Bonner throws the shut out of Carroll
Published: Friday, October 28, 2011
By ANTHONY J. SANFILIPPO
RADNOR - According to Cody Sutton, one of the Monsignor Bonner defensive goals this season was to shut out the opposition.
Through eight games, that goal was unattainable. Then came the regular season finale against Archbishop Carroll.
The Friars defense pinned their ears back and overwhelmed the undermanned and undersized Patriots in the regular season finale for both Catholic League teams.
They kept Carroll quarterback Sal Bello running for his life all night and reached their goal with a 33-0 blanking of the Pats at Prevost Field on the campus of Radnor High School.
Bonner held Carroll to just 87 yards of total offense and seemed to be in the backfield on every play.
Sutton, a senior linebacker, was the guy at the forefront of that effort with three first half "sacks" (not an official statistic in high school football) of Bello as well as being in on several other plays that stunted the Carroll running game.
The Patriots amassed only 43 yards on 28 carries.
"Our defense knew this had to be our shutout," Sutton said. "We hadn't had one all year and we were talking about it since camp. We wanted to walk off the field and see that goose egg. This was a very important win for us as we move on to the playoffs.
"Every game we want them to have zero, but that can't happen every time. We just want to go out there, do our best, and try to make it happen."
They did just that by smothering the Patriots, limiting them to just six first downs.
"It was nice," Friars coach Tom Oropeza said. "I know the defense has been pushing for that and have been working very hard. I'm very proud of them and very happy for the coaches on the defensive side."
On the other side of the ball, Bonner methodically buried Carroll behind the legs of senior running back Abraham Jaward.
Jaward, who was a wide receiver to start the season but was forced into the feature back role after a season-ending injury to Ismir Gibson, has quietly had a productive season.
He didn't find the end zone Friday, but carried the ball 22 times for 127 yards for the Friars, putting his season total at 608 yards in just six starts.
"It started off slow but that's all right," Jaward said. "I know I have to be patient because not every night is going to be my night. I just have to stick with my team. If everyone else is getting yardage I'm happy. If we win, I'm happy.
"My progression has been great. I was a little rusty in the beginning, but I've made progress every week. My coaches keep pushing me and pushing me and I told them that I would put them on my shoulders tonight… and we got the win."
Jaward carried the load, but four of the five touchdowns came courtesy of quarterback James Haley.
Haley threw for two and rushed for two, putting him at 22 total touchdowns this season (10 passing and 12 rushing).
"He's a special kid," Oropeza said. "He's got a lot of ability and can make a lot of things happen."
Haley was most impressive throwing across his body with touch and precision. He made two huge passes - one to Brian Dempsey and one to his brother Joe Haley that set up touchdown runs while escaping pressure rolling to his left.
Younger brother James ran for touchdowns of five and 16 yards and hit Paul Pfeffinger and Dempsey for a 24 and 15-yard touchdowns respectively.
For Bonner, they finish the regular season 5-4 - having alternated wins and losses in each of the nine weeks. And by virtue of a 2-1 record in the AAA Division of the Catholic League, Bonner will be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
That means they will meet No. 3 Cardinal O'Hara next week at a site and date to be determined, however speculation is the old rivals will play Friday night at Widener University.
Jaward said it's a game "the entire city of Philadelphia has been waiting for," and his coach sort of seconded that emotion.
"It's the best rivalry around in my opinion," Oropeza said. "The kids on both sides are going to be really excited to go out there and play this game one more time."
