SPRINGFIELD, PA – Cardinal O’Hara quarterback Tommy O’Hara had a rough afternoon against Bonner Prendergast Saturday.

His throws were high and out of rhythm. He couldn’t find his favorite target, wide receiver Justin Santilla, and he threw an interception that led to Bonner taking a 12-0 lead in the second quarter.

But with just under two minutes to go in the contest, O’Hara slashed Bonner’s defense on for a 30-yard rushing touchdown to give the Lions a 22-12 cushion over the Friars.

On the ensuing possession, he improved the Lions’ record to 10-0 by intercepting Bonner quarterback Evan Raiburn to seal a 22-12 victory and a spot in the District 12 Class 4A championship game in two weeks.

“Tommy wasn’t sharp in the passing game but he made a couple big plays towards the end,” coach B.J. Hogan said. 

The Lions trailed for a good chunk of the game until O’Hara led a 12-play 67-yard drive late in the third quarter.

O’Hara, who went 7-of-22 for 57-yards for a touchdown and an interception, didn’t have much success through the air.

10 of the 12 plays called on the lead-changing drive were runs, including a 10-yard rushing touchdown by running back Nick Kutufaris that gave O’Hara a 14-12 lead in the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Kutufaris finished the day with five rushes for 17-yards and a score, while O’Hara led the team in rushing yards with 86 and a rushing touchdown. Running back Myles Henderson left the game in the fourth quarter with a quad contusion.

“I said Tommy: ‘Dude, you’re the MVP of the Catholic League, just act like it,’” Hogan said. “… We have that relationship where I can tell him that, but he finally started making some throws and he was good.”

Neither team could get anything going on offense in the first quarter. The first five possessions of the game—O’Hara with three and Bonner with two—resulted in punts.

Bonner finally broke that trend when they took a 6-0 lead with 10 minutes and 26 seconds left in the second quarter.

On fourth-and-11, Raiburn lofted a pass between two O’Hara defenders to running back Tom Millison for 31-yards to the O’Hara one-yard line.

Two plays later running back Shawn Harmon punched in one of his two rushing touchdowns of the day.

Running back Joseph Hartley-Vittoria lead the Friars in rushing with 43-yards on 16 attempts.

Later in the second quarter, Bonner made it a two possession game when Harmon scored again from two-yards out with 4:36 remaining. But after defensive lineman Stephon Brown sacked Raiburn for a loss of eight, the Lions began to march back.

O’Hara threaded the needle with a 19-yard strike to wide receiver Chris Kirby, which made it 12-7 Bonner with 35.2 seconds left in the second quarter.

O’Hara wouldn’t get on the scoreboard again until the fourth quarter, but their defense did a stout job of holding Bonner’s running game in the second half. They only rushed for 12-yards on nine attempts in the second half.

Linebackers Tyric Gould and Stefan Borcky were the main contributors of causing Bonner problems on offense all throughout the game.

It was a much different game than their showdown earlier in the year when O’Hara shutout the Friars 28-0 in September but it was the same outcome.

O’Hara just hopes to keep their streak and journey to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the state championship alive.

“We humble them as a staff every Monday and Tuesday and just try to make sure that they know they’re 1-0 that week but then it ends,” Hogan said. “I didn’t want the seniors to lose their last game on our field. So, in two weeks if Imhotep keeps winning we’re going to have a chance to play the defending state champion and that’s what we want to do.”