Catholic rallies in second half to beat CPA, 28-26
By David Klein
The Catholic Irish dug out of a hole in the first half Friday night and stopped a two-point conversion in fourth quarter crunch time to beat the visiting Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) Lions 28-26 in a Division II-AAA (East) game. Catholic got its first region win of the season and improved to 5-3 overall. Freshman running back Kruise Buntyn rushed for 179 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.
After Buntyn’s 38-yard touchdown run with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter put the Irish up 28-20, the Lions marched down to the Irish 37-yard line. A personal foul on Catholic gave the Lions a first down, and four plays later on 4th-and-2, Bradshaw Klym took a direct snap and ran for a 14-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-26 with 2:19 left in the fourth quarter.
Klym got the call again for the 2-point conversion to tie it, but the Irish defense denied him to preserve the lead. Following a Catholic onside kick recovery, Buntyn ran 46 yards to the CPA 3-yard line two plays later to seal the victory for the Irish.
“Our team is a group of fighters,” Catholic head coach Philip Shadowens said. “We couldn’t get off the field on third down in the first half. We made some adjustments in the second half but it wasn’t really the adjustments; it’s the kids. Our kids came out, refused to lose, and made plays. Offense made some great plays, got us a lead, and our defense was able to get a stop when they had to have one.”
Catholic spotted CPA a 17-0 lead nearly halfway into the second quarter on the Lions’ Rawls Patterson’s two rushing touchdowns, a 63-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and a 37-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Patterson’s play was spectacular on the night as he finished with 21 carries for 205 yards and two touchdowns, nearly 10 yards per carry.
Despite the deficit, the Irish began to claw back. Quarterback Garrett King threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Casen Jenkins with 3:19 left in the first half to cut the Lions’ lead to 20-7. CPA added a field goal just before halftime to go up 20-7.
In the second half, the Irish took the kickoff 80 yards in 4:49 and scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from King to Braylen Gibbs to cut the Lions’ lead to 20-14 with 7:11 left in the third quarter.
Just 3 minutes and 15 seconds later, the Irish took the lead for good on King’s third touchdown pass of the game to Jenkins, who took the short pass 64 yards for a touchdown and a 21-20 lead with 3:56 left in the third quarter. That set the stage for the fourth-quarter drama and the Irish holding on for a 28-26 victory.
“I like how my receivers, they’re all pretty smart,” King said. “I can trust them to sit in the holes in zones and stuff, and my linemen give me all the time in the world. I can stand back there and just hit anyone.”
Catholic (5-3/1-3) closes the regular season Friday on Halloween at regional opponent Baylor, while CPA (2-7/1-3) plays a regional game at McCallie.
