Garwo, other Conwell-Egan weapons too much for Carroll

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RADNOR — For three seasons, the scouting report against Conwell-Egan has begun with a proposition simple in design but daunting in execution: Slow down Patrick Garwo.

The Boston College commit has terrorized defenses since early in his career. And while he’s no less central to the Eagles’ offense as a senior, the directive isn’t so straightforward anymore.

Saturday afternoon, Archbishop Carroll bottled up Garwo, save for a couple of big runs. But the talents around him have grown so that the bruising back is no longer the only source of offense to worry about.

Garwo ran for four touchdowns and was held to 131 yards (low by his lofty standards), but Conwell-Egan rolled to a 42-27 win over Archbishop Carroll in an error-strewn Catholic League Blue Division game.

Garwo’s yardage came on 23 carries, nearly half covered on a 52-yard burst in the second quarter. His touchdowns were from 10, two, one and nine yards. For the bulk of the day, Carroll did a superb job of limiting the damage done by a back that can beat teams between the tackles or on the edge.

“Our plan was just to contain him and make sure our middle linebacker (Richie Kimmel) could really get on him,” Carroll defensive end Shawn Johnson said. “My assignment was just to hit the tight end and focus on the fullback, but there’s a lot of option plays, so we were just focusing on getting him out and keep pushing him back. We tried our best and tried to do what we had to do, but we just came up short.”

Instead of Garwo, Terone Mitchell sparked the game on two occasions. After a scoreless first period, Mitchell corralled a pass from Alex Goldsby intended for another receiver before Kimmel batted it into Mitchell’s arms for a 45-yard gain to the 10. Garwo opened the scoring from there at 4:13 of the second.

“Having Patrick, it helps a lot because he’ll score and it opens up something for me,” Mitchell said. “And I try to work my game off him and get better, and work with him and he gets me better as a person, and we work off each other.”

The play that set off a chaotic third quarter was also provided by Mitchell. On third-and-11 at the 41, Conwell-Egan (6-0, 3-0 PCL) delved into its back of tricks, wideout Sean Stokes hoisting a pass downfield to a wide open Mitchell for the touchdown.

“That’s our favorite play,” said Mitchell, who caught four balls for 114 yards. “We use it as a special play we call. It works almost every time. And I’m ready for it every time.”

Those big plays helped deflate Carroll (2-3, 0-3), which had built momentum with quick strikes. The Patriots entered halftime with a scant 33 yards of offense thanks to several big sacks of Russell Minor-Shaw. But then Minor-Shaw hit Malachi Hansen for 33 yards, and hooked up with Koran Butler for a 13-yard scoring strike to get on the board at 14-6.

Mitchell’s receiving touchdown and another Garwo score stretched the edge to 28-6, but Brennan Robinson replied with a 75-yard kick return, escalating the back-and-forth.

Conwell-Egan quarterback Alex Goldsby added a five-yard scoring dash, and Minor-Shaw accounted for both scores in the fourth quarter, a 68-yard pass to Butler on a coverage bust and a 30-yard run.

Butler caught four passes for 100 yards as Minor-Shaw was 10-for-15 for 161 yards and an interception. Thanks to a 45-yard run in the fourth quarter, Robinson ended up as Carroll’s leading rusher with just 38 yards, while Minor-Shaw carried 13 times for 16 yards, most of the totes in the backward direction.

“It’s tough to play defense against a team that has a good quarterback and the running back is real shifty and can get it to the wide receivers,” said Conwell-Egan defensive tackle Jackson Martinez (two sacks). “But it was really just staying to our fundamentals with them. Tackle them, obviously – that running back is really quick and really little, so you’ve got to get to him. And then rush the quarterback, because once to you get in his head, it’s over.”

Carroll got in its own way with 10 penalties, gifting Conwell-Egan 30 yards on the drive that made it 28-6. For the Patriots, on a three-game losing streak, cleaning up those issues will go a long way toward transforming their increased talent into results.

“Just on Monday, just watch more film and try to figure it out,” Johnson said. “Looking at everything we messed up on and trying to figure out how to do it better next week.”

Matthew De George

Matthew De George
Matthew De George is the Asst. Sports Editor and the lead Union writer for The Daily Times.

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