By: Mike Livingston, Archbishop Carroll High School Student Reporter
NORRISTOWN, PA - Close, but not close enough.
It felt as though the Archbishop Carroll Patriots were just on the cusp of something big at every turn on Saturday afternoon at Norristown Area High School as they dropped their inaugural PCL contest of the year 20-14 to the Vikings of Archbishop Wood.
“Yeah, we did well stopping the run (in the) first half,” said sophomore quarterback Jayden Boyd. “We had plenty of chances to score but we didn’t - it’s all on me, I had two turnovers on the day, but we’re going to come back on Monday and work.”
Stopping the run once was just one of the many things the Patriots were able to improve on, especially earlier in the game. The passing game and offensive line protections, along with the pass rush, all saw steep improvements over past few weeks, but just couldn’t come up in the big moments.
Archbishop Carroll vs. Archbishop Wood - PSD Photos by Mike Livingston, ACHS Reporter
After allowing Wood to drive downfield and score with star runner Yasim Lowry on the first defensive possession of the drive, the Patriots were able to quickly match that on offense.
With a steady diet of runs and some newfound passing prowess from Boyd who found senior wideout Matt McGaughey and sophomore Ty Ty Mattison multiple times on the drive for some big gains.
Boyd however capped it all off with a beautiful dime to Mattison in the end zone who made an even more beautiful catch - leaping over and missing his defender to make it a 6-6 tie ballgame.
After losing senior kicker Alex Raker to an ankle injury this week, senior defensive back Dylan Burns was forced to step in as the PK for the Pats all afternoon. Thankfully, his first attempt would come later in the game as an offsides penalty on the PAT brought Carroll half the distance and allowed senior running back Aaron Barnes to run it in for a quick two-point conversion, making it 8-6 Carroll.
As the game moved into the second quarter, we got a real good look at a re-energized Carroll defense that held the Vikings scoreless for the rest of the first half. In the trenches is where the Pats really showed their stuff, as the freshman pairing of Sean Williams and Cesar Richardson put in some work on Wood’s defensive line. Mattison continued his day with some nice pass breakups in the backfield and Wood did just the same, sending the game into halftime at 8-6.
“We had a great week of practice and that translated to the game,” said Carroll senior defensive captain Nick D’Alicandro. “We had way more energy this week, and we will continue to keep getting better.”
The pressure both defenses displayed continued throughout the third quarter as both clubs continued to bend but not break, each making huge stops at one point or another.
Archbishop Carroll vs. Archbishop Wood - PSD Highlights by Mike Livingston
“For three quarters, we were there,” said Patriots head Kyle Detweiler. “Certainly on the defensive side of the football. You know, I don’t necessarily support our conditioning to help us finish through the fourth. I think we had a lot of guys who once we hit that fourth quarter were tapping themselves on the helmet and needing a sub. To Wood’s credit, they were able to take advantage of us, maybe not being in the best position to have our best group out there since it was so hot.”
As the clock flipped to the fourth quarter, just two plays in, it was a whole new ballgame. Wood’s Lowry made his way into the end zone on a 30-yard touchdown run which put the Vikings ahead 14-8 after the two-point conversion from Lowry as well.
It was at this juncture where the Patriots showed their final positive of the afternoon, marching down field with yet another methodical drive - switching between a solid run game and quick flashy passes to move down the field with relative ease. Boyd finished the drive off with a touchdown run from just a yard out which made it a 14-14 ballgame after Burns’ PAT attempt that went wide right.
After that the fatigue began to show as Wood started to pound the ball without much resistance, while multiple Carroll players dropped out due to cramps. Finally, Lowry ran it in once more for his third touchdown of the afternoon, giving Wood a 20-14 advantage with 3:41 remaining in the ballgame.
Despite a valiant effort from the Patriots to drive back down field, which included a 50-yard catch and run from Boyd to sophomore receiver Tripp Quigley to set up Carroll in great field position. The club just didn’t have enough when it came down to it, as the penalties piled up and forced a 2nd and 30 at one point before a few incomplete passes followed up by a Wood interception on the final play of the game.
“Monday we’re just going to forget about last week,” said Boyd. “We’re going to watch a film (and) just get better. Like, we had a good week of practice this week, it showed on the field but we just didn’t come out with the win, but next week it’ll come out.”
This week, the Pats will face off with the Archbishop Ryan Raiders. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff from Northeast High School on Saturday evening.