The Big Red Overcome JPII

MBA rallied after a sluggish start with three touchdowns in the second quarter to defeat Pope John Paul II 28-6 in Hendersonville Friday night. David Howe completed ten of 15 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown to pace the offense; Michael Swett had 8 tackles, including three for a loss and Chris Geer, Matt Crook, and Mitchell Williams each had an interception defensively. JPII received the opening kickoff and drove the football inside MBA’s 35 yard line, where they faced a fourth and one situation. The Knights tried to run the football for the first down, but senior Michael Swett stopped the back in his tracks, and the Big Red took over. The change in momentum, however, would prove short-lived, as MBA mishandled an exchange on their first play from scrimmage and JPII took over on MBA’s 34 yard line. After a short drive, JPII kicked a field goal to give them a three point lead. The teams traded punts before MBA marched 77 yards to score the game’s first touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a 43 yard pass from Howe to senior Will Hackett that set up an eight yard touchdown run by Andy Snyder. On the next play from scrimmage, Senior Mitchell Williams stepped in front of a Knight receiver and intercepted a pass, returning it all the way to the seven yard line. Snyder rushed three times to reach the endzone and give the Big Red a 14-3 lead. On their next possession, MBA marched 77 yards on six plays to score their third touchdown. On this drive, Howe completed all three of his passes for 53 yards before Snyder rushed for his third touchdown of the evening. John Paul added a field goal as time expired to make the halftime score 21-6. The Big Red defense rose to the occasion in the second half. On JPII’s first four drives, they were able to obtain only 18 yards of offense and two first downs. Seniors Will Fitzgerald, Gray Palmer, and Daniel Hightower each had a tackle for a loss. When Howe completed a two-yard touchdown pass to Drew Carney with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, the Big Red had a commanding 28-6 lead, which proved to be the final score. Eight different Big Red receivers—seniors Hackett, Snyder, Scott Hearon, Tate McNeilly, and McGavock Johnson, and juniors Reed Blackwell, Drew Carney, and Charlie Plageman—caught passes for a total of 237 yards. Hightower had two and a half sacks, while Swett, Palmer, Hightower, James Banker, Luke Brown, Ben Daniel, and Chris Geer each had at least five tackles. Jordan Keckley kicked all four PATs and punted the ball effectively.