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On 9/28/12, Cardinal O'Hara hosted Archbishop Wood for the first on-campus night game in Catholic League football history. This Class AAA contest was won by Wood, 38-14. (Photos by Ed "Huck" Palmer.)

WOOD 38, O'HARA 14

ASSORTED FIRSTS . . .
(In order)
Coin flip -- won by O'Hara
Kickoff -- Wood's Nick Visco, into end zone for touchback
Rushing play -- Gain of 7 yards for O'Hara's Lamont Veal
First tackle -- Wood's Josh Messina (on Veal's run)
Pass play -- Dashawn "Day-Day" Darden to Thaddius Smith, gain of 4 yards
First down -- on that Darden pass play
First incompletion -- Darden (batted down by Benji Abercrombie)
Punt -- O'Hara's Steve Weyler for 32 yards
Punt return -- Wood's Anthony Roakes for 42 yards (same punt)
Penalty -- offsides against Wood
Touchdown -- 6-yard run by Wood's Andrew Guckin
Unsuccessful PAT -- by Visco
Kickoff return -- 12 yards by O'Hara's Smith
Passing touchdown -- Darden to Tarron Dunbar for 85 yards
Successful PAT -- Weyler
Sack -- O'Hara's Joe DeMaio for 8 yards
TFL -- by Wood's Devon Cobb for 6 yards
Successful conversion run -- by Wood's Chris Rahill after Guckin's 52-yard TD run
Fumble recovery -- by DeMaio, of muffed punt
Unsuccessful FG -- Weyler, 33 yards
Forced fumble -- Wood's Jake Cooper (also recovered it)
Successful FG -- Visco, 20 yards

OFFICIATING CREW . . .
Referee -- Chris Reynolds
Umpire -- Dean Hanson
Head linesman -- Mike Dermigny
Line judge -- Dave Decker
Back judge -- Bill Ciavarelli
Scoreboard operator -- Bill Coates
Note: Scoreboard malfunctioned late in first half; turned off for second half.

