Catholic University of America

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Catholic football team played in its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon in a road contest against Juniata. The Cardinals erased a 10-point third quarter deficit, out-scoring the Eagles 14-0 in the fourth quarter to end the season on a high note with a 35-31 victory.

After both teams punted on their first drives of the game, the Eagles took over at their own 25 and went on to score on a 41-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Wheeler, making it a 7-0 game. The Cardinals threw an interception on the next drive leading to a 29-yard field goal for Juniata to extend the lead to 10.

The defense forced a turnover on downs at the Catholic 36 and Lamar West Jr. kickstarted the ensuing drive with a 12-yard carry for a first down. Two plays later Charles Gulbin completed a pass to West who took it 20 yards to move into opposing territory. Nole Henry also hauled in a 20-yard reception to move the Cardinals into the red zone and Keegan Eichert capped the drive off with a three-yard run for a touchdown.

After the Cardinals forced a stop on the Eagles next drive, West once again came up with a big play as he took the first carry of the drive to the end zone from 79 yards away to give Catholic its first lead of the game. The momentum shifted back to Juniata for the rest of the second quarter however as two pick sixes from 100 and 22 yards away gave it a 24-14 lead heading into halftime.

Catholic came up with an answer to begin the second half when the offense marched on a 10-play 63-yard drive that was aided by a 27-yard catch and run from Henry to move to the one yard line. West punched in his second touchdown of the game on the next play to pull the Cardinals back within three.

After a touchdown from the Eagles towards the end of the third quarter, Gulbin completed passes to Diego Mouton and Adrian Fresin to move into Juniata territory. Later in the drive on fourth and two, Eichert came up with a clutch three-yard run to keep the drive alive. West capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown run to once again make it a one possession game.

After the defense forced a punt, the Cardinals once again came up with a much needed drive as West had back-to-back carries for first downs on runs of 13 and 28 yards to move up to the Catholic 44. West went on to have two receptions on the drive as well, the second one being a 13-yard touchdown to put the Cardinals back on top 35-31. 

The defense came up with a key stop in a goal to go situation after Gavin O'Malley and Conor Jennings both had tackles for loss to force a fourth down with less than two minutes in the game. The defensive line got pressure on the last play and the pass into the end zone was broken up by Omid Aliaskari to secure the victory for the Cardinals.

Catholic picked up its second win of the season with the victory and the Cardinals now have four consecutive wins over the Eagles. 

West became the second Catholic skill player to score four touchdowns in a game this season. He finished with a season-high 188 yards on 19 carries with three touchdowns on the ground. He is the first Catholic player to rush for three touchdowns in a game since 2014. In total, the Cardinals ran for 240 yards which is the most for the team in a game this season and the most in a game since they ran for 334 yards against Keystone in 2024. Henry led the receiving efforts with seven catches for 94 yards, including a 27-yard catch. He had seven or more receptions in all five games he played in this season.

Billy Turner led the team in tackles once again as he finished with 10, making it the fifth game for him this season with 10 or more tackles. He also added a pass break up and a TFL. Aliaskari came up with a career-high eight tackles and had the game clinching PBU.