NEW BEDFORD — Carlo Acosta didn’t get down on himself when his punt was blocked on Bishop Stang’s opening possession of Saturday’s game against Archbishop Williams.
It was early and the Bishop Stang senior knew there were a lot more plays to be made in the game.
“It happened,” he said. “We play the next play. As a team we learn from our mistakes and we keep going. We adjust and we keep executing and keep making plays like you saw.”
Acosta delivered one of the biggest plays of the game late in the second quarter.
With the Spartans struggling to do anything on offense and trailing 7-0, Acosta recovered a fumble on a quarterback-running back exchange for Archbishop Williams and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.
“It gave us life,” said Bishop Stang head coach Dennis Golden.
Acosta agreed, “That play got a lot of people fired up. I’m really proud and grateful it was me to get into the end zone with the ball, but ultimately it comes down to the other guys and the guys on the sideline. It’s not me; it’s them. I scored the touchdown, but the team made it happen.”
Acosta, who plays linebacker, said he was just in the right place at the right time to make the momentum-changing play.
“Our d-line was all over the ball. I just happened to be the one that got it,” he said. “I got to the end zone and then played the next play. We preach to play the next play. It was just an opportunity we took advantage of. We capitalize every time we can. We’re just a team that’s focused on the next play. If we can make that play, we’ll do it.”
It was the first of three defensive touchdowns for the undefeated Spartans, who hung on to beat the Bishops 28-21 in Catholic Central League action on a beautiful first day of spring at Andre McCoy Stadium in New Bedford.
“We found a way,” Golden said of his team’s second win in two starts. “I don’t remember a game where we’ve scored three defensive touchdowns before. I’ve been coaching high school ball for a little while now. Since 1991, I don’t know if we’ve scored three defensive touchdowns in a game before. This is phenomenal.”
With Stang’s defense accounting for three of the team’s four touchdowns and holding the Bishops to just 16 rushing yards on the afternoon, defensive coordinator Jon Perry was awarded the game ball afterward.
“The defense was unbelievable — three scores defensively is not something you see all the time,” said Bishop Stang senior Liam Cogliano, who had a pick six in the third quarter. “It was really special for our team to rally together and hold it there on defense.
“The defense was what was getting us pumped up and getting us psyched on offense.”
On Archbishop Williams’ ensuing possession following Acosta’s touchdown, Bishop Stang senior Jacob Figueiredo picked off A-B quarterback Will Leclair and returned it 16 yards into the end zone for his first career defensive touchdown.
“Coaches coached us really well in watching the slant backside and I dropped into my zone and the ball came right at me,” Figueiredo said. “I got it and ran down the field. Without the help of my teammates, I wouldn’t have scored. They pushed me from five yards out. It was a great push.
“I think that gave us a lot of motivation and the kick to start getting the offense together because the defense was coming alive.”
Up until that point, the Spartans had just 29 total yards on offense, but had turned a 7-0 deficit into a 14-7 lead in less than two minutes. Stang led by seven at halftime.
“We imploded for a quarter and we couldn’t rebound,” said Archbishop Williams head coach Matt Reggiannini. “We’ve never had a game where our offense scored the other team’s touchdowns for them, but there are no excuses. They outplayed us and outcoached us.
“Unfortunately offensively we had a few key mistakes and we couldn’t rebound. I think the kids weren’t used to having that many mistakes offensively. Mentally we fell apart.”
On the second play of the third quarter, Cogliano jumped in front of a Leclair pass and took it 40 yards to paydirt. The third of four extra points in the game by sophomore Andrew Martin put Stang ahead 21-7 with 10:55 left in the quarter.
“It was special,” Cogliano said. “I had one when I was a freshman at Stang too. The second I saw the ball coming into my hands, the memory of catching the ball and running it in for a touchdown was the first thing that came to my mind.”
Stang’s offense finally got going in the fourth quarter when the Spartans moved down the field on a few runs by senior Frank Hernandez-Manon and scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass from senior Dylan Aguiar to junior Nick Hyland to put Stang out front 28-7 with 10:29 remaining.
Archbishop Williams responded with back-to-back scoring strikes from Leclair to senior Jack McCarthy on throws of 57 and 68 yards to pull within a touchdown — trailing 28-21 with 3:21 left.
