Austin Prep 38, Bp. Fenwick 8: Despite defeat, Crusader Lipka adds to state reception mark

READING – Chances are, when Bishop Fenwick football coach Dave Woods sat down to Thanksgiving dinner with his family Thursday he passed on the wings after witnessing Austin Prep’s Double Wing offense carve up the Crusaders in a 38-8 win at Father Seymour Field.Click here for a photo gallery of this gameThe host Cougars (3-2; 6-5) attacked from the outset behind senior running backs Adam Fraser and Joe Diaz, who combined for 270 yards rushing and five touchdowns as the 2009 Division 4A Super Bowl champs secured a winning season. AP amassed 393 total yards and 16 first downs and, on several occasions, Cougar backs slipped through seemingly imperceptible cracks in Fenwick’s defense for sizable gains.”I don’t know what it is but the way they run that Double Wing, once they get it going we just can’t seem to stop it. We’re playing defense, playing defense and all of a sudden they make that big play. That’s the way they run it – they’re really well-coached,” said Woods.The game brought the curtain down on the Crusaders’ well-publicized aerial show as senior quarterback Bret Kidik (18-of-35, 193 yards) threw his 23rd TD pass of the season to senior tight end Jake Bugler and senior wide receiver Ryan Lipka caught nine passes for 105 yards, raising his state single-season record total to 114 receptions. Bugler was awarded the team’s Thanksgiving Day MVP trophy after catching three passes for 38 yards and a touchdown while logging double-digit tackles at middle linebacker.”Not bad for a guard,” Woods joked. “He was a guard as a junior, but he’s a good athlete and has very good hands.”It went bad for the Crusaders from the outset when the Cougars recovered an intentional game-opening squib kick at the Fenwick 44. Two plays after quarterback Joe Barry’s 20-yard scramble to the 24, Fraser swept the right side for 19 yards and a 6-0 lead. After Fenwick went three-and-out on its first series, Barry motored 60 untouched yards on the first snap for his second score in a span of 48 seconds and a 12-0 lead.Austin Prep expanded the score to 26-0 at halftime with a pair of second-quarter TDs – Bill Maradei’s one-yard plunge with 1:42 expired in the period and Diaz’s first of three on a six-yard run with 1:18 left in the period. Barry connected with Fraser on the conversion pass after Diaz’s TD.Halftime did nothing to chill the Cougars as Diaz raced 27 yards for his second TD on the first possession of the second half for a 32-0 lead.The Crusaders, though, didn’t go quietly as they responded with a 12-play, 60-yard scoring drive that took 4:30 to execute. Kidik kept the drive alive with a 16-yard fourth-down completion to Bugler, then connected with Lipka for 26 yards off the scramble, bringing the ball to the AP eight. On fourth-and-goal from the nine, Kidik lofted a touch pass over a Cougars’ safety to Bugler hugging the back line of the end zone for the score. Bugler also caught the conversion pass, making it 32-8.Any thought of one of Fenwick’s furious finishes ended when Diaz completed his hat trick with a 30-yard scoring dash on the second play of the fourth quarter.