WASHINGTON, D.C. – Keith Ricca went 21 of
30 for 321 yards with two touchdowns to lead Catholic to a 31-7
victory over McDaniel in non-conference football action on
Saturday.
Eric Zwilsky (Knoxville, Md./Brunswick)
and T.J. Develin (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area)
combined for 134 of the 285 yards of total offense for the Green
Terror (1-2) – all part of the 185-yard rushing
attack.
The Cardinals (3-0) amassed 411 yards of total offense,
including 353 passing yards – more than twice the yards
allowed through the air in the first two games.
After Andrew Buis returned to opening
kickoff 57 yards to set Catholic up at the McDaniel 26, the
Cardinals needed just five plays and 1 minute, 29 seconds to open
up a 7-0 lead.
A 14-yard Greg Brown rush followed up by
a three-yard dash gave the hosts an early lead that was never
challenged.
The McDaniel defense held Catholic to a three-and-out on
its next possession, but then Ricca put the aerial attack on
display, needing just three plays and 1:08 to cover 86 yards,
capped by a 76-yard bomb over the middle to Miles
Sabrick. Sadbrick caught the ball over the Green Terror
defender and waltzed the final 25 yards untouched for the
score.
Aided by a pass interference penalty and a 34-yard pass
play down the right sideline at the end of the first quarter, the
Cardinals stretched the lead to 17-0 on a 37-yard field goal by
Brendan Deluca with 13:21 to play
in the second quarter.
Taking over at the 20 after a Bill Gross
interception in the end zone, Ricca needed just six plays to guide
Catholic 80 yards on its first possession of the second
half.
Ricca capped the march with a 60-yard pass play on a post
pattern over the defense to push the lead to 23. After a procedure
call on the extra-point attempt, Deluca easily converted from 25
yards out to make it a 24-0 game.
Two plays after 39-yard pass play set up the Cardinals
inside the one-yard line, Brown punched the ball in to stretch the
lead to 31-0.
McDaniel took over with 7:02 to play at its own 13,
Develin carried the ball on 10 of the 16 plays on the drive,
accounting for 62 yards before Woody Butler (Smithburg,
Md./Middletown) caught a five-yard pass from Zach
Swope (Jessup, Md./Hammond) for his first collegiate score
with 28.6 on the game clock to break up the shutout.
Paul Smith (Woodlawn, Md./Western Tech)
led the defense with nine tackles while Mike Weick
(Holland, Pa./Penn Charter) made seven stops and had a
pass breakup. Travis Wenrich (Wernersville, Pa./Conrad
Weiser) made his second interception of the season to go
with eight punts for an average of 36.4 yards per boot.
The Green Terror returns to action at home against
Dickinson on Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.
-30-
