Bonner-Prendergast ‘makes a statement’ against West Catholic

CHESTER — With second place in the Catholic League Blue Division and a bye in the PCL Class 4A playoffs locked up, some would say Bonner-Prendergast did not have much to play for in its final regular-season game Friday night.

Not so.

After winning just four games over the last two seasons and no wins over West Catholic in at least a decade, maybe more, there was a lot at stake.

“We wanted to make a statement,” defensive end Nasiim Rhodes Nelson said.

The Friars did that with a methodical 19-8 victory over West Catholic at Widener’s Quick Stadium.

It wasn’t pretty. Bonner-Prendie was penalized 16 times for 146 yards and turned the ball over twice, but the Friars rode a dominating defensive performance to their sixth straight victory to finish 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the PCL Blue.

The Friars held the Burrs (5-5, 3-4) to minus-28 yards rushing and put heavy pressure on West Catholic quarterbacks Zaire Hart-Hawkins and Eden Johnson all night. West Catholic didn’t score until there was 2:05 to play in the game and by that time the outcome had been decided. The Friars sacked Hart-Hawkins four times, three in the first half, and dropped him for a zero-gain loss another time. They also sacked Johnson once and help him to a zero-yard gain on another occasion.

Rhodes Nelson had three of the sacks and forced a fumble, which was recovered by nose guard Chilekasi Adele.

“Our defense has been making that statement all year,” Adele said. “Every game, we try to put a zero mark on the board and show that we’re the elite defense in the Catholic League.”

The big thing, though, was beating West, something the Friars had not done since a 17-13 victory in 2004.

“It had to end sometime,” Charles Ingram III said. “Nothing lasts forever.”

The offense did its part, too. Mason Peterson went over the 100-yard mark for the second time in five games. He finished with 133 yards on eight carries. Oscar Uduma, who was also part of the defensive effort at outside linebacker, scored the last two TDs on a one-yard run in the second quarter and a five-yard burst in the third period. Quarterback Nick Lazer opened the scoring with a 28-yard strike to his favorite target, tight end Jim Welde.

This night, though, belonged to the defense. The Friars were hoping to post their second straight shutout and third whitewash of the season, but the Burrs spoiled that bid when Johnson scored on a one-yard run late in the fourth quarter and then found Troy Athill for the two-point conversion.

That, though, was all the offense the Burrs could muster on this night. Ibrahima Diallo nearly picked off a pass to force West to punt on its second possession of the second half. Ayden Garnes picked off a pass in the end zone with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter to end one scoring threat. Uduma batted down a Hart-Hawkins pass on fourth down to end West’s next possession.

“We wanted to finish strong,” Ingram said. “We didn’t want to give up an extra loss for no reason. The plan was to win out and we did that.”