Kpoto, O’Hara run strong, snap skid against Conwell-Egan

SPRINGFIELD — Cardinal O’Hara got a monkey off its back Friday night when the Lions knocked off Conwell-Egan 25-17 on Senior Night to finally win a Catholic League game after losing seven straight.

The two teams combined for 11 fumbles, but featured some spirited rushing performances by the Lions’ Keed Kpoto and Conwell-Egan’s Khian’Dre Harris.

“It was a sloppy football game from a turnover aspect,” O’Hara head coach BJ Hogan said after the game. “There were probably seven or eight turnovers. It’s not good football when that stuff happens. Luckily we were on the plus side of the turnovers.”

Kpoto put on a show, rushing 32 times for 242 yards and four touchdowns. Hogan said it was a breakout game of sorts for Kpoto, who had been banged up for most of the season.

“This is how he ran his junior year when he was first-team All-Catholic,” Hogan said. “It was great to see.”

The Lions’ defensive line that included John Caponi, Solo Bambara, Cole Gehret, Joe Kelly and Brandon Schumm harassed Eagles junior quarterback Tyler Barry into a 10 of 31 passing night for 131 yards, two interceptions and three sacks.

Caponi talked about his plan coming into the game.

“I try to put some pressure on the quarterback, and try and make some plays,” Caponi said. “I think our defensive line is the strongest part of our defense. We take it very seriously and our goal was to wreck havoc, make the quarterback throw. We believe in our d-backs that they are going to make the plays when we put pressure on him.”

Kpoto, a senior, said his plan was simple: “My game plan all week was to work hard at practice,” he said. “That was it.”

The Lions (2-8, 1-7) fumbled six times, lost two. Several fumbles were from bad exchanges with quarterback Devon Alexander. The senior running back said they need to clean that up if they want to beat Archbishop Carroll in their regular season finale next week.

“Ball security is the most important thing,” Kpoto said. “You can win a game without ball security. We’re working on that.”

Conwell-Egan (2-8, 0-7) was led by Harris, who carried the ball 11 times for 138 yards, including a 76-yard third-quarter touchdown run that made the score 19-17.

The Conwell-Egan players were adamant about their desire to finish the season strong.

“Our record doesn’t really define who we are,” Kpoto said. “We’re better than our record says. We’ve got a lot of young guys on our team. We know what we’re able to do. We’ve just got to show everybody else what to do. That’s definitely the goal … and prove we belong.”

Caponi, a senior, also talked about how young the Lions are this season. He said he wants to leave the team on a positive note.

“We’re a very young team,” Caponi said. “Our record shows that we’re not that good but we have the talent, it’s just young. We want to show that O’Hara has a bright future ahead of us.”

The coach continued to talked about his team’s overall effort against the Eagles.

“I appreciate the kids’ effort,” Hogan said. “I thought they came out and played well. It’s been a long year. We’ve been beat up. For those kids to come out and respond and win the game, that’s great for the seniors.”