Defense steals show as Bonner-Prendergast blanks Roman Catholic
MARPLE — How dominating was the Bonner-Prendergast defense in Saturday’s Philadelphia Catholic League non-classification opener at Cardinal O’Hara?
Well, senior defensive backs Ibrahima Diallo and Ayden Garnes joked about taking interceptions from each other.
“We could’ve had more,” Diallo said. “I mean, he (Garnes) stole one from me.”
Garnes and Derrick Jackson each had a pick for the Friars, whose secondary blanketed Roman Catholic’s wide receivers.
And overall, the B-P defense made plenty of big plays in a 21-0 victory. Roman’s offense had no shot against the Friars, who racked up five sacks and limited the Cahillites to 88 yards of total offense.
From the outset, Bonner’s defense was buzzing.
“We needed that first hit,” Garnes said. “We came out and we got turnovers, we got tips, we got hits. And we got it done.”
Check out this throw and catch. Kyle Lazer to Ibrahima Diallo. 23 yard TD on a 3rd and 22. @MBAP_Football is rolling 21-0 9:47 2Q#delcofootball pic.twitter.com/7jEkUIzvdO
— Matt (@DTMattSmith) October 17, 2020
Bonner-Prendie coach Jack Muldoon could nitpick over some things – for example, he wants to see more consistency on the other side of the ball – but overall he was proud of his team’s Week 1 effort. The offense started fast, but the defense stole the show. The Friars attacked the backfield and recorded eight tackles for a loss.
“It was kind of what we expected,” Muldoon said. “We are fine-tuning some things, but it was good to get off to a fast start. We just kept going in reverse on offense, we were hurting ourselves, but we’ll get better.”
Sophomore David Kpeglo and senior Devon Harris combined on three sacks of quarterback Jaden Pope (9-for-20, 102 yards, two interceptions).
“They did a great job and our defensive coordinator can be really aggressive,” Muldoon said. “Devon’s just jumped off the charts in the weight room and with his progress. Dave’s gonna play Division 1 football someday, he really is, that kid’s just relentless in his work. Those two are going to occupy at least three gaps at times and they’re going to constantly apply pressure. We normally have Big E. (Ethan Cottrell, 6-2, 335-pound junior), but we didn’t play him as much on defense at tackle because we lost our big right tackle Brian Friend with a broken foot and then Anthony (Cinaglia) got hurt, so our rotation got a little crazy.
“I’m happy. We did a good job, but there’s some things we can work on. And it goes for the coaches, too. It’s our first game and we had some guys that were a little frantic.”
The Friars scored touchdowns on each of their first two possession. They found the end zone twice in only five plays. Senior quarterback Kyle Lazer was sharp and often hooked up with 6-4, 220-pound senior wide receiver James Welde, who destroyed Roman Catholic’s defensive backs. Welde, who earned second-team All-Delco and Catholic League honors a season ago, is crazy talented and one of the top players in the area at his position. He caught a 27-yard pass from Lazer to put the Friars ahead by two TDs and finished with seven receptions for 109 yards.
Lazer was 9-for-17 for 138 yards and a pair of TDs. While Bonner’s offense struggled in the second half, it still amassed 305 total yards. Mason Peterson, who scored the game’s opening touchdown, led the ground attack with 130 yards.
“When the offense is clicking, everyone’s excited and you’re scoring touchdowns,” Welde said. “We knew we had a lot of guys returning this year, so we were hoping to do something and in the first half we did. The second half got a little sloppy, but it’s our first game. …
“Our offense had shaky games the last two years, but our defense is always solid. You can always count on them. They’re always reliable. There’s a lot of third-year starters on that side, so it’s nice to have that luxury almost. We have our playmakers in the secondary and we’ve got some really good D-linemen that make plays and our secondary feeds off of that.”
Bonner’s final scoring play was a thing of beauty. Lazer showed his athleticism by rolling out of the pocket and firing a perfect strike on the run to Diallo, who made a spectacular catch in the end zone.
“Kyle was hot today. I think we got a lot better and as a team our chemistry got way better since last year,” said Diallo, who had three catches for 41 yards. “The (touchdown) play was for Welde. I just ran a post corner and I was there to make the play.”
In this shortened season, the Friars head into Carroll Class 4A play next week against Archbishop Ryan, which dropped a 40-6 decision to Archbishop Carroll on Saturday.
“This is our year, we’ve been training for this since entering freshman year,” Garnes said. “We knew this group (could) be the one to win a state title, and that’s what we’re going for.”
