by ELYRIA,OH— If you are looking for two evenly matched teams, look no further than the Benedictine Bengals and the Walsh Jesuit Warriors. Since 1984 they have met 28 times and each squad owns 14 wins a piece.
However, Bene has gotten the better of Walsh in every possible way. They have won eight in a row including the playoffs last year with a 27-20 overtime victory. The Bengals have also beat the Warriors in the 2004 postseason in a 21-0 shutout. On top of tournament success, the blue and white have taken all three matchups that have gone to OT.
Right from the opening kickoff Benedictine appeared to pick up right where they have left off. Walsh fumbled the football on the return and the defense would be placed in a tough spot at their own 22.
Unfortunately it wound up being a little to good to be true. Starting running back Duane Jackson would go down, riving in pain after his second carry. It appeared to be some sort of leg injury. He exited the game at only the 10:47 mark.
Walsh did a great job not getting down on themselves and forced the punting unit onto the Elyria turf. The “visiting” Warriors blocked the punt and turned it into an eventual 3 points.
Big special teams would continue on the ensuing kickoff. Star wide out Marvin Conkle fielded the ball at his own 10 took it down into Warrior territory at the 34. Nothing would be made of that great return but, Bene would get another shot.
JaiVeon Baker handled the rock for the Bengals for the rest of the evening and it began with a bang. His third rush was electrifying. Baker bounced quickly to the left side line and sprinted for 67 yards. On the next play, Quarterback CeeJay Yarboro zipped one to Brandon Boyd Jr. for a 25 yard TD to go up 7-3.
Boyd was the lone standout for Bene hauling in 6 catches for 141 yards and that touchdown.
51 ticks later, Walsh answered beautifully again. Man under center, Matt Natale, found speedster Trey Bell for a 58 bomb for a house call to retake the lead.
Conkle would gift more fantastic field position with a 30 yard run back. But again, they could not do anything with it. A catchable drop and a slip up by another receiver would accumulate to a 4th and inches on Walsh Jesuit’s 15. They decided to go for it and it wound up being a mistake. Baker fumbled away the handoff to give the Warriors possession at the 22.
With 9 and half remaining in the second, back up half back Jack Romanini plowed his way to the goal line to extend the gap to 17-7. A 57 yard run by junior Justin Bremner put it on a silver platter.
After a field goal by Christina Cora, Walsh got to work again. Bell would get things off to a bumpy start. He muffed the catch and the ball would be placed at the 10. Linebacker for Bene Jacob Dolan, dropped Natale for a loss of 8. Natale would loft the ball into the night sky and it would be snatched up by Boyd.
Baker would make up for the fumbled and dash towards the Elyria endzone from 10 yards out on the first play of the drive.
With the Bengals receiving the 2nd half kick, Walsh needed to milk as much of the precious minutes and seconds off the clock as they could. 3:58 illuminated the scoreboard and they would shave off 3:44.
Bell got the burners turned up to high heat again. He got down the football all they way to the Bene 22. Multiple 4th & 1s were converted and a touchdown from Kasey Kish was the end result.
“The home team” would not go into the half empty though. Boyd would keep the hits playing. He got the crowd fired up on the cold winter-like night after a return to the Walsh 31. Cora would come up big and knock a 48 yarder just over the upright as time expired.
With the Bengals riding that momentum heading into the half, it seemed they were getting back on track to notching another one in the win column.
But, the Warriors put a number on the offense and pitched a shutout. A quick three and out would foreshadow what was to come for the rest of the second half.
Natale found Josh Campagna for 31 and then 35 on two amazing tosses. Romanini would do the dirty work again and punch it in for six more. Bene’s next drive would end fast again. Baker lost his second fumble of the evening at his own 20.
Luckily, no points would be tacked on as Cooper Kirda’s kick from the eight yard line missed left. With 5:38 to go in third and down 11, the Bengals offense had to move a little faster and they did. Yarboro hit Boyd for back to back connections of 36 and 19. However, it would all come crashing down. Number 2 tested dangerous waters trying to force one into double coverage. That was nearly intercepted. The next play he dove even deeper, this time packing it in to triple coverage. That ball would be picked off.
That would be the closest Benedictine would get to the pylon for the remainder of this matchup. Walsh played keep away, managing the time like they did on that second quarter TD drive, to cage the one seeded Bengals, 34-20.
Defense was mainly the name of the game for the Warriors. Two fumble recoveries, one interception, and a shutout in the second half will win you a playoff game or two. That has been one of their calling cards all year long. They have held opponents to 14 points per game heading into this one.
Besides Conkle’s run backs for special teams, he was silenced to one catch for 11 yards. What also did not help Bene was the loss of Duane Jackson. Losing 141 carries for 839 yards and 10 TD is a gargantuan set back. Baker made a couple of nice plays but, the fumbles and the overall production was not there.
CeeJay Yarboro was shaky tonight too. There were stretches were he had three gorgeous dimes in a row and then he would follow it up with incompletion after incompletion. Had two streaks of three straight and one of seven in a row, which included the interception. Overall, Bene beat themselves and Walsh capitalized on those mistakes and played excellent defense.
Congratulations to the Warriors as they move onto the Regional Final. They will wait in the wings for their next foe. The Bengal’s season comes to end and they finished with an overall record of 8-3.
Game Balls: Walsh Jesuit Defense- 2 recovered fumbles, 1 interception, and a second half shutout
Benedictine: Brandon Boyd Jr. 6 Rec 141 Yds 1 TD and 1 INT
Excellent analysis.I was there