Larsen’s sack seals win for Bonner-Prendergast
PHILADELPHIA >> Mike Larsen won’t soon forget the biggest sack he ever made.
“That was against Chester,” said Bonner-Prendergast’s defensive end, referencing his fourth-quarter tackle to preserve the Friars’ nonleague win last month.
But Larsen has a new sack to put on his Hudl highlight reel after Bonner-Prendergast’s 20-14 triumph over Neumann-Goretti in South Philadelphia Saturday night. This one was also pretty clutch.
Larsen tracked down N-G quarterback Brandon Pridgen 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage with less than a minute to play. It effectively sealed the Friars’ third victory of the season.
“I just told my coach that I was going to get that one,” said Larsen, a 5-11, 275-pound junior. “I just worked hard to get it and worked hard in practice. I saw my opportunity and I took it.”
Larsen’s sack in the waning moments was set up by quarterback Shaun Douglas’ masterful 40-yard punt from deep in Friars (3-4) territory. On the previous drive the Bonner-Prendie defense stopped the host Saints (1-6) from scoring the tying touchdown. On fourth down, Hunter Ragin broke up a pass in the corner of the end zone, giving Friars the ball with a chance to run out the clock. Alas, B-P went three and out, but Douglas sent a booming kick all the way to N-G’s 35-yard line.
“There were teams in the Catholic League that were able to beat this team, so we knew we had to beat them also,” said Douglas, who accounted for all three Friars touchdowns (two run, one pass). “We needed to come out and win this game.”
Douglas took a quarterback draw 11 yards in the closing seconds of the third quarter to give the Friars a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
While the Friars struggled to move the ball (95 yards of total offense), they grinded out tough yards and took advantage of short fields. Douglas’ touchdown run in the third quarter came after Neuman-Goretti botched its second straight punt attempt.
Douglas was able to redeem himself after he threw a pick-six to Khalil Roane, who darted 69 yards to paydirt to tie the score at 14 in the third quarter.
“A pick-six obviously hurts me, but it hurts the whole team,” Douglas said. “They tied the game up, but we were able to stop the (two-point try) and the game remains tied. We were able to come back down and score and win the fourth quarter.”
Douglas only completed one pass, but it was a beauty. With time ticking down in the first half, Douglas aired a throw on third-and-goal from the three-yard line that was caught by Jordan Mosley in the corner of the end zone.
“It was a great play call,” Douglas said. “(Mosley) was just sitting by himself in the corner of the end zone and I just lofted it up to him.”
Roane was a defensive nightmare from the running back position. He was, by and large, the Saints’ entire offense with 131 yards on the ground. The Saints as a team accounted for 135 yards of offense. Tom Millison and Kyrin Jackson each had an interception for the Friars.
“I thought our defense did a great job tonight,” coach Greg “Bubba” Bernhardt said. “That back (Roane) is a heck of a back. Watching him on film he had some really good games and we remember him from last year. To keep him sort of in check, the defense did a heck of job and on the last two series, stepping up the way they did, that was huge.”
The Friars will need a similar defensive effort next Saturday when they resume Catholic League AAA action against vaunted Archbishop Wood.
