No slowing DiBiaso’s Knights
CM dominates Spartans, moves to 3-0
LYNN — Two undefeated teams met at Manning Field last night. The team with a stout defense and a more physical line won handily in what ended up being a JV game early in the second half.
Catholic Memorial ran the ball with ease and held a solid pocket for junior Barrett Pratt to pass at will in a 42-14 drubbing of St. Mary’s.
“This was by far our best execution of the season,” said Knights coach John DiBiaso. “We came out and thought we executed well.”
After fumbling the ball away on their first offensive possession, the Knights (3-0) scored on their final five possessions of the first half.
The first came on an 8-yard pass from Pratt to Darius LeClair. The sophomore running back also scored the next two touchdowns on the ground, from 8 yards and 19 yards. The final two scores came in the final 4:17 of the half, as sophomore Zach Williams ran it in from 5 yards out, and Pratt hit senior captain Hunter Tully on a 14-yard pass as time expired to make it 35-0 at the break.
The superb play from the offense was apparent from the start, but it was the defense that really held St. Mary’s (2-1) at bay all game. The CM starting unit surrendered just 24 yards from scrimmage in the first half as senior captain Lucas Folan made play after play, including all three of the Knights’ sacks before intermission. The Spartans finished with just over 100 yards from scrimmage in the contest.
“Our defense played well and that was key,” DiBiaso said. “We came out and got a couple of three-and-outs early to win the field position battle. Then we took over with a short field.”
CM’s top units did not start the second half and the Spartans capitalized. First, St. Mary’s senior Patrick Henry intercepted a pass and returned it 21 yards for a score. Next, George Freeman had a 62-yard touchdown scamper to make it a 35-14 game. That was more than enough for DiBiaso to get the starting offense back on the field.
On the next drive, Pratt capped a five-play, 45-yard drive with a 17-yard run to cap the game’s scoring, with 5:07 left in the third quarter.
Pratt finished 14-of-18 passing for 173 yards with two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground, almost all of that in the first half.