| AWAY | HOME | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| FORK UNION MILITARY ACADEMY | VS | JOHN PAUL II CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL | |
| 0 | 21 | ||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fork Union Military Academy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Paul II Catholic High School | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
A dominant, ball-control offense and a physical, attacking defense took turns on center stage on Friday evening as the John Paul II Catholic High School football team defeated visiting Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy 21-0.
JPII improved to 6-0 as it notched the program’s second-ever shutout — the first was 57-0 over Lawrence Academy two years ago — and moved to 4-0 this season in 11-man games. FUMA fell to 1-3.
“This was a great team win tonight,” JPII Coach Sean Murphy said. “It was the best game we have played in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams.”
In the second half, the Saints maintained possession for nearly 20 of the 24 minutes as they were protecting a 14-0 lead. JPII took the second-half kickoff and held the ball for 9:08 before turning it over on downs at the FUMA 21. Twice on the drive it converted on fourth down — once on an 8-yard pass from Brody Mitchell to Quinn McCaffrey and once on a 13-yard run by Xae Lang.
Just a few minutes later, the Saints got the ball back on an interception by McCaffrey which he returned to the JPII 39. That set up another grinding possession which took 8:14 off the clock and culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by Rion Roseborough with 3:51 remaining in the game. Will Wright’s third PAT provided the final cushion.
Roseborough found the going rough most of the game, but still managed to rush for 93 yards on 26 carries, with his longest being 13 yards. The senior, who went over the 4,000 career rushing yards barrier during the first half, was held to three or fewer yards on 16 of his rushes.
Roseborough had a pair of 8-yard touchdown runs in the first half as JPII took control. The Saints went three-and-out on their first possession, but scored on their second. The key play was a 15-yard pass from Mitchell to McCaffrey on fourth-and-9 from the FUMA 24.
Later after FUMA turned it over on downs at the JPII 29 with 5:50 left in the half, the Saints again had a scoring drive keyed by a fourth-down conversion. This time it was Mitchell picking up five yards on a fourth-and-3 from the FUMA 44. A penalty on the visitors moved the ball to the 24, and a Mitchell-to-McCaffrey pass gave JPII first-and-goal from the 8. Roseborough took it in from there with 39.4 seconds left in the half.
Defensively, it was one of the better games the Saints have played all year. Max Winkler and Tucker Holmes were constant presences in the FUMA backfield, pressuring the quarterback, and McCaffrey, Faron Cureton, Xae Lang and T.T. Moore kept the FUMA receivers mostly in check. Joey Koesters, who has committed to Washington & Lee, led the effort up front.
Winkler had a huge sack on FUMA’s final possession of the first half after earlier forcing a fumble which was recovered by Cureton. Winkler also had a key sack late in the game that effectively ended FUMA’s penultimate (Mr. Corley advises his students to look up that word) possession.
JPII now has a bye week and will return to action for a Thursday night conference game on Oct. 6 at Faith Christian in Rocky Mount. Homecoming will be a week later, on Oct. 14, with a visit from Bear Grass for an 11-man game.
FU 0 0 0 0 — 0
JP 7 7 0 7 — 21
JPII—Rion Roseboro 8-yard run (Will Wright kick)
JPII—Roseboro 8 run (Wright kick)
JPII—Roseboro 1 run (Wright kick)
