CM Falls Just Short of Monumental Upset, 30-28

On Sunday the Catholic Memorial Knights marched into Xaverian Brothers High School ready to give the number one ranked team in the state their first loss of the season. The Knights stayed in the game throughout but fell just short in the end losing 30-28.

Xaverian got on the board first with a one-yard touchdown run about halfway through the first quarter. On the next drive, once CM was finally forced to punt the kick was returned for a touchdown. The Knights, now down 14-0 knew that Xaverian's momentum needed to be stopped immediately or they were going to be looking at a blowout. Apparently Sophomore Armani Reeves knew this because he returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. Joey McCarthy fumbled the snap on the extra point but he made up for it by running into the end zone, which put the Knights down only 14-8. After their returned kickoff the Knights defense stepped up with solid tackling as well as a fumble which was caused by Lorenzo Warren hitting the Xaverian quarterback from his blind side. The game score would stay at 14-8 heading into halftime.

In the second half no impact plays were made until Warren recovered a fumbled snap to give the Knights the ball in excellent field position with 6:09 left in the third quarter. Keshaudus Spence then broke free for a 25 yard touchdown run to put the Knights in position to take the lead, however a blocked punt kept the game tied at 14. The Hawks broke the tie on the first play of the fourth quarter with a touchdown run. Knights' quarterback AJ Doyle then threw a costly interception deep in CM territory which would have buried the Knights if not for excellent defense to force the Hawks to kick a field goal. Xaverian helped the Knights' cause when their kickoff went out of bounds, which gave the Knights the ball on their 40-yard line. The play of the game was a reverse to Joey McCarthy who, after looking to pass downfield, maneuvered his was for a 35-yard gain. The Hawks would once again hurt themselves with a costly pass interference penalty, which gave CM the ball on the 9-yard line. Lorenzo Warren kept CM in the game when he muscled his way for a touchdown to put CM within three, down 24-21. Much to the disappointment of the Knights' bench, the Hawks connected on a huge pass play to put themselves on the CM's 9-yard line and in excellent position to make it a two-possession game. Xaverian scored their final touchdown of the afternoon with 3:17 left, a blocked extra point made the score 30-21. The Knights marched all the way from the 8 yard line into the end zone but time was not on their side, Doyle finally hit McCarthy in the end zone with only :04 remaining.

With their performance in this game the Knights have nothing to hang their heads about, they gave the number one ranked team in the state the biggest scare they've seen this season. Still, that doesn't mean that it hurts any less. The Knights gave everything they had and if a few things went differently then who knows, maybe they pull it out.

CM's final game of the season is their annual Thanksgiving day game against BC High. Every year the Pumpkin Trophy is put on the line in this age old Catholic Conference rivalry. The Knights' final mission of the season is to bring the trophy back to Baker Street for the first time in four years.

Mike Slonina '11