OCT. 20
CATHOLIC RED
Judge 56, Bonner 7
  Last Saturday at Lincoln was a good day to be wearing red and blue.  Father Judge entered the game with a defense that has been as close to perfect as you’re going to find on a gridiron. Averaging only 6.25 points per game, including shutouts to Neuman, Ryan, and defending champions LaSalle, the Crusaders D didn’t look as if they were going to be hanging out any favors to the winless Friars of Monsignor Bonner.
  Judge won the coin flip and came out strong in the first quarter. A 28-yard pass from captain Paul Volpe to junior wideout Tom Ryan followed by a 12 yard pass to Adam Nowak put the red and blue in scoring position within the first few minutes. Add in 2 rushes for 23 yards by Andrew McHale and the Crusaders were on the board, 7-0. It wasn’t long before Volpe found himself back at the helm. A quick 3-and-out allowed Judge to take possession at their own 45 yard line. The drive began with a 7 yard run by Andrew McHale, followed by a 9 yard run by Andrew McHale, followed by a 12 yard run by Andrew McHale, followed by a 6 yard run by…you guessed it, Andrew McHale. A change of pace with a pass to Adam Nowak put them at Bonner’s 1-yard line. Tommy Coyle called in the big guns and let Joe Swallow to plow it through for the TD. However, a bad snap kept the Crusaders from getting the extra point, keeping the game a 13-point difference.
   The second quarter started with Bonner in the same position they were in at the beginning of the first, staring at another 3-and-out. Without starting QB Iggy Schmitt, the Friars attempted to use a rotation of 3 quarterbacks, consisting of Sam Christie, Matt McGillian, and Pat Warrington. Unfortunately for Bonner, none seemed to be able to fill the void, and the stingy Crusader defense spent the game picking them apart. A desperation pass to Chris Hooper went only 4 yards. A QB keeper (also in desperation) went only 2 yards. The Friars attempted to go for it on 4th down, but came up short, which gave Judge the ball on the opponent’s 46-yard line. Volpe didn’t waste any time, and aired it out with a 46-yard pass to his favorite target Tom Ryan, which gave Father Judge a comfortable 20-0 lead.
   At this point, Bonner was desperate to even get any yardage recorded. A nice 11-yard run (didn’t catch who ran it) moved them to their own 33. But just when things looked like they might begin to looked kindly on the Friars, they fumbled the ball, which was picked up by Judge’s defensive captain, Dan Keenan at Bonner’s 34-yard line. However, back-to-back 3-and-outs gave the ball to the Friars on their own 12, then back to the Crusaders on the Bonner 45. Volpe went to the air again, throwing it up to Tom Ryan for an 18-yard gain (and a nice 100-yards receiving on the day for Tom in the first half). Another pass, this time to Adam Nowak, went for another 8 yards, but Nowak broke about 3 tackles after the reception, which gained him an extra 10 yards on the play. With the ball on the Bonner 2-yard line, and little time left on the clock, the Crusaders scored once more, this time on a run by junior RB/DB Ryan Fenningham, making the score 27-0 as time expired.
  Bonner started the second half on their own 20 after Judge’s kicked Brian "Kickus" Rickus booted the ball into the endzone. However, the Friars fumbled again, this time being picked up by senior Josh Carfagno. With the ball at the Bonner 22, running back Rob Harris ran the ball 5 times for a 2-yard gain, a 7-yard gain, another 7-yard gain, and a 1-yard gain, resulting in yet another touchdown for Judge. Another bad snap forced holder Tim Donohoe to run the ball on a QB keeper, which gave the Crusaders the 2-point conversion.
   It wasn’t long before Judge was back in the driver’s seat. An interception by Josh Jaskowiak allowed the Crusaders to take over yet again from inside Bonner territory. Rob Harris capped off a 35-yard dash for his second touchdown of the game, the score now being 42-0. By this point, there didn’t seem to be 1 ounce of enthusiasm on the Bonner sideline. It showed on the field too. A careless pass was picked off by DB Bill Boub, and returned 40 yards for the touchdown.
   With the score now 49-0, Bonner needed to do something to be able to leave without being shutout. That something turned out to be running back Eric Petransky. With the ball on their own 20, Eric took the ball 80 yards for the touchdown. With the score now 49-7, Bonner could at least say that they wouldn’t be joining Neuman, Ryan, and LaSalle in getting shut out by the Crusaders. Bonner got the ball back at mid field after a 3-and-out by Judge. Petransky recorded another big run, this time for 27 yards. His run put the Friars in position to score again, but another interception in the end zone, this one by Dave DeLeo, foiled any plans of that happening. With the game clearly over by this point, Tommy Coyle put in backup Curtis Wortham to run down the clock at running back, but it seemed like that was the only thing the Crusaders couldn’t do right that day. Curtis recorded a 50-yard run, followed by a 4 yard TD run, bringing an end to a very convincing victory for Tom Coyle and his Father Judge Crusaders.
   King of the Game: I know it sounds corny, but this honor has to be given to the entire Father Judge Defense. 3 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, and only 6 passing yards allowed, not to mention the fact that this game probably would have been another shutout if they had any reason to play the 4th quarter with any intensity.

