Archbishop Carroll’s Patriots struggled in the trenches for most of the Friday night as they fell to the Friars of Monsignor Bonner 35-7 at Wissahickon High School.
Senior defensive back Too Jemawhuo started the evening on a high note for Archbishop Carroll, returning a 50-yard pick-six on Bonner’s opening drive to make it 7-0 Patriots early on. Those would be the final points they’d score all night.
On Bonner’s next drive, the Friars kept it conservative, and it worked, running the football all the way downfield for an easy touchdown, making it 8-7 Friars as the first quarter came to an end.
The Pats gained possession to begin the second quarter but failed to move the football. Freshman quarterback Jay Boyd was left running for his life behind a faltering Carroll offensive line, while his receivers struggled to find space in the open field. This proved to be a trend that would continue throughout the quarter and into the second half.
Before halftime was called, Bonner let out on a 50-yard touchdown run to build some separation as the score moved to 15-7 Friars. This is where Carroll’s weakness upfront really began to show as the Bonner running backs simply gashed through the Patriot defense like a knife on butter.
Heading into the second half, the Pats would receive the ball but cough it up on the opening kickoff, setting Bonner up with a 1st and 10 at the 15-yard line. It took the Friars only a few plays to do it all again as they pushed it up the middle for seven more, making the score 22-7 and setting a precedent for the half.
The ineffective offensive line play continued through the third quarter as Boyd was brought down four times in the frame and seemingly had nowhere to go. Boyd did attempt a few passes down the sideline for sophomore receiver Xavier Johnson but failed to connect whilst dealing with immense pressure from both sides of the line.
As the clock ticked down in the 3rd quarter, Bonner would run it in yet again. After failing to connect on a couple of endzone passes, the Bonner QB elected to run it in himself, making the score 29-7 Friars. They’d follow it up with a 26-yard touchdown run just a few minutes into the final frame to make it 35-7 with about seven minutes remaining.
With only a few minutes to go in the fourth and final quarter, Boyd would step in on a 1st down and throw his first interception of the day after nearly being brought down by the Bonner defense.
The Friars elected to run the clock out as the Patriots were handed just their second loss on the season, moving to 2-2 on the campaign and (0-1) in Philadelphia Catholic League play.
“They were the more physical team in all four quarters,” said Pats head coach Kyle Detweiler. “When you think about blocking and tackling, they blocked us much better than we blocked them.”
“Jay took some shots,” added assistant coach Mark Mounayar. “We got to do a better job of protecting him.
The Pats will be back in action next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff with Archbishop Ryan at Northeast High School in Philadelphia.