The Bishop Fenwick football team (5-0) defeated Cardinal Spellman (2-3) on a beautiful Thursday evening at Fenwick High, 34-3, to remain perfect on the season.
Led by Troy Irizarry, Fenwick controlled the game from start to finish. The captain recorded three touchdowns on the night, as well as picking up a sack on the defensive end.
Fenwick’s opening drive started strong with the opening kickoff being taken to the 40-yard line. From there, running backs Anthony Nichols and Irizarry paced them on the ground – combining for 43 yards on the drive.
The march down the field would result in Nichols finding the endzone on a 17-yard burst through main street, giving his team an early 7-0 advantage after the extra point.
Spellman quarterback Jack Duffy was on point early during his team’s opening drive, connecting on three passes in short order. However, things changed when Fenwick’s Kurtis Bruch intercepted the ball on a Duffy throw near the sideline.
Like clockwork, Fenwick seeked more offense. Quarterback Bryce Leaman found captain Costa Beechin on a slant route, who escaped from the secondary and took it 52 yards to the house.
On the ensuing drive, and beginning with a long quarterback run from Duffy, Spellman was on the move. A few plays later, a holding penalty on their opposition put them just 35 yards away from the promised land. But on a crucial fourth down, Duffy’s bomb was deflected and intercepted by Leaman – this time, the quarterback making his presence felt on the defensive end.
After an unproductive drive from Fenwick’s offense, their swarming defense must not have wanted Spellman to score before the half – stopping multiple run plays behind the line of scrimmage on Spellman’s following drive.
Those plays proved to hurt them. With Fenwick having a short field, Leaman waited for the defensive line pressure to approach him and dropped off a screen pass to Irizarry, who took the catch 23 yards to the endzone to make it 20-0. The point after was no good.
After a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the Crusaders would make Spellman pay for their mistake, yet again. And despite Fenwick only having around 30 seconds before halftime, they increased their lead with Irizarry taking a handoff nine yards down the field and landing across the goal line. The halftime score read 27-0, with Irizarry having two of the team’s four touchdowns.
“Troy is our leader and he’s worked for four years, even more, back in youth football he worked hard for a long time. So, this is what he worked for, his senior year,” Fenwick Head Coach Dave Woods said.
After a quick Spellman punt to open quarter number three, Fenwick got the ball back, only to be denied on downs with Beechlin unable to muscle his way past the sticks.
A 24-yard strike from Duffy to Brian Gallagher provided the trailing team with some much-needed momentum. Their drive was able to get down to the 10-yard line, but a Michael Geissler sack for a loss of seven yards halted Spellman’s plans. The Cardinals were able to connect on a field goal, however, to cut the deficit to 27-3 to end the third quarter.
The backfield tandem would continue to dominate in the fourth, with Nichols taking a handoff for 19 yards – barrelling his way down the sideline with defenders on his back. Shortly after, Irizarry took a handoff from Leaman, bounced it to the outside, and bolted 29 yards to the endzone for his hat-trick of touchdowns.
“On game nights, he’s ready to play. And it’s great to see him get to this point, and the culmination of all the hard work he’s put in, it’s paying off for him,” Woods said.
Fenwick played conservative and ran the ball for a strong portion of the fourth quarter. The final score read 34-3 in favor of the still-undefeated Crusaders.
Next on the schedule for Fenwick is Archbishop Williams on Friday, Oct. 14 at 6:00 p.m. where the group looks to remain perfect in their 2022 campaign.
Joey Barrett can be reached at [email protected]
