CM Life in Photos: Sophomore Olympians

Sophomores try their luck at the dash on CM's annual Olympic Day, September 23.

CM defeats Haverhill to start season 2-0

On a comfortable early fall night the CM Knights came out and dismantled the Haverhill Hillies from the opening kickoff.

Wasting no time, the Knights moved the ball ahead with a quick three minute drive that was capped off by an Aj Doyle touchdown run. The run gave the Knights a 7-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Later in the quarter Aj connected with Armani Reeves for a 15 yard touchdown giving the Knights an early 14-0 advantage.

The Knights defense looked sharp as Haverhill struggled to pick up any positive yardage throughout the game. With 3:52 left in the first half Reeves returned an interception for a touchdown pushing the Knights to a 21-0 lead.

Aj wasn't done making his mark on the first half, with three seconds to go he hit Josh Charles in the end zone for a 39 yard pass putting the Knights up 28-0.

CM wasn't done scoring until Mike Techiera rushed for his first touchdown of the season establishing a 35-0 lead which would end up being the final score.

The Knights played with a lot of energy and passion on a night that featured a huge crowd, a Fox 25 television camera crew, and a Powerade truck handing out thunder clappers. When asked about his team's attitude the blur of speed otherwise known as Armani Reeves had this to say.

"We were really excited with Fox being there and we were really pumped and ready for the game. We played hard and really wanted to win. It was a big motivator for us."

Next week the Knights will take their show on the road as they make the long bus ride to Hartford, Vermont. Last season the Knights beat Hartford at home 42-12. Next week the Knights hope for a repeat performance.

Mike Slonina '11

CM Life in Photos: God before the gridiron

An hour before Friday night's varsity football matchup against Haverhill, a CM football player caught a few moments of quiet.

CM Life in Photos: Early Success

Catholic Memorial soccer made an outstanding statement to the rest of the Catholic Conference last night with a 1-1 draw to St. John's Prep. The always dangerous midfielder, Ryland Foster (Above), buried a free kick from well outside the box in response to SJP's goal just four minutes prior. About the match Ryland said, "The game was a good one. They scored a cheap goal, but we bounced back and buried our opportunity on that free kick. It's a big step in the right direction."

CM's next match is at BC High tomorrow at 5:30.

M.G. '11

CM wins on 73-yard bomb

On, Friday night, the Knights kicked off their 2010 football season against the Lynn Classical Rams with a thrilling 21-14 come from behind win.

Knight's quarterback AJ Doyle came out of the gates hot and opened up the defense for running back William Earl to operate. The junior running back followed up a 20 yard run with another 19 yard touchdown run filled with jukes and spin moves.

The Rams' offense consisted of a heavy diet of run plays. The reasoning for that became obvious when the first pass they threw was picked off by Donovan Henry.

One thing about the Rams' offense that seriously hurt the Knights was their ability to run long, time consuming drives. To end the second quarter they capped off a 6 minute drive with a pass to the sideline that turned into a 40 yard touchdown.

The Rams started the second half on their own 3 yard line and the Knights took advantage by forcing a safety and tying it up at 8.

Things kept getting better when junior Armani Reeves returned the punt on the safety to the 29 yard line. The offense didn't move much from here on for the Knights. Doyle ran for 10 yards early in the drive but after three consecutive failed runs the Knights were forced to kick a field goal.

Senior Tom Byrnes nailed the 17 yard field goal to give the Knights an 11-8 lead.

The Rams refused to go down quietly and connected on a 24 yard pass to get into the red zone to end the third quarter. The Knights fought hard to keep the Rams out of the end zone but eventually they got in on a two yard run to go up 14-11.

The Rams got greedy and tried an onside kick but it backfired horribly when it didn't go 10 yards, giving the Knights the ball on the Rams' 45 yard line.

The Knights' running game was slowed to a crawl in the second half and they faced a 4th & 2 situation, arguably with the game on the line. Doyle and Reeves came up big for the first time on a pass to the sideline for a first down to keep the drive alive. Later in the drive, after escaping a heavy pass rush AJ Doyle showed a pure will to win as he refused to go down for 10 yards, setting up another field goal from Byrnes with 4:23 left to play. As he usually does, Byrnes drilled the 23 yarder and tied it up at 14.

