O’Hara opens season with win over Hudson Catholic

Cardinal O’Hara coach BJ Hogan prefers to take the option of playing one less regular season game. Simply put, Hogan wanted more time to prepare his players for the long haul.

Last week, while the rest of Districts 1 and 12 were playing their season openers, the Lions were scrimmaging against Episcopal Academy of the Inter-Ac League.

“I think, from now on, I will always do two scrimmages,” Hogan said Saturday. “You know, for me, I think it’s real tough to get the kids ready with only eight days of practice. It allows not to do two-a-days and kind of rush everything in. With a high school team you’re playing anywhere from 15 to 22 guys. … You can kind of relax in practice a little bit and you don’t always have to go all out in practice.

“The second scrimmage helps with that, too.”

The extra time preparing for their season opener paid dividends for the Lions, who earned a 17-13 victory over Hudson (N.J.) Catholic in Jersey City Saturday afternoon.

The Lions trailed 7-2 at halftime, but the offense hits its stride in the final two quarters. Quarterback Cole Sprague connected with Michael Levy on a 15-yard touchdown pass to put O’Hara ahead. With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, running back Keed Kpoto exploded for a 12-yard scoring run to make it 17-13.

The Lions defense forced a turnover late to help seal the victory.

“I thought the kids fought and did a great job,” Hogan said. “It was hot as can be outside and we have so many guys going both ways (on offense and defense). Hudson had a ton of better athletes than maybe we had, but we had a chance to make a couple of key plays defensively and, when the game was on the line, we were able to move the ball offensively.”

Cardinal O’Hara hosts Catholic League foe Father Judge on Friday night.