Neumann-Goretti stays perfect, races past Lansdale Catholic
PHILADELPHIA >> Lansdale Catholic stayed close with unbeaten Neumann-Goretti for much of the first half Saturday night, trailing 6-0 with about five minutes left until the break.
But then Tre’Sean Bouie got behind the defense, hauled in a 43-yard scoring pass from quarterback Charles Britt, and the Saints were firmly in front.
Goretti later returned the second-half kickoff for a score, racing away to a 40-7 victory over Lansdale Catholic at the South Philadelphia Super Site.
“They’re just so darn explosive that you can’t give up long touchdowns,” LC coach Tom Kirk said of the Saints. “And for about a half, we didn’t. But then we give up the touchdown before the half, give up the second-half kickoff, and the air went out of us.
“That’s the most disappointing thing to me is that I really thought we were gonna come out in the second half, take some of that momentum from the first half, but we didn’t. A team as sound as Neumann, you can’t let them get into open space.”
The Crusaders (2-5, 2-3 PCL Blue) reached the end zone early in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Peter McHugh — in for the injured Mike Dutkiewicz — lofted one into the corner to an open Danny Dutkiewicz, making it 26-7 with 11 minutes to play.
McHugh also hit Nick Picozzi in stride for a 19-yard gain, putting LC in position for the score.
“We’re down a couple starters and Pete did a nice job,” Kirk said. “We had to be able to throw against those guys — it seemed like there were 15 of them in the box sometimes. But I thought Pete did a decent job. He had a couple turnovers early on and we gotta take care of that — if somebody’s not open, learn to throw it away or tuck it and run — so we’ll see what he does this week.”
Goretti went ahead 6-0 on its Senior Night when Quaadir Monroe scored on a three-yard run early in the first quarter. After Bouie’s TD reception, the Saints widened the margin to 20-0 when Chris Wells took the second-half kickoff back 70 yards for a touchdown and Monroe ran in for two.
Goretti tightened its grip on the PCL Blue Division, raising its division record to 4-0 and 6-0 overall.
“The kickoff return felt great — my first time returning all year,” said Wells, who got to celebrate Senior Night in style. “I took it to the crib for my team.”
The Saints increased the lead to 26-0 when another one of their speedy backs, Tysheem Johnson, slipped a pair of tackles and broke free for a 63-yard score.
After the McHugh-to-Dutkiewicz connection clicked for LC, Goretti put the game away with Wells’ 35-yard touchdown run and a 12-yard run by Monroe, his second of the evening. Anthony Gabriel caught Britt’s two-point conversion pass, completing the scoring on a cool night at the Super Site.
Wells had 89 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Saints and Britt completed 4 of 10 for 73 yards and a score. Jayvonne Campfield and Romello Edwards each had interceptions in the first half for Goretti.
