Opportunities came and went Friday night as the Archbishop Carroll varsity football team lost the homecoming game to the Crusaders of Lansdale Catholic, 21-14, at the Conshohocken “A” Field.

Mistakes came early and then often for the Patriots, as on their first offensive drive of the game. Quarterback Jay Boyd was sacked on third down after seeing a snap clear his head and nearly bounce in the Carroll endzone. Following the sack, punter James Wright muffed and fumbled a punt that was recovered by Lansdale Catholic at the ten yard line, setting up and easy, early score for the Crusaders. 

Before the game Head Coach Kyle Detweiler remarked on his team’s sloppy performance the week prior against Archbishop Ryan and how his club was looking to change their output this week. 

“It was obviously a sloppy game all around, by everyone” said Detweiler. “We had a couple guys out but we think that if we get them back we might have a better chance this week.”

The Pats did indeed gain a few injured players back, but nonetheless saw their struggles stay steadfast through the first half. As the second quarter began, Carroll looked to hold strong on third down deep in their own territory, but after a missed open field tackle Lansdale ran in their second straight touchdown to make it 14-0 Crusaders. 

At that point the Patriot offense began to awaken. After a catch and run from freshman running back Ty Ty Mattson and a favorable PI call, Carroll was set up in the red zone and poised to get right back into the game. On third and 11, Boyd let it fly for junior wide receiver Matt McGaughey, who was wide open for the touchdown, drawing the score to 14-7 Lansdale. 

Just as things were looking up, the Pats shot themselves in the foot once more. On the ensuing drive, the Patriots were set up in good field position with ample time to tie the score before half, but after a strong first down gain, Carroll would suffer four consecutive false start and holding penalties to back them up deep in their own territory, forcing a punt. On the closing drive of the half, the Pats looked poised to tie the contest again with the ball in plus territory; however, on a crucial third down, Boyd saw another snap fly over his head, bringing an end to yet another Carroll possession. 

With a 14-7 lead heading into halftime, Lansdale looked to capitalize on their momentum heading into the second half. On the first offensive drive of the quarter for the Crusaders, they’d burn nearly half the frame while marching down field to score their third touchdown of the night, making it 21-7 Lansdale. 

After burning away yet another drive on offense, the Carroll defense held strong on their first attempt of the second half as Wright picked off Lansdale quarterback Cole Meehan to set up another drive for the Patriot offense. This time, the Pats would make it count. On third down, with the pocket closing in, Boyd would avoid multiple defenders, while shedding a 20-yard pass to Mattson for the second Carroll touchdown of the evening, making the score 21-14 Lansdale with around 10 minutes to go. 

The offense got the ball back with around seven minutes to go and worked a methodical drive, forcing Lansdale into their own red zone. After battling a few more false start penalties, the Pats were set up at the 15 yard line. On third down Boyd let one rip to junior wide receiver Luke Watson, who brought it in for what would have been the game tying touchdown; however, a holding penalty saw the call reversed. With that, Lansdale ran the clock down on the Pats, who were just never able to stop the bleeding. 

“It’s easy to go right to the flags, get mad at the refs, and stuff like that, you know.” said Detweiler. “The reality is, we say it all the time; you can’t leave it up to them, alright? We have to make more plays to the point where it doesn’t matter, to the point where we’re not officiating ourselves out of the game. We had opportunity after opportunity to put more points on the board than they had points, and we just didn’t take advantage of all those opportunities.”

With the loss, the Patriots fall to 2-4 this season and 0-2 in Philadelphia Catholic League play. Carroll will be back at it next week against West Catholic Prep, 1 p.m on Saturday at the South Philadelphia Supersite.