Fenwick beats Madison Park, but quarterback is hurt

PEABODY ? Bishop Fenwick won the game, but the Crusaders may have lost a lot more.The Crusaders defeated Madison Park, 33-18, in a Div. 5 North quarterfinal round playoff game, Friday night, at Donaldson Stadium, but Fenwick quarterback Matt Renzulli left the game after being injured on the first play of the second half.Renzulli returned in the fourth quarter to the sidelines on crutches, with his right ankle wrapped in ice. With running back Rufus Rushins already battling a sore knee, Fenwick may not have two of its top weapons at full strength as it tries to defend its Div. 5 Super Bowl championship.The top-seeded Crusaders (8-0) play 5th-seeded Lowell Catholic (6-2) in the semifinals on a day and time to be determined.”I haven’t talked to (Renzulli) yet,” Fenwick coach David Woods said. “He’s going for an x-ray, and we’ll see how things are. Hopefully, we’ll have a quarterback next week.”Before he left, Renzulli threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Cody Mullen, who also scored on a 47-yard punt return. Though he was limited to five carries, Rushins scored on three of them, on runs of 34, 3 and 1 yards, as the Crusaders scored all their points in the first half.Madison Park (4-4), the 8th-seed, scored on an 86-yard kickoff return by Kevin Blair in the first half. Blair added a 41-yard touchdown run and Stephon Anderson also had a 27-yard touchdown run in the second half, as the Cardinals nearly made a game of it at the end. Fenwick’s defense held Madison Park the Crusaders’ 15-yard line with 37 seconds left to play.”I’ll tell you what, we’ve got to coach better if we want to keep moving forward and defend our title,” Woods said. “The kids weren’t prepared to play tonight, and we’ve got to do a better job with that.”Indeed, the game didn’t seem to have a lot of spark, possibly because of the conflict with Halloween night and an unfamiliar opponent that resulted in a small crowd. Only a handful of Madison Park fans made the trip from Boston. The stadium was so quiet, that when the referee announced Madison Park had won the opening coin toss and elected to defer, his voice easily carried into the stands.Fenwick scored on its first three drives, with Renzulli hooking up with Mullen on a screen to the right side for the first score, just 1:49 into the game. A 29-yard keeper by Renzulli set up the Crusaders’ second touchdown, a Rushins 3-yard run on the next play.Blair returned the ensuing kickoff right up the gut for a touchdown, but Fenwick answered quickly when Renzulli hit Brian Fitzpatrick with a 27-yard pass and two plays later Rushins scored his second touchdown to put the Crusaders ahead, 19-6, with 5:14 left in the first quarter.Rushins found the end zone again with 3:42 left in the second quarter, and then Mullen scored on his punt return with 1:06 to play in the first half to make the score 33-6. Mullen nearly scored again on the final play of the half, on an interception return from midfield to the Cardinals’ 15-yard line.Fenwick’s defense was dominant in the first half, holding Madison Park to minus-3 yards from scrimmage and just two first downs, one of which came on a pass interference penalty.Against the Crusaders’ second team defense in the second half, the Cardinals fared much better, capping off an 85-yard drive with Anderson’s scoring run. A fumble recovery by Christopher Ayala led to Madison Park’s final score with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter.