Cardinals Have Tough Day on the Gridiron in 34-27 Loss
CUA unable to score on two late red zone opportunities

11/3/2007 

WASHINGTON - What looked like a great game for Catholic University football (5-4, 1-4 ODAC) went sour late in the second half as CUA fell 34-27 to the Guilford Quakers (5-4, 1-4 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium.  The Cards had a first and goal to go ahead but couldn't produce and later fumbled just yards from the goal line making it a tough loss to take.

Things look up for CUA in the first half as the offense put together one of the best halves of the season and the defense held Guilford to just one TD.  The defense forced one turnover in the first quarter when Quaker QB Josh Vogelbach was stripped by Ed Coleman (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame) and Tommie Roberson (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville Eastside) fell on the loose ball. This set up CUA's score with seconds left when quarterback Keith Ricca (Poolesville, Md./St. John's Prospect Hall) hit Miles Sabrick (Douglassville, Pa./Reading Central Catholic) for a long gain and Sabrick ran past a host of defenders into the end zone to go up 7-0. 

Early in the second quarter Vogelbach redeemed himself tossing a 17-yard TD pass to Chad Kastor to tie it up after a costly pass interference penalty on the Cardinals during the drive.  It looked as if Guilford would score again on their next drive but Kyle Gaughan (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) intercepted the ball in the end zone and returned it 54 yards to give CUA good field position.  The Cardinals implemented the rushing of Greg Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Malvern Prep) during the series but it wouldn't be enough to get in the end zone and a missed field goal kept it tied.  Vogelbach had one more pass intercepted last in the half as Dweh Siklo (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) picked it off and was ruled down for no return for a 7-7 halftime score. 

The Cardinal offense came out firing in the second half and Ricca completed all seven of his attempts on the first drive to march CUA into the end zone capping it off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ryan McManus (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) to take the lead thanks to Brendan Deluca's (Gambrills, Md./St. Mary's) PAT.  However, once again Guilford had an answer with Mike Cooper running it in during the next series knotting it at 14.  Vogelbach showed why he leads the ODAC in passing yards on Guilford's next series when he completed four passes including a 37-yard bomb to set up a Zach Bobak rush to take the lead for the first time. 

The lead change also caused a momentum shift and Guilford struck once more thanks to Vogelbach on its opening drive of the final stanza to go up 28-14.  With ample time, Ricca continued the battle of the QB's orchestrating a drive of his own with a 28-yard shot to Sabrick and ending it on a six-yard pass to him again to get within a TD.  The defense came out and forced GC to punt and once again it was Ricca at the helm as he went 5-7 hitting Pete Mercantanti (Newtown, Pa./Pennington School) in the end zone but a missed PAT made it 28-27.  With four minutes left Guilford punter Levi Carter came out to try and keep CUA back in their own territory but a short punt took a huge CUA bounce resulting in the Cardinals starting on the GC 26.  However, that would be the last bit of luck for CUA.

On the resulting drive, Ricca got CUA to the GC 12 and Brown rushed to the two for first and goal.  But what looked like a Cardinal touchdown would not be as CUA rushed for no gain on three downs.  The field goal unit came out to try and take the lead but Markas Brunson got his hand on the kick and brought it in returning it for an 88-yard score.  Achille Kolla (Rockville, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) blocked the PAT giving CUA some hope of tying it up with two minutes to play and CUA started on the GC 44.  Ricca came out and completed five of six passes including one to Dan Saunders (Kensington, Md./Albert Einstein) who ran towards the goal line with few defensive players in sight but Jacob Bright got his hand on the ball and stripped Saunders giving Guilford the ball and the win 34-27.

In a pass-oriented game, CUA won the battle with 447 passing yards to Guilford's 367.  Ricca was 34-52 for 384 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while Vogelbach was 35-55 for 367 yards, a pair of TD's and as many interceptions.  On the ground Brown led CUA with 32 yards on 15 carries and Justin Parker led the Quakers with 69 yards on four carries.  Sabrick had 149 yards on eight receptions and two touchdowns while Mercantanti had 120 yards on nine catches with a TD.  Defensively Anthony DelBorrell (Laurel, Md./DeMatha) led the Cardinals with 13 tackles and a sack for the game.

CUA will finish off the season at Bridgewater.  The game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.