Jones, O’Hara get into comeback flow

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MARPLE >> Taseer Jones entered halftime Friday with just four carries, but he didn’t get the one on first-and-goal from the one with 13 seconds left in the half, when Cardinal O’Hara was stonewalled and the clock proved its enemy.

The Lions carried a six-point deficit and a nibbling, stagnant offense into the break.

Cardinal O’Hara’s Nick Kutufaris, right, bats a pass intended for Conwell-Egan receiver Chuck Layton into the arms of Justin Santilla for an interception that Santilla would return 47 yards. O’Hara claimed a 20-13 win. (Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)

The correlation between the two, while outwardly clear, didn’t fully dawn on the O’Hara sideline until the fourth quarter. But when it did, Jones hammered the point home with a flourish. He ran for the game-winning 59-yard score with 5:01 left, falling just shy of 200 yards in O’Hara’s 20-13 Catholic League Blue Division win over Conwell-Egan.

It wasn’t a lack of production that shackled Jones in the first half. He maximized return on his four totes with 73 yards. But the play-calling tended toward the pass, where Luke Sprague had a high completion rate but didn’t move anywhere in a hurry. And when Sprague had to use his legs on the final play of the first half — a QB sneak from the one with a full-house backfield trying to cajole him over the line — he was stood up by the Eagles. Time expired as the pile dispersed, and Egan went into the break, up 13-7.

With that note of frustration, individual and collective, Jones could’ve been down. But that’s not his nature.

“He’s been overlooked all his career,” receiver Justin Santilla said of Jones. “He’s been a backup to a backup to a backup. And he finally is getting his shot. I’ve been knowing that he can do this, so it was a never a shock to me. He can really play football at the next level.

“He never pouts, he keeps his head up and he makes the best play for everybody, and he’s a team player.”

Jones proved that in the second half, finishing with 191 yards. He combined with heady running from Jamir Redd to set up Nick Kutufaris’ two-yard dive into the end zone with 6:38 to play. Jones’ biggest contribution was his shortest carry — a one-yard toss on fourth-and-1 at the 31 where Jones was tripped by Conwell-Egan safety Dajuan Harris but vaulted over his planted hand and clawed for the extra inches.

Kevin Calamita’s extra point was blocked, tying the game at 13.

After the defense forced Conwell-Egan (3-5, 1-3) into one of its eight punts, O’Hara (6-1, 3-1) took over on the 31. Jones ran for 10, then bolted off left end for 59 yards for the winning score.

“It was flowing, and I just followed my left guard Louie (Perri), and he had a good block and I just cut up for home,” Jones said. “All I saw was daylight.”

All told, O’Hara gained 243 yards on the ground, with Redd (six carries for 40 yards) and Kutufaris (seven for 19) chipping in. Santilla scored in the first quarter on a nine-yard jet sweep.

Cardinal O’Hara’s Taseer Jones posts some big yards on one of his four first-half carries Friday night against Conwell-Egan. O’Hara won 20-13. (Digital First Media/Pete Bannan)

The rest was up to O’Hara’s defense, which jumped into high gear when Egan took to the air. Alex Goldsby was just 3-for-13, though he hit Chuck Layton for a 22-yard score. He was picked off by Santilla in the first half, the senior returning it 47 yards.

Goldsby was sacked three times, including on the Eagles’ last two snaps as they drove to the O’Hara 30 with less than a minute to play. But Tyric Gould ended the comeback dreams.

“It gets me hyped,” Gould said of the must-throw predicament. “Coach went over it because he’s going to roll out, and I know they’re not going to come from my side. But when they roll out, they think I’m going to bite because I bit the two times in the game. But once he told me, go outside, I started having things under control and I started locking down.”

As frustrating as Jones’ lack of early touches was the dearth of work sent the way of Conwell-Egan’s Patrick Garwo in the second. He ran for 127 yards on 17 first-half carries, including a 38-yard touchdown jaunt. But his number was called just eight times after the break, coinciding with five second-half punts.

Credit goes to the O’Hara front, with Tom Wertz clogging the middle and linebackers Kendall Jones and Cameron Blair shooting gaps.

“Our mistake today was finishing,” said Garwo (149 yards). “The second-half adjustment they made was filling the blocks more, blitz every time, anything to stop the run.”

O’Hara adapted, through a scoreless third quarter with the poise of a defending division champ.

“We’ve been in this situation before last year, when we were playing for the championship and we were down and we came back and won,” Santilla said. “We knew it was only a touchdown, and we knew we could play with them.”

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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