MEDFORD — The Bishop Fenwick football team convincingly beat three straight opponents to begin the season, and nothing changed as Catholic Central League play started Friday night.
Senior Joe Rivers rushed for three touchdowns and caught another as the Crusaders continued their perfect start with a 44-20 win over rival Arlington Catholic at Hormel Stadium. Fenwick ended the first half with a touchdown and scored on three straight possessions in the second to pull away.
“I thought AC played great. They were in the game the whole way,” said Crusaders coach Dave Woods. “I said at one point that the score felt a lot closer than it was, but we had some guys step up and make big plays. Joe Rivers just took over. He was the fastest kid on the field.”
The game began as a defensive struggle with interceptions on the first three total series. David Cifuentes’ field goal broke a scoreless tie just past the game’s three-minute mark.
The Crusader defense forced a fumble on the home team’s next possession, giving the ball back for the Peabody native Jason Romans for an 11-play scoring drive. Rivers finished it off with an 11-yard run.
Fenwick went down quickly to start the second quarter before overcoming penalties to score on the next two series. Rivers scored from 19 yards out before Romans found Jake Connolly in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard score as time expired. Cifuentes finished those plays with extra points, making the score 24-7 at the half.
“Jason made some good reads, some good passes and then some not-so-great, but that’s part of learning being a young quarterback,” said Woods. “He has a great attitude. He threw an interception early, but it didn’t bother him. He came right back.”
Sam Poindexter brought the Cougars within two scores as his 49-yard touchdown immediately followed an onside kick recovery to begin the second half. The Crusaders moved inside the 30-yard line on the following series before an interception stunted the drive, but the hosts were unable to come any closer after a blocked field goal.
Fenwick wasted little time scoring from scrimmage on the following series, thanks to Rivers breaking through the middle for a 90-yard touchdown. Cifuentes found the end zone on the second of back-to-back five-yard runs, then Rivers opened the final quarter with a touchdown reception from Chrys Wilson.
The Cougars finished the scoring as Jose Davila caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from Paul Hammond.
The Crusaders will look to make adjustments this week before they visit St. Mary’s next Saturday (7).
“We had trouble running the ball inside for the first time this year, so that was a challenge. They were a big team,” Woods said. “We have to have a good week of practice and get back to fundamental football. If we do that, we have enough talent and enough skill that we’ll be OK, but if we don’t you’ll end up in games like this.”
