Eagles Drop Cards in Final Game of 2007
CUA finishes the season 5-5

11/10/2007

BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Catholic University football squad fell in its final game of 2007, 41-18, to the Bridgewater College Eagles (7-3, 3-3 Old Dominion Athletic Conference) Saturday afternoon. The Cards finish the season 5-5, with a 1-5 record in the ODAC. This marks the first time since 2000 that CUA has finished .500 and with five wins being the most since that season as well. It also shows a marked improvement for the graduating seniors who have increased the win total every season.

After a disastrous first series the Cards got back on track during their second as Keith Ricca (Poolesville, Md./St. John's Prospect Hall) led the offense right down the field thanks to a big 29-yard pick up to Andrew Buis (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) down the left sideline. On the next play Ricca fired to the right to find Buis again. This set up a short screen pass to Ryan McManus (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) in the middle who stretched for the goal line to make it 6-0.

Midway through the second the Eagles methodically worked down the field getting right outside the red zone when quarterback Jeff Highfill hit Brandon Copeland for the 22-yard touchdown pass and with the extra point going through the uprights Bridgewater took the lead 7-6. Late in the half the Eagles were pounding it up the middle working their way into the red but Mike Goodman (Brookville, Md./Sherwood) intercepted Highfill's pass in the middle of the field to stop the advance. In the final minute of the half Bridewater made it downfield one final time but solid coverage by the Cardinal secondary forced the field goal attempt resulting in a 10-6 halftime score.

The second half didn't start much better for the Cardinals and a horific third quarter put the Cards in a big hole. An onside kick on the kickoff was recovered by Bridewater and on CUA's first possession a fumble gave the Eagles the ball right back at the CUA 45. Bridgewater used to solid field position to its advantage as Phillip Cater ran it into the end zone at the nine minute mark to go ahead by 11 after the PAT. Quarterback John Jacobs (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) entered and hit Buis as they went down the field but at the BC 20 a pass was tipped and intercepted by Earl Chaptman who ran it all the way back for the TD. On the first play of the next drive the Cards fumbled which resulted in another Eagle touchdown to make the score 31-6.

The Cardinals finally stopped the bleeding on the next drive as a defensive pass interference call moved them into the red and Ricca passed to Greg Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Malvern Prep) for 14-yards in the end zone. Another missed PAT made it 31-12 with less than five minutes left in the third.

Carter ran in another one for the Eagles to start the fourth as the seconds ticked away for a Cardinal comeback. With tempers flaring on the field the Cardinal offense tried to get something going but were forced to punt from their own end zone resulting in an Eagle field goal. Jacobs led a drive downfield during the final three minutes utilizing his wide receivers as Buis continued to have the hot hands for the Cards. At 2:29 Jacobs found Pete Mercantanti (Newton, Pa./Pennington School) in the far corner of the end zone. After a failed two-point conversion the scoreboard read 41-18 which would be the final.

Ricca was 27-46 on the day with 243 yards and a pair of scores while Jacobs was 8-19 with one TD. For the Eagles, Highfill was 24-35 with 281 yards and two touchdowns. Buis led all receivers with 143 yards on 12 catches. Nick Olivero (Fairfax, Va./W.T. Woodson), Anthony DelBorrell (Laurel, Md./DeMatha) and Frank Howell (Centerville, Va./Marshall) all posted a game-high 12 tackles in the game.

The Cards will lose a number of key players, especially on the defense, to graduation but return a majority of the starting lineup in 2008.