Leave It to Weaver, Football 2006

Leave It to Weaver
Football 2006

   Brett Weaver is a senior at Archbishop Carroll with an interest in writing. He goes to all of the games and knows a lot about the team, and he's excited about this exposure.
   Please welcome Brett. He may be reached at bweave32@yahoo.com.
   (At left: Brett with lineman George Solometo).

OCT. 21
CATHOLIC BLUE
McDevitt 9, Carroll 6
The big just keep getting bigger, and the weak just keep getting weaker.

This has been the theme for the Carroll Patriots this year. Upsetting losses to Wood, Neumann, and now McDevitt have really taken a toll on the Pats' season. Coming into the game at 2-2 in the PCL, Carroll needed to win this game to get a higher seed in the playoff race. It was not that kind of day, however, because Carroll blew another win opportunity, and let McDevitt walk away with the victory.

It was their game to win. Even though they were undersized, they were faster and better conditioned. I don’t know if it was the intimidation of their size, but it was not the game that Patriot fans were used to seeing. Even the games that they lost in the past were not as bad, but it was no fun for the team . The first half was all McDevitt’s offense moving the ball down the field, and scoring twice. The first was a pass in the corner of the end zone, with a failed extra point to make it 6-0. Later on in the half, the Patriots started to move the ball, but an INT was thrown by the Patriots and the Lancers returned it into good field possession, until Matt "Decaf" Cantafio made a TD saving tackle. Although he stopped a TD, he suffered a concussion on the play, which forced him to sit out the second half. This may have been a factor to the loss, but sophomore Luke Wischnowski stepped up and led the Pats to a score in the second half. The only TD for the Patriots came on an 89-yard catch by Wiley "Sickest hands in the PCL" Flowers, where he made three juke moves to let him get by the Lancers secondary. It was more exciting towards the end of the game, where the Patriots started to move the ball down field and all the way to the Lancers 3 yard line. On 4th and 3 from the 5 with 0:42 left, after a third down running play lost 2 yards, a waggle was called and that decision did not pan out. McDevitt was in a goal line defense, so there was no time for the QB to react and get a good pass off. Another option could have been to kick a field goal and tie the game up and bring it into overtime. The lack of success may wind up costing the Pats a higher seed in the playoffs. Tensions were high after the game, and if a fight broke out like The Hen Den said about the Prep-Judge game, unlike me "getting in Whitney’s face," they probably would have sat in the stands studying for an upcoming test, quoting Gil Brooks when he called 700 of the Prep students "Geeks." Next week should be a good game to watch, being it has been a rivalry for quite a long time. West ended Carroll’s season last year in the semi-finals, and there would be nothing better than to beat them with only 2 games remaining in the season.

OCT. 14
CATHOLIC BLUE
Carroll 24, Dougherty 14

With the team only having 3 days to prepare, again due to the brats at Radnor, the Patriots came out fired up to get their second PCL win.

Starting off Carroll’s dominating first half offense, it too only 7 plays to reach the end-zone first, beginning the game with a 34-yard reverse by Russell "Dollaz" Johnson. A 17-yard pass to Wiley "Sickest hands in the PCL" Flowers on 4th down kept their drive going. Following 4th down, Shane "The train" McMahon added on 10 yards to give the Pats 1st and inches. On the next play, Matt "Decaf" Cantafio scored on a 1 yard QB sneak. The defense stood strong on the first 2 possessions, having the Cardinals leave the field on 3 and outs. The defensive standout for these drives was John "The lion tamer" Pettine. On Carroll’s ensuing possession, "The train" carried the offense with a 47 yrd reverse, putting them into Cardinal’s territory. Later, on that drive, "Decaf" threw a 13 yard pass to "The train" in the back of the end-zone for the second score. At this point, Carroll was up 13-0.

