Bonner beaten by what Oropeza says is the best he's seen
Published: Sunday, October 23, 2011
By DENNIS DEITCH
WARMINSTER --- Tom Oropeza has encountered plenty of impressive teams as both an assistant coach and the head coach of Monsignor Bonner over the last decade. He has played against teams that went on to win state championships, teams with several Division I recruits, teams that had players who went from Sunday afternoon Catholic League games to Sunday afternoon NFL games.
After he and the shorthanded Friars endured a 49-6 pummeling at the hands of Archbishop Wood at William Tennent Sunday, Oropeza thinks the Vikings might be the best of the bunch.
“I’d stack them up against any team I’ve seen in the last 10 years as a coach,” said Oropeza, whose team was coming off its first win over Cardinal O’Hara in a decade. “The toughest thing about them is they are so good in all three phases of the game. The window of opportunity is so small, and if you don’t take advantage of that they are going to shut the door on you. That’s what happened in the first half.”
Complicating matters for Bonner was the absence of leading rusher Abraham Jaward, a huge loss considering the Friars finished the game with minus-7 yards on eight carries by those trying to fill the senior’s shoes.
Then again, depth is part of what makes the Vikings special. Their backfield houses the Peoples cousins, Desmon and Brandon. Both are committed to Division I programs — Desmon is headed to Rutgers, Brandon to Temple — and they teamed for 176 yards and three touchdowns on the ground on 20 carries.
Another blue-chip recruit, 6-foot-6, 255-pound tight end Colin Thompson (Florida), rumbled 44 yards for a touchdown after making a catch on the run over the middle.
That said, there were some unforced errors that hurt Bonner in the early going. After seemingly stuffing the Vikings of a third-and-goal on the opening drive, the Friars were whistled for a personal foul that kept the drive alive. After Wood took advantage for a 7-0 lead, Bonner picked up 12 yards on its first offensive play, and later had a crucial third-and-7 call. However, the shotgun snap went wildly off course, and Archbishop Wood’s Kyle Adkins scooped up the loose ball and walked into the end zone.
“We knew from the get-go that we had to come out of the gate strong,” Oropeza said. “Unfortunately we had a penalty in the red zone that gave them another opportunity to score. Then we get back out there and try to get momentum offensively and get a snap over the head and they recover in the end zone. So right away you’re looking at 14-0 and the dynamics of the game change.
“But besides that, we just didn’t execute and a lot of that had to do with how strong and physical that team is.”
Since opening the year with a 20-17 loss to Pittsburgh Central Catholic, the top-ranked Class AAAA team in the state, Wood has throttled its last seven opponents by an average margin of 41 points.
With District One’s top division not having a clear-cut power this year (Abington is the lone undefeated AAAA squad in District One), Wood seems on a collision course for a rematch with Central Catholic in the state final.
As for Bonner, its challenge is to let the rout roll off its back and prepare for next weekend’s game against Archbishop Carroll.
“We just have to forget about it and keep moving forward,” Bonner lineman Tyler Ramirez said. “We tried our best. We’ll build on it, keep moving forward.”