OCT. 5
CATHOLIC RED
Judge 14, La Salle 0
   Consider this article my official nomination for Andrew McHale as MVP of the Catholic League. The versatile senior took the game into his own hands last week when Judge faced off against the Explorers of La Salle. McHale entered the game at QB, filling in for the injured Paul Volpe, and immediately put he Crusaders on the board with a 67-yard TD run on the opening drive. He wasn’t touched once on the play, which comes from a combination of amazing quickness, and an All-Star offensive line staring Anthony Marascio, John Lavelle, Mat Shule, Joe Galleile, Dave Smith, and tight ends, Ryan Langdon and Dan Keenan. Standout QB John Harrison tried to play catch up, but dropped passes and an amazing shutout performance by Judge’s defense kept the Explorers in the dust for the entire game. Judge’s D-Line kept LaSalle’s running game to a minimum, as well as contained Harrison from start to finish, with much of the thanks to seniors Josh Carfagno and team captain Dan Keenan.
   The second quarter started with a 19-yard QB keeper by McHale, followed by productive runs by Joe Swallow and Rob Harris to put the ball in good field position for the Crusaders. Harris finally put the ball in from 2 yards out to put Judge up 14-0. After this point, the FJ defense didn’t allow a single opportunity for the Explorers' offense to shine. A sack by Carfagno and an interception by Josh Jaskowiak quickly ended the drive. However, inability to get in the end zone with the little time that remained left Judge going into the locker room at half with a 14-0 lead.
   The 2nd half wasn’t any kinder the Explorers. Both teams committed crazy amounts of penalties in the second. Neither team looked prone to score at all in the second, but when you’re up by 2 possessions, it’s not really anything to worry about. In the 4th, La Salle finally looked like they might get a decent drive going. A 20-yard pass to Joe Migliarese followed by another 1st down pass to the same target put LaSalle in Crusader territory. Just when it looked like they had some fight left in them, Adam Nowak intercepts the ball in the end zone, ending any chance for a La Salle comeback. On the last drive for Judge, McHale capped off another 60-yard QB keeper for a touchdown, but it was called back on a holding penalty. Judge wins 14-0.
   King Of The Game: Adam Nowak (3 receptions for 54 yards, 3 deflections, 1 interception) and Andrew McHale (5-11, 72 yards passing, 15 rushes for 142 yards).

SEPT. 22
CATHOLIC RED
Judge 24, Ryan 0
   There’s really only way to explain how I felt after Judge’s win over arch-rival Archbishop Ryan…and it’s giddy. I was giddy when I got a Power Rangers action figure for Christmas when I was 5, and you better believe I was giddy after watching how Judge disposed of the Raiders earlier today. The Crusaders went 3-0 in the preseason, but a lot of critics had their doubts about the squad due to the strength of their preseason schedule. That’s why it’s so hard to not be excited about the team after the result of today’s game.
The game started off pretty slow, with the Crusaders getting the ball downfield on the back of senior RB Andrew McHale (get used to his name because you’re going to be seeing it a lot this year). Most of the first half went this way, and Ryan did little to stop it. McHale, who averaged 5.8 yards per carry in the game, seemed to be doing whatever he pleased with the ball. Rob Harris also contributed to the running game, which kept the ball in the hands of the Crusaders and kept the clock moving. They moved the ball into the red zone after a solid 20-yard run by McHale, followed up by a 15-yard slant to junior standout Tom Ryan. Unfortunately, a personal foul on the Crusaders, a sack on Paul Volpe, and a failed 4th down attempt gave Ryan the opportunity to capitalize and strike first blood. Their inability to move the ball, however, would be their undoing throughout the entirety of the game. The bad luck started on the first possession for the Raiders. After a quick 3 failed attempts to move the ball, Jim DiLisio blocked the punt on 4th down to give Judge good field position. 3 rushes with McHale and 30 yards later, Brian Rickus hit a 22-yard field goal to put them in the early lead.
The rest of the first half seemed to mirror the opening few minutes of the game. Then again, Ryan was riddled with injuries to Jimmy Weitzel and Nick Ferdinand, which kept the Raiders in a weakened condition on defense. Making the best of the situation, Ryan (Tom, not the school) used his speed/height advantage against Ryan DB Chris Calhoun to put up another 6 points before the end of the half.
  The second half wasn’t any kinder to the Raiders. Star Chris Wilk left the game after a full magnitude hit from Tom Ryan. It was amazing to watch the hit but definitely hard to watch the aftermath. Wilk didn’t seem to be moving after the hit occurred but he did finally get up and seemed to be all right. It’s always a scary moment to see a played down no matter what color jersey he’s wearing.
The defense held the Raiders to only 14 plays through the first 3 quarters, and their defense still didn’t seem to have any plan on how to contain McHale, who continued to run circles around the them. The few times that the offense looked like they might finally be getting the ball downfield, Judge stopped them in their tracks with sacks recorded by Jeff Brewer and Josh Carfagno. Tom Ryan recorded another 2 touchdowns in the second half for a total of 3 for the game, which put the nail in the coffin for Ryan. Actually, I told Tom earlier this week that if he didn’t score at least 3 TDs in the game, I wasn’t going to put him in the article. What can I say? The guy is a man of his word. (Seriously, if any college scouts are reading this, get on this kid now!)
   Volpe left the game early due to an ugly cut on his throwing hand, which required stitches. Hopefully it’s not too serious, and he’ll be back by next week. Filling in for him in the 4th quarter was (who else?) Andrew McHale. It only seems right that McHale is the backup QB. I mean, he runs the ball, returns it, catches it, and even defends against it when thrown in on defense (and does it to perfection, too). So it only seems natural that this pure athlete can throw it just as well too right? The final minutes included runs by Tim McCaffrey and Ryan Fenningham to run down the clock. The final was 24-0, and if you were wearing blue, you were sure to go home with a big smile on your face.

 

King of the Game: It doesn’t seem right to give it to 1 person over the other, so I’m gonna have to call it a tie between Andrew McHale (19 rushes, 111 yards) and Tom Ryan (3 TDs, Hit of the Century). I really wouldn’t be surprised to turn on my TV some Saturday to watch big time college football and see either one of these guys.