WEBSITE REPORT BY ED "HUCK" PALMER . . .
SEPT. 14
CATHOLIC AAA
Wood 38, O’Hara 14
  Considering how long the Philadelphia Catholic League has been in existence, it’s hard to imagine that the first on-campus night football game wouldn’t be played until 2012. Well, that’s exactly what we had tonight at Lions’ Stadium on the school grounds of Cardinal O’Hara. This game was originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but about a week ago honchos at O’Hara decided to give night football a try. Great decision! Though I wouldn’t describe the crowd as overflow, it was certainly much better than what I’ve been used to seeing at Saturday afternoon games. I’m not the best at estimating attendance numbers, but I’d venture to say that anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 people took in this baby. As for the game the Vikings were able to capture their 23rd straight league win dating back to the ’08 season. Wood has not lost a league game since the PCL made the switch to the PIAA. During that time they have 15 regular season wins and 8 more in the playoffs. In this one it didn’t look like it would be easy early, as the Lions ended the first quarter with a 14-6 advantage, and oodles of momentum. However, in time that would all be changing. For me, there were a pair of one-play moments and another short sequence that swung things in Wood’s favor. First, Wood tied the game on the first play on the second quarter on a 52-yard rumble by sr. RB/LB Andrew Guckin. Thrice he broke out of tackles before roaring down the middle the field. The play should have gone for 3-4 yards max if not for the second and third efforts by Guckin. Sr. WR Chris Rahill provided the conversion run to deadlock things. Next, came a sequence of back-breaking proportions for O’Hara. Two plays after Guckin’s TD run, sr. FB/DB Tarron Dunbar ripped-off a 59-yard run to the Wood 2-yard line. Only supreme hustle from jr. DB Kendall Singleton prevented what would have been Dunbar’s third BIG score of the evening. Earlier, he caught scoring passes from jr. QB Dashawn Darden of 85 & 35 yards. The first one he was wide open on a waggle play and then turned on the jets to outrun all pursuers. The next one was on a similarly designed play, but he made a wonderful one-handed snag before sprinting in. After his latest burst to the Wood two, things got dicey for the Lions. Star jr. RB/WR/DB Thaddius Smith was thrown for a 3-yard loss on first down by sr. DL Tyler Smith and jr. LB Josh Messina. Then, jr. RB Lamont Veal lost three more yards on a stop by sr. DE Benji Abercrombie. Next, Darden was immediately brought down at the 16-yard line on a combo sack from Abercrombie and Messina. On fourth down, jr. K/P Steve Weyler pulled a 33-yard field goal try to the left and the Lions were held scoreless after having a 1st-and-goal from the two. Ouch! Game-changing moment #3 came later in the second quarter. With 2:07 left Guckin scored his third rushing TD (earlier 6-yard score) on a 2-yard run. Thus, giving Wood a 21-14 lead. Afterwards, looking to get into a two-minute offense, Darden started the drive in the shotgun. However, he dropped the snap and even though he quickly picked the ball up, the Vikings’ defense had closed in. Wood’s soph. FB/LB/DL Jake Cooper grabbed hold of Darden and somehow took the ball right out of his hands. This gave Wood possession at the O’Hara 15-yard line. Three plays later on a 3rd-and-11 chance, frosh. QB Tom Garlick neatly found sr. WR/DB/PR Anthony Roakes in the right side of the end zone for a 16-yard score. With just a minute left in the opening half Wood had built a more comfortable, 28-14, lead. From here the Vikings would coast home. Sr. K/P Nick Visco (4 more touchbacks; 13 total in last 3 weeks) rocketed a 20-yard FG on the first play of final quarter for Wood’s next points. This capped a 12-play drive that saw Wood move from its own two down to the O’Hara three. Later in the fourth quarter Wood tacked on one more score on a 58-yard dash by speedy soph. RB/DB Jarrett McClenton (2-70). The Viking offense rolled to 377 total yards. The OL was beastly once again. This unit included: sr. C Fran Walsh (6’1”, 243 lbs), G’s sr. Diego Racanco (6’1”, 235 lbs) and jr. Deion Oliver (6’5”, 273 lbs), T’s sr. Chris O’Connor (6’6”, 282 lbs) and sr. George Griffin (6’4”, 283 lbs), and sr. TE Nick Arcidiacono (6’4”, 235 lbs). Guckin provided 148 yards on 20 tough totes. Garlick was mostly solid in managing things and finished 6-for-11 for 113 yards. Roakes (3-69) was his main target. Speaking of Roakes, but I just really like this kid’s game. Very unassuming and probably one of the more diminutive Vikings, but boy does he make BIG impacts. He did have one gaff on a mishandle of a punt, but prior to that he did take another punt 42 yards to set-up Wood’s first score. This kid plays with major brass. On defense, he hustled for four tackles and as many pass defends. Included in this were back-to-back knockdowns of passes in the end zone attended for O’Hara’s primary weapon, Smith. Roakes was a big reason why the dangerous Smith ended with just 37 total yards on 12 touches. Messina (58 total yards on 6 touches) was also a force throughout on defense and tallied a sack and two others that he split with teammates. All total, he finished with 7 stops, with four going for 22 yards in losses. Abercrombie made three of his four tackles for losses. Jr. DB DJ Brinkley shared in a sack and was very active with seven total stops. Soph. DL Devon Cobb added a sack. For O’Hara, how about this stat? On four plays Dunbar recorded 220 yards; receptions of 85 (TD), 35 (TD), 41 yards, and a run of 59. On O’Hara’s forty-two other offensive plays they managed just 41 yards. At game’s end, Dunbar had 228 total yards on 9 chances. On defense, he made five tackles and added a sack. Darden finished 9-for-19, for 190 yards. Defensively, sr. LB K.C. Roberts displayed ruggedness with a game-high 9 tackles and recovered a fumble. Jr. LB Nolan Cummings (five stops) also recovered a fumble. Jr. DB Joe DeMaio (sack; recovery of a muffed punt) made a total of 7 stops. The scoreboard was down throughout the second half. Yep,  it’s safe to assume that the proceedings went by quickly in the final 24 minutes.