WESTMINSTER, Md. - Catholic football dropped its season-opener 7-3 on Friday night at McDaniel despite a strong defensive effort. The loss snaps a three-game win streak over the Green Terror for the Cardinals.
Carson Henry and
Michael Hopkins led the defensive effort, combining for 17 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and an interception. Henry led the way with 11 tackles and 1.5 TFLs, going over 200 tackles and 25 TFLs for his career. Hopkins added six tackles and an interception for the Cardinal defense.
Conor Jennings added four tackles, a sack, and 1.5 TFLs for Catholic.
The Cardinals held McDaniel to 242 total yards on 65 plays. The Green Terror gained just 3.7 yards per play and were forced to punt seven times.
Offensively,
John Whelan threw for 127 yards while
Daequan Harvin (46 yards) and
Zach Williams (36 yards) led the effort on the ground.
Cade Chrebet was Catholic's leading receiver with 34 yards on a pair of receptions.
Late in the first half with the score tied at 0-0, McDaniel elected to go for it on 4th-and-9 from the Catholic 16, but Eric Grinwis' pass was intercepted by Hopkins and returned out near midfield. The Cardinals couldn't take advantage of the turnover, going three-and-out.
After forcing a three-and-out on the first drive of the second half, Catholic got the ball on its own seven. The Cardinals would put together an 87-yard march, resulting in a 23-yard
Andrew Petrino field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
Whelan found
Malachi Hansen for 22 yards on 2nd-and-9, getting the ball out to the 30. A nine-yard scramble from Whelan kept the drive alive on 3rd-and-6 from the 34. Two plays later, he found Chrebet for a gain of 14 into McDaniel territory. A 15-yard snag from
Anthony Giordano set up another first down at the 14. The Cardinals would eventually get to the six, but elected for three points on 4th-and-2.
The Green Terror answered on the next drive, going 69 yards in nine plays as Micajah Cobbs found the end zone from 17 yards out for the lone touchdown of the game.
Catholic welcomes Capital to Cardinal Stadium next Saturday for its home opener at 1 p.m.
