlier, the junior varsity gridders opened their season with a home win, 18-6 over the Park View youngsters. Â The Cardinals host the Knights at 4pm Thursday, September 4th on Fannon Field.
The varsity Cardinals (1-0) travel to Arlington to face diocesan rival, Bishop O’Connell (1-0), on Saturday. The Knights pounded diocesan sister school, Paul VI (0-1), 56-14 in their season opener in Fairfax Friday night. Â Ireton will look to avenge a 41-6 setback last year, a game that saw the Cardinals jump out to a 6-0 lead before the Knights rallied for the win.
The home opener for blue and silver, the contest is slated for a 2pm kickoff, admission is $5.
Box Score        1     2     3     4   Total
Bishop Ireton    12   20     0    14   46
Park View        6    0     6     0   12
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