Saturday, September 13, 2008

Knights take out Bishop 31-13

BY PETER DUGRE
DAILY SOUND CORRESPONDENT

The Knights of Saint Joseph out of Santa Maria retained the Santa Barbara Catholic Cup over the Cardinals of Bishop Diego in a lopsided 31-13 victory at Santa Barbara City College last Night.
“We have a lot of respect for Bishop,” said coach Mike Hartman of Saint Joseph, “every year we play them for the Santa Barbara Catholic Cup, and we kept the bragging rights again this year.”

The Cardinals, 0-2, did not put up points until sophomore running back Bruce Garcia broke a run from 17 yards out with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were able to ad another touchdown with the game already decided and under two minutes to play to finish out the night by demonstrating a bright future from some of the junior varsity that were able to get in some repetitions.
“That’s the one positive,” said Cardinal coach Tom Crawford, “we were able to rotate in a lot of guys from the junior varsity so they could get some experience.”
The Knights fielded a much bigger team and it showed whenever the Cardinals attempted a pass and numerous defenders penetrated the backfield. Bishop did not get a push in the run game in the one-sided first half, finishing with –30 yards on the ground, against 133 yards for the Knights.
Senior quarterback Anthony Martinez of the Cardinals showed agility while fleeing the rushing defenders and scrambled out of the pocket to find open receivers for 43 first-half passing yards on 8 of 15 attempts. He also finished with two interceptions, that were part of the five costly Cardinal turnovers.
Before Martinez could get many passes in to his sets multiple-receivers, the Knights had already mounted a 13-0 first quarter lead. Martinez and the Cardinals had only one possession and six plays at that point in the game.
“We came out tentative at best,” said Crawford. “If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be UGLY.”
The Knights put in their first touchdown on a 23-yard sweep to junior running back KJ Cusack, before the Cardinals fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the ball back. The Knights took the opportunity to put in their second touchdown before the close of the first quarter on an eight-yard toss to senior workhorse, running back Ryan Anglin.
Anglin tormented the Cardinals from behind his big linemen for 52 first-half yards on eight carries. His only second-half carry was a nine-yard run on the Knights first play of the second half. On the second play, Knights quarterback Gavin Kelley kept on an option and turned his afterburners on once he broke through the line to score from 62-yards out. That touchdown brought the score to 25-0, and both teams began rotating in some reserves to play out the clock.
The Cardinals will have to regroup after two early season losses, and coach Crawford said he hopes that this can serve as a wake-up call to regain the energy that he felt his team showed more of in the opener.

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