Suffocating defense lifts Carroll over Haverford

HAVERFORD — It’s been a long time since Archbishop Carroll had a successful football team, a fact coach Kyle Detweiler very much knew. It was one of the reasons he took the job before last season. He wanted to build something from the ground up.

Friday, the results started to show.

Carroll earned an impressive 14-7 season-opening victory over Haverford behind just enough offense and a suffocating defense. The Patriots held the standout duo of Trey Blair and Shane Mosley in check, limiting the hosts to a mere 76 yards of total offense.

The Fords’ one touchdown — a nine-yard Blair run — came off a short field. They could not get anything going. Mosley touched the ball five times, the longest for 11 yards. Blair passed for 38 yards and rushed for only 11. Two Division-I athletes were held in check by a group that, to steal the cliche, simply wanted it more.

“We just made sure that we schemed it out really well,” said Tyler Alston, whose sack of Blair ended the game. “Made sure that every time they lined up in a certain spot we’d change our formation or whatever we had to do. We all made sure we kept an eye on those guys.”

Haverford had just seven first downs. Blair was intercepted twice. Carroll kept its linebackers in front of him, willing to give up small chunks of yards to avoid the big plays. It worked. Every rollout was met with a sea of white jerseys. Blair was swallowed up when he escaped the pocket.

“We didn’t think we were going to be able to stop (Blair) or (Mosley) — either one, or them together,” Detweiler said. “We just wanted to limit the damage.”

It was almost for nothing. Haverford led 7-6 for a good portion of the game. A seemingly innocuous mid-first quarter missed extra point after Russel Minor-Shaw’s electric 33-yard touchdown run was the difference. Midway through the final quarter, a 40-yard pass on fourth down from Minor-Shaw to Brennan Robinson changed everything.

The senior quarterback hit the junior speedster in stride about 20 yards down the field. He made one man miss and his legs did the rest. The team that lost games like this last season and throughout the previous decade was suddenly a stop away from winning a game like this.

“There’s absolutely a learning curve that takes place on how to win games,” Detweiler said. “The kids got used to losing and they caved sometimes in tough situations when they’re used to losing. They’re not used to winning, and we had to learn how to win last year. And this is a young group that got a lot of time last year and they have another year under their belt. And they’re figuring it out how to win games.”

Blair converted a fourth-and-long to extend the decisive drive. He followed it up with a long run that was accurately called back for hurdling. A few plays later, a sack was thought to end the game. A facemask penalty extended it. Alston swallowed up Blair on the ensuing play to really end it.

Minor-Shaw passed for 165 yards and ran for 44. Robinson had 110 total yards. They were two players amid a team effort amid a changing program.

“We just had a change of heart,” Alston said. “We just came together as a family this offseason and really put it together so we could get this done.”

Haverford begins Central League play next week. Coach Joe Gallagher recalled previous seasons where his team lost the opener, then ripped off nine straight. He is not concerned, but there is certainly work to be done.

“We gotta figure out who we are,” the veteran coach said. “To (Carroll’s) credit, they made one more play than we did.”