After a three and out by Stang, Cogliano and Hyland had a couple pass deflections and senior Ben Gowell came up with a monster sack of Leclair as Bishop Stang’s defense denied the Bishops on their final possession to preserve the victory.
“They’re dangerous,” Golden said of the Bishops. “The quarterback is throwing with the wind in the fourth quarter and he’s a confident young man and he’s got great receivers and is making plays.
“We have to learn how when we have a chance to put the game away, we do that, but they showed tremendous guts, tremendous fortitude and tremendous togetherness. I couldn’t be happier for them or prouder of them.”
“We all just played our best and left it out there on the field,” Figueiredo said. “It was a great win.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter featured a combined four punts and a missed field goal attempt by Archbishop Williams’ Adam Stelljies from 41 yards.
Archbishop Williams marched down the field midway through the second quarter on a 11-play, 76-yard drive that was capped off by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Leclair to junior Matthew Kowalski for a 7-0 advantage.
Stang answered with back-to-back defensive touchdowns by Acosta and Figueiredo to enter halftime up 14-7 despite just 29 yards of total offense in the first 24 minutes.
Another defensive touchdown for Stang and its first on offense in the second half gave the Spartans enough to hold off a late charge by the Bishops, who had beaten Bishop Feehan in their season opener last week.
“My hat goes off to them,” said Reggiannini. “They played tough. They hung in there. They could have packed it in, but they didn’t. They played hard for four quarters. Their coach did a good job.”
WHAT IT MEANS: The Spartans, who improve to 2-0, visit 2019 Div. 6 state finalist Bishop Fenwick next Friday while the Bishops (1-1) visit St. Mary’s on the same night. “We’re playing a great opponent in Bishop Fenwick next week,” Golden said. “I have all the respect in the world for their program as I do for Archbishop Williams. They are a good football team. We’re playing some good football teams in this conference and we are thrilled for the kids that they’re able to compete.”
SOUTHCOASTVARSITY PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Bishop Stang’s entire defense, which caused five turnovers and scored three touchdowns.
GOLDEN ON ACOSTA: “He was a part-time starter last year and played special teams so he has some experience. Now he’s turning it loose as a senior. He’s going to the United States Navy after graduation. He’s a wonderful kid. He’s committed. He wants to take this opportunity to play high school football and make the most of it.”
TEAM STATS: Of Archbishop Williams’ 262 yards of total offense, 246 came through the air. … The Bishops turned over the ball five times. … Bishop Stang finished with 140 total yards with 108 on the ground. … The Spartans had turnovers and Acosta punted seven times.
BISHOP STANG 28, ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS 21
ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS;0;7;0;14 — 21
BISHOP STANG;0;14;7;7 — 28
Scoring
Second Quarter
AB: Matthew Kowalski 12 pass from Will Leclair (Adam Stelljies kick), 5:05
BS: Carlo Acosta 15 fumble recovery and return (Andrew Martin kick), 2:46
BS: Jacob Figueiredo 16 interception return (Andrew Martin kick), 1:22
Third Quarter
BS: Liam Cogliano 40 interception return (Andrew Martin kick), 10:55
Fourth Quarter
BS: Nick Hyland 27 pass from Dylan Aguiar (Andrew Martin kick), 10:29
AB: Jack McCarthy 57 pass from Will Leclair (Adam Stelljies kick), 9:19
AB: Jack McCarthy 68 pass from Will Leclair (Adam Stelljies kick), 3:21
Individual Statistics
Rushing — AB: Tyler Cooley 5-4; Jacob Dreyfus 1-(-1); Will Leclair 10-(-2); Shawn Harrington 7-15; BS: Frank Hernandez-Manon 16-42; Jacob Figueiredo 6-29; Dylan Aguiar 9-30; Greg Morales 3-13; Liam Cogliano 1-(-8).
Passing — AB: Will Leclair 13-25-246-2-2; BS: Dyan Aguiar 3-6-32-1-1.
Receiving — AB: Jack McCarthy 5-142-2; Matthew Kowalski 4-59-1; Lorenzo Jackson 2-37, Jacob Dreyfus 1-6; Shawn Harrington 1-2; BS: Nick Hyland 1-27-1; Joel Michaud 2-5.
Credit: Source link