Mistakes costly in Classical loss to Catholic Memorial

LYNN – Mistakes proved costly for the Classical football team in a 17-0 loss to Catholic Memorial in its season opener Friday at Manning Field.”I thought most of the game our offense did fairly well. We just couldn’t sustain our drives,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said. “We made mistakes and they capitalized.”Classical moved the ball well in the early going, but the first drive stalled at the CM 37 and the second one at the Knights’ 24-yard line. Catholic Memorial, however, was having even less success, going three-and-out on its first two possessions.Click here for a photo gallery of last night’s gameIt looked like the Rams might be ready to make some noise early in the second quarter when, with the ball at the CM 42, junior quarterback Nick Grassa lofted a pass to older brother Jasper that the receiver reeled in around the 20, but the effort was wasted when Grassa was called for offensive interference.The football gods continued to shine on the Knights on the next series when quarterback, A.J. Doyle, floated one that Classical’s Kashawn Avery and the Knights’ Armani Reeves battled for in midair, with Reeves finally wrestling it away before he landed inside the five. CM running back Lorenzo Warren, who was a thorn in the Rams’ side all night, punched the ball in from the two for a 6-0 lead. .”The other kid made a fantastic play,” Phelps said. “My guy went up for it just like he was supposed to.”The Knights took the 6-0 lead into the lockerroom. The Rams got a break on CM’s first drive of the second half. Doyle went back to throw on third-and-14 from its own 41. He was nearly sacked twice, but managed to break free and hit an open receiver down around the 20, but the ball bounced off his chest to end the threat.Classical couldn’t do much with the gift, however. The Rams next two drives fizzled, as did Catholic Memorial’s. The killer blow for the Rams came when CM was forced to punt on fourth-and-13. Classical fumbled the return, giving the Knights the ball on the Classical nine. CM made the mistake hurt when three plays later, Warren barreled in from four-yards out to make the score 12-0. The conversion was good, giving Catholic Memorial an insurmountable 14-0 lead.Classical almost got one midway through the final quarter, getting the ball down to the 11-yard-line, but Huston (23-103 yards) was stopped three times trying to run it in. Catholic Memorial salted the game away on a field goal for the 17-0 final.”We’ve got to have the mental focus to sustain our drives,” Phelps said.Nick Grassa was 6-for-17 for 140 yards passing and one interception. Jasper Grassa was his main target with four catches for 105 yards.Classical plays Wakefield on Thursday.