Bristol defense shuts the door on Calvary Christian
BRISTOL BORO – While the Warriors emerged with a lopsided win over Calvary Christian last night in Bristol, the way the game began did not bode well for the home team.
On a third down and long, the Cougars sacked senior quarterback R.J. Collins, forcing a fumble and recovery by the opponent at the 35 yard line. What’s more, running back Parker Kelley dinged his left ankle on the play, knocking him out of the game.
The injury to Kelly – who is also the Warriors punter – played a significant role in putting Calvary Christian away in the third and decisive quarter.
With Bristol holding on to a 12-point lead, facing third-and-11 at the Cougars 39 yard line, Warrior coaches John Greiner and Jack Arndt elected to go for the first down.
The result was a 39-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Samir Brisbon, who did a nice job fighting off the defender and getting into the end zone.
“That was pivotal at that moment because we needed a play,” said Collins. “If something worked in our favor, we knew we’d grab the momentum.
“That was a huge play by Samir to make the catch and score the touchdown.”
Bristol went on to a 38-14 triumph, its first Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) win of the season, capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass to Will “The Thrill” Johnston, a recent transfer student.
And Johnston wasn’t the only import helping the Warriors’ cause. Classmate Darryl Mehn rushed for 171 yard on 14 carries including a 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that put Bristol ahead, 12-7.
For the game, the Warriors rushed for 364 yards including 256 on the ground in the first half that helped stake the Red & White to a 26-14 halftime lead.
While a pair of 31-yard touchdown runs by sophomore Eric Bell helped ignite a 20-point third quarter explosion by Bristol, it was the defense that kept the game in check.
In the waning moments of the first half, the Warrior defense stopped Calvary at the goal line after the Cougars had driven all the way down to Bristol’s two yard line (with help from a trio of penalties including a personal foul on senior defensive end Adrian Ellerbe and a pass interference flag thrown on fourth down at the Warriors 29 yard line).
First, the defense stopped Calvary sophomore RB Daryl Debnam as time ran out in the first half. Then, Bell stopped the Cougars on their first drive of the second half after latching onto a third down aerial tossed by CC senior quarterback Josh Reichenbach as the visitors seemed to be on their way to another score.
“The defense played amazing today – absolutely amazing,” said Collins. “They held them to zero points in the second half.”
“Everybody was making plays and flying around to the ball and that’s what helped us win.”
While Collins threw for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 4-of-4 passing, it was the ground assault that was working in this one. In addition to yardage registered by Mehn, Bell rushed for 117 yard and three touchdowns on 11 carries. Junior Rodney Courtney 59 yard on 14 totes.
Afterward, it was Mehn who everyone was talking about. The junior back transferred into the district only a few weeks ago, and Greiner had been holding him back to see if the player would stick.
“He (Mehn) was our workhorse right there – him and Eric Bell, those two and Rodney,” said Collins.
Whereas last season was all about school rushing leader Donte Simmons entering the Lower Bucks record books, this fall has seen a host of backs setting the pace at Bristol. In the season opener against Kensington, it was Kelley who helped stake the Warriors to a 20-6 win, rushing for 62 yards and three touchdowns. In game three at Kennett, Bell rushed for over 120 yards including a 62-yard dash down the sideline and a 58-yard bolt through the middle.
“We’re a six-headed monster,” said Collins “We have a million different backs that can do a million different things that can make a million different plays.”
On this night however, it was the defense that shown through.
After allowing Nyshere Woodson 123 yards and two TDs at Pennington and Myles Robinson 104 yards and three scores at Kennett, the Warrior defense didn’t allow a single back from Calvary to reach the century mark.
Reichenbach finished his night with 69 yards on 12 carries, classmate David Kellander rushed for 29 yards on five carries, senior split end Victor rushed for Pedraza 11 yards on three carries. He also caught a 56-yard touchdown pass to put his team on top, 14-12, midway through the second quarter.
After that, the Bristol-D shut the door.
NEXT UP: >> The Warriors travel to New Hope-Solebury 7 p.m. Friday Oct. 2. Bristol won the game 42-0 last season though the Lions are unbeaten thus far heading into today’s BAL opener with Jenkintown.
Contact the author at ssherman@buckslocalnews.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Bristol 38, Calvary Christian 14
(Sept. 25 at Bristol)
Calvary Christian 0 14 0 0 – 14
Bristol 6 20 6 6 – 38
SUMMARY
B – Eric Bell 2 run (run failed)
C – Victor Pedraza 7 run (Jason Crouch kick)
B – Daryl Mehn 75 run (run failed)
C – Pedraza 56 pass from Reichenbach (Crouch kick)
B – Bell 31 run (Collins run)
B – Bell 31 run (run failed)
B – Samir Brisbon 39 pass from Collins (pass failed)
B – Johnston 7 pass from Collins (run failed)
TEAM STATS
CALVARY BRISTOL
First Downs 13 15
Yards Rushing 168 364
Yards Passing 144 113
Total Offense 312 477
Comp. Passes, Int. 9-17-1 4-4-0
Fumbles-lost 4-3 3-2
Penalties-yards 5-40 7-67
Punts-Avg. 0-0 0-0
Sacked-Yds. Lost 0-0 1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATS
CALVARY CHRISTIAN
RUSHING: Debnam 11-59; Reichenbach 12-69; Kellander 5-29; Pedraza 3-11, TD
PASSING: Reichenbach 9-17-1, 144 yards, TD
RECEIVING: Pedraza 6-120, TD; Layton 2-22; Shabazz 1-2
INTERCEPTIONS: None
BRISTOL
RUSHING: Courtney 14-59; Bell 11-117 3 TD; Mehn 14-171 TD; Collins 2-5; Lombardi 1-3; Kelly 2-9
PASSING: Collins 4-4-0, 113 yards, 2 TDs
RECEIVING: Mehn 2-74; Brisbon 1-32, TD; Johnston 1-7, TD
INTERCEPTIONS: Bell