The Pats' defense broke down and Dougherty scored on a 30 yard run by Williams. When Carroll’s offense took the field, "Dollaz" immediately burnt the defense for a 56 yard gain. Not long after that, "Dollaz" took a handoff for a 16 yard TD run. A good move to fake the PAT and go for 2 paid off when "Decaf" threw a bullet to Ryan "I sing Chris Brown on the bus ride home" Downs in the end-zone. This made the score 21-7. On the next kick-off, Carroll decided to try a squib kick, and George "I got laid out" Solometo made the solo tackle at the 40. Missed assignments by Jeff "T.O.’s brother" Prather and Marcus "Mits" Mattaway gave Dougherty a second score by Roberto Townsend. This was a 60 yard pass. As things got even worse for Carroll, "Decaf" threw and INT, and on the return, motivated center, "I got laid out" got laid out. At the end of the half, the Patriots led 21-14.

Starting off the second half with Carroll kicking off, Sean "Cruisin’ for a bruisin’" Easton, and "I got laid out" tag-teamed the return man. The rest of the 3rd quarter was a stalemate, due to mistakes by the Patriots' offense, including another INT by "Decaf," and multiple fumbles on the snap. With the game at 21-14, Carroll drove down to the Cardinal’s 5. On a 4th down FG call, Phil Dougherty split the uprights, making it 24-14 to seal the victory. With 5 minutes remaining on the clock, Dougherty tried a pass, but "Sickest hands in the PCL" picked it off. To eat up the clock, "Decaf" handed the ball off to Alex "Skinner" Belfi, and that ended the game.

Game Summary: Dougherty kept Carroll on their feet, by scoring on 2 big plays that could have been easily contained. Without offensive mistakes and those 2 plays, the score could have been much greater, and the boys from Carroll played well.

Player of the Game: Russell "Dollaz" Johnson ~ 13 carries for 151 yards.

--
OCT. 10
CATHOLIC BLUE
Carroll-31 Kennedy Kendrick-0

For the first time since 1976, Carroll played a varsity game on their practice field, due to the brats at Radnor making bomb threats. Despite K-K’s losing record over the past few years, they always seem to come out and play their toughest against Carroll. Carroll is always circled on their schedule.

On K-K’s first drive, they worked their way into the Patriots' territory, until Bill (the Lion) O’Brien stopped them on fourth down. Carroll took over and drove down to the Wolverines' 15, where Matt (Decaf) Cantafio fumbled an option to Shane (the Train) McMahon. K-K took over, until Ellis Rogers picked off a bomb from the Wolves’ QB. He returned the INT to midfield. Carroll, instead of pounding up the middle like they usually do, they decided to use their outside speed of Russell (Dollaz) Johnson to get them down to the 8 yard line. Decaf then kept the ball on another option play, and took it in for the first score. The defense, led by newly acquired strong safety Sean (Cruisin’ for a bruisin’) Easton, who had a breakout first game. The Pats kept the Wolverines scoreless in the first half.

Starting off the second half, K-K kicked off to Ryan Downs, who ran behind the dominate wedge of Sean Easton, Brian Moran, Chris Edwards, Mike Cantrell, and Shane McMahon to the 20. After driving again, Dollaz scored on a nine yard reverse. On the ensuing kick-off, George (Goose) Solometo who is in the above picture, made the solo tackle at the 30. K-K had another three and out series. Wiley (Randy Moss) Flowers then scored on a pass from Decaf, where he broke two defenders ankles, and made them look like huge idiots. This made the score 18-0. Later on, the Wolverines' fullback fumbled from a hit by John (Haber’s scared of me) Pettine when Kevin (my brother’s in the NFL) Eckel tried to scoop up the ball, but failed miserably. He then later prevented Dollaz and Wiley from having interceptions of their own. Carroll drove down to the three, where Alex (Back Allie) Belfi appeared to fumble, and get Marco (Ah my face) Dedda a TD. The play was reversed, and on the next play, Decaf had his second score on a QB sneak behind that unstoppable line. Trying to keep their chances alive, K-K drove down the field, until Rob (Double D) Sklaroff made a huge stop by sacking the QB in the red-zone. Away from the play, Matt Hallinan knocked off the helmet off a Wolverine, making him look like a little girl. The game ended on an INT by Marcus Mattaway, which he returned for a TD. This may have been the longest eighty-eight yard run, ever, timing in at about two minutes.