Senior captain John Gorman sacked the Rams' quarterback with 1:50 left as the Knights defense was trying to force overtime. They would end up doing one better as senior Dimitri Claude intercepted a pass intended to the sideline and gave the Knights the ball on their own 40 yard line with 1:01 left in the game.

With the ball and a chance to steal a win, Doyle escaped a rush and broke free for major yards before being thrown down far out of bounds, a dirty tackle that would cause a lot of pushing and shoving on the CM sideline. Despite that dirty play, a block in the back put the Knights back on their own 27 yard line with just 35 seconds left.

After a couple failed plays, it happened.

Doyle dropped back and connected with Armani Reeves for a 73 yard touchdown that sent the crowd into a frenzy. After crossing the goal line Armani immediately looked for the ref and humbly handed him the ball. Then he and the rest of teammates went crazy. I've been to a lot of high school football games and I've never seen a game end like that.

Another interception from Donovan Henry sealed the game and the Knights escaped with a jaw dropping 21-14 victory.

The Knights won without both Cam Williams and Fabrice Rateau, two integral parts of the team.

AJ Doyle showed poise that he didn't have last season and he seemed much more confident in the pocket. I asked him about the game winning touchdown pass and what was going through his mind as the play developed.

"I didn't see the pass get completed because I got hit, but then I heard the crowd go nuts and knew the game was over. Nobody can catch him (Armani Reeves)."

After Friday night I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would disagree.

Completing that play meant more than football to Reeves. He recalled saying to himself, "I got to do this for my grandfather, so please let me catch this," he said. (Reeves' grandfather had passed away recently.)

Next week, the Knights will play Haverhill in the Fox 25 game of the week. Although their win against Lynn Classical was as exhilarating as a win can get, I'm sure the Knights would rather not do it the hard way next time.

Mike Slonina '11

CM Life in Photos: First Day Starting Off Right

Above, senior Dan Daniluk finishes his first day back with a free period which he put to good use. Everybody agrees that it is good to be back, even if it means that there is work to be done.

~ M.G. '11

CM Life in Photos: Eighth grade begins

On their first day as eighth graders, students settled into second period Theology class with Mr. Boyle. Above, Devin Agyeman '15 musters a smile.

CM Life in Photos: Hands down, the hardest-worker

Senior captain Steve Twerago (above) does his routine one-handed push ups after a tough practice. These are not done to show off but, because he says, "They are great exercise. If I push myself to do these after practice then I will push myself to go the extra mile during a match." He is wearing one of the teams new warm up jackets that they received yesterday. "It's not only enough to be good, you also have to look good," said senior starting keeper Brendan Hughes.

CM Life in Photos: Leadership starts in the classroom

Senior captains Nick Leney (left) and Patrick O'Mara (right) lead the soccer team in a warm up lap around the pitch before their first match. O'Mara says, "Leadership on any team is dependent upon varsity experience, as the younger players get more experience we will benefit as a team. As a senior though, it is not only important that I set an example in a match, but also in the school as well. The examples that all three senior captains set in the classroom will translate into greater success on the field."

CM Life In Photos: Soccer Team Prepares for Season

As the new Student Blogger I wanted my first entry to be focused on a subject important to the school as a whole and to myself personally. As a proud member of the CM Soccer team for the past five years it is an honor to showcase the defending State Champions.

Today Coach Finn prepared the team for their first match tomorrow against Stoughton. The young team focused on fundamental team oriented soccer. Senior captain Nick Leney (above), looking forward to the upcoming season said, "Coming off a strong season last year, every team is going to be gunning for us. With a strong three set of defense comprised of the three senior captains and offensive threats such as Ryland Foster we have the potential to make another great run this season and continue soccer dominance at CM." The team isn't taking last years success for granted however, as celebration for the teams championship ended as quickly as the new season has begun.

The CM community wishes the Soccer Team along with all athletic teams success this year.