October 12, 2016 // Uncategorized

St. Vincent football back on track

Todays Catholic

By Ron Busch

At the Oct. 2 CYO football games, the St. Vincent Panthers got their program back on track with a 12:30 p.m., 30-0 victory over the Central Catholic Irish. Both teams had good reason to go after a win under the overcast October sky: St. Vincent was coming off its only loss of the season, a 20-0 defeat at the hands of the mighty St.. Charles Cardinals, and the Central Catholic Irish were attempting to notch another win after last week’s 12-7 victory over the Knights.

Central Catholic, led by quarterback Brandon Douge, kicked off to begin action in the first quarter. Defense dominated the first quarter, as neither team was able to score or move the ball beyond four downs, until St. Vincent executed a 12-yard running play while facing a 1st and 10 late in the quarter. This was after the Panthers had taken over in a short field situation at the Irish 36-yard line.

After the 0-0 first quarter action, St. Vincent scored first in the second quarter on a 3rd and goal run by Luke Woenker with 6:13 left on the clock. The points-after kick was no good, so the Panthers started the scoring with 6-0 on the USF scoreboard. Central Catholic was unable to convert on its series of downs, and punted the ball to St. Vincent. The Panthers started this drive from their own 42-yard line. St. Vincent marched down the field to the Central Catholic 24. The quarterback, Carson Podschlne, found Andrew Leeper on a touchdown pass to the end zone. The points after kick was good, and St. Vincent was in the driver’s seat with a 14-0 lead. In the next series, Central Catholic was again forced into a 4th and 3. They elected to punt once more and downed the Panthers at their own 32-yard line. Despite a penalty on St. Vincent, putting them at 1st and 15, a 14-yard pass play resulted in a 2nd and 1 yard to go. Another pass play on the 2nd and 1 and the Panthers found themselves at 1st and goal, inside the 10-yard line. Again, Luke Woenker barreled into the end zone. After another good extra points kick, the score read St. Vincent 22, Central Catholic 0, with 35.6 seconds to go in the half. After a fumble by Central Catholic on the kickoff, the Panthers attempted a long pass that was picked off at the Irish 18-yard line by Dominic Tippmann. The half ended with St. Vincent up by a commanding 22-0 lead.

Second half action began with a 10-yard run by the Irish and Louie Tippmann. On the second play of the half, however, the Irish fumbled and St. Vincent recovered. St. Vincent mounted one of its best drives of the game, including a 13-yard on a 1st and 10 by Eli Hilger. The 12th play of the drive saw the Panthers at a 1st and goal from the Central Catholic 5-yard line. At this point, St. Vincent fumbled and recovered on a running play that put them 8 yards away from pay dirt. An 8-yard run by Andrew Leeper, plus a good points-after kick, gave the Panthers a 30-0 lead with 1:17 to go on the clock.

Central Catholic started the fourth quarter with a 3rd and 14 incomplete pass. Despite a couple of nice 7-yard runs by Louie Tippmann in the fourth quarter, the Central Catholic Irish were unable to post a score on the board. The final read: St. Vincent 30, Central Catholic 0. This upped St. Vincent’s record to 3-1 as Central Catholic slipped to 1-3. Next week’s Game of the Week will feature St. Vincent against the Knights at 12:30 p.m., and St. Charles will host Central Catholic at 2 p.m.

Later game

The 2 p.m. game saw the St. Charles Cardinals continue to steamroll the competition. This week, they bested the Knights 38 to 7. St. Charles had five scores spread among four Cardinals. Amir Drew, Henry O’Keefe and Devon Tippmann each had one touchdown, while Brenden Lytle rushed for two TDs. Quinn Gillig was back in form, connecting on four of five points after kicks. The Cardinals’ offensive line was led by Matt Jimenez. A bright spot for the Knights occurred when they took the kickoff starting the second half and executed a reverse to Anthony Ventruella, who brought the CYO Knights’ fans to their feet with an 80-yard return for touchdown. This provided a momentum shift that the Knights sorely needed. A 1-point running play after the touchdown brought the score to 22-7. Undaunted, St. Charles went on to score two more times in the half and Gillig connected on two more points-after kicks to bump the score up to 38-7. St. Charles remains undefeated for the season, giving up only one touchdown in four games. The CYO Knights continue to look for their first victory.