Game Summary: Carroll Dominated

Player(s) of the game: Carroll Offensive Line

Saturday’s Prediction: Carroll-Much Dougherty: Not so Much

SEPT. 30
CATHOLIC BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 32, Carroll 14

The rain was not the only thing that ruined homecoming for Carroll this year. Coming into their second league game 0-1, the Patriots were hoping to rebound against the Saints to even their record. Starting the game off with N-G scoring was not what the defense had in mind. The Patriots did answer by scoring a TD of their own. It came on the second drive when Matt Cantafio threw a fifteen yard TD pass to Wiley Flowers. On the next few drives, both defenses stopped the offense to keep the score tied 7-7 at the end of the first.

The second quarter was a defensive battle, having only one score in the quarter. It did not come until five seconds left in the half, but it put shock into the Carroll community. Who would have thought that their beloved Patriots would be losing to Neumann-Goretti, especially on homecoming. At the end of the half, the Saints led 14-7.

In the second half, the Patriots fell apart and let Neumann score eighteen straight points. The offensive line, which played perfectly against Wood, could not keep the defensive line out of the backfield, and off of the QB. The Patriots’ defense played similar to the offense, missing tackles, letting receivers by them, and getting just no penetration by the line.

As fans left in disgust, the Patriots scored late in the fourth quarter to make the score 32-14. With the upsetting loss, Carroll went to 0-2 in the Catholic League, and 1-4 on the season. Maybe next week they will be more focused and start playing like we all know they can. Homecoming is supposed to be a fun and relaxing day, but the only good thing that came out of it was that Ryan Horkan won Homecoming King honors.

SEPT. 22
CATHOLIC BLUE
Wood 26, Carroll 25

Going into the first game of their Catholic League Season, Archbishop Carroll had one goal for this week, beating Wood, the defending champs. Freshman year, Carroll only had one loss, and that was to this Wood team. So as you can see, beating Wood in the home opener would set the pace to a perfect senior year.

The first half of the game started out in Carroll’s favor, thanks to scores on the first two possessions. The running game seemed to be working for the Patriots, and the passing game was unstoppable. Throwing in a few trick plays along the way, Carroll ended the first quarter leading, 12-0.

The second quarter seemed to be going the same way for Carroll. The rushing game was still working in their favor, and they kept Wood off the board. The defense stepped up and did not let Wood into the red zone, even threatening to score. The offense kept its momentum and scored once more before the half. Credit is given where it is deserved, and it all starts with the offensive line. Giving Matt Cantafio (QB) all the time that he needed, George Solomento, Matt Hallinan, Marco Dedda, Bill O’Brien, and Jack Lowney kept the Wood defense out of the backfield, opening up opportunities for receivers and Cantafio. Everything seemed to be going perfectly on this Friday night, and nothing could bring down Carroll.

At the half, Carroll led, 19-0. When the second half started, Carroll drove down the field and scored yet again, keeping momentum that they started in the first half. The drive, like most of the game, relied on Russell Johnson, who scored his third touchdown of the night.

This was where it all went downhill. Wood scored on their drive, making it an 18-point game. The onside kick recovery by Wood changed the game for both teams. They got the momentum, and scored two more times by the end of the third quarter. At the end of the third, the score was 25-20.

Keeping hope alive, Carroll looked to keep the lead, and upset the defending champs, who felt they were going to walk through the league. With about three minutes left, Carroll was trying to keep Wood out of the end zone one last time, but two very questionable calls kept Wood’s hope alive. These calls may have end up costing Carroll the game, especially since it gave Wood a one-point lead. One last chance for Carroll seemed like the only way to give the fans the win that they so much deserved. Driving down the field, Carroll ended up with a third and ten. Instead of throwing to get into better position, there was a dive call that gave them no yardage. And on fourth and ten, an incomplete pass sealed the victory for Wood.

A hard-fought battle shockingly ended up in the favor of Wood, and left Carroll at 0-1. Controversy will come from this game all week, until there is something else to talk about, but this was surely the game of the week in the Catholic League.