Saints get all defensive about win over Eagles
Tyler Givens has been trying to make that play in practice all season but he never came up with. He’d get a hand on the ball, or swat it down, but he was never able to hold on to it.
Friday night the Berks Catholic defensive end finally made the play, and it sparked the Saints to a 21-7 win over Cocalico in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal at Forino Sports Complex.
“I just saw it, grabbed it, as simple as that,” he said of a game-changing interception late in the first half, with Saints down a touchdown and in dire need of a spark.
The 6-3 Givens leaped and speared the ball with both hands, igniting his sideline.
“It was originally a screen, but I just blocked him out,” Givens said. “I saw the ball above his helmet, I just whipped my arms up and snatched it.”
One play later Christian Cacchione dashed 36 yards to the end zone to tie the game.
It remained 7-7 deep into the fourth quarter before Josiah Jordan found a seam and finally broke one against a stingy Cocalico (6-5) defense, taking it 47 yards to the house for the Saints’ first lead with 3:45 remaining.
A couple minutes later Jordan did it again, scoring from 32 yards out to ice it for the fourth-seeded Saints (7-4).
Jordan’s two breakaway runs made a tremendous defensive effort stand up for the Saints, who are headed to Bishop McDevitt for the district semifinals next Friday. The top-seeded Crusaders (9-1) dispatched No. 8 Northern 62-0.
The Saints couldn’t stop fifth-seeded Cocalico on its first drive, which lasted 14 plays and 7 1/2 minutes and ended when quarterback Blayke Taddei scrambled out of the pocket on fourth-and-goal from the 5 to put his team ahead.
The Berks Catholic defenders may have been discouraged after the Eagles ran it 14 straight times out of the Veer but head coach Rick Keeley wasn’t. He told his guys to be patient, that they would catch up to that offense, and they did.
“Our scout team cannot run that offense with the speed that they run that offense with,” Keeley said. “It just takes time for your defense to catch up with that game speed.”
The Saints forced Cocalico to punt on its next two possessions, then got a turnover on Given’s incredible play.
Berks Catholic switched to a five-man defensive front after Cocalico’s first series and stuck with it for most of the rest of the way. It did the trick, holding the Eagles to 187 rushing yards — more than 100 below their average, and to just 3.5 yards per attempt. The seven points was the second-fewest they’ve scored (Gov. Mifflin shut them out).
Fullback Anthony Bourassa, who had 1,863 rushing yards in 10 games, was limited to 111 on 31 carries. He didn’t have a run longer than 9 yards until the final minutes, after the Saints had taken the lead.
“It took us the first drive to work it out, but we worked it out and got ’em down,” said junior defensive tackle Jacob Collazo, who was in on a gang of tackles. “At practice we came up with a defense and it didn’t really work at first, so we went to what we know (the five-man front). We call it ‘Rhino.’ Put me in the middle (over the center). And we started blowing it up.”
Linebacker Isaac Pichardo came up with a big hit on third-and-1 at midfield to force a punt late in the third quarter. The Saints came up with another big hit with two minutes left, after the Eagles had penetrated midway field, down just one score. Taddei tried the middle of the line, the ball popped out and Jackson Huddleson collected it with 1:32 left.
A couple plays later Jordan — who had just 3 rushing yards through three quarters — broke another one to end the drama.
The Saints had trouble containing some powerful offenses earlier this season — Central Dauphin, Malvern Prep, Exeter and Mifflin — but their defense has improved dramatically. Learned a lot, too.
“That’s definitely the best ‘D’ we’ve ever played, by far, and perfect timing, in playoffs, too,” said Givens. “We just followed our assignments, hit the gaps hard, and everything worked out. We got (the idea for the five-man front) from Gov. Mifflin. We saw how good it (worked) against us.”
Cocalico had five second-half possessions. It punted three times, turned it over once, then saw the clock run out on its final drive.
“I was really pleased with the way our defense stepped up tonight,” Keeley said. “Our defensive staff did a great job getting those kids ready. (It was our best) I think, by far. (Playing against) Mifflin helped us get ready for this; they run the same kind of offense.”
Given had a sack and at least half-a-dozen tackles but his catch — for the interception — was the biggest play of the night.
“For a defensive end to go up and catch it, is amazing,” Keeley said. “That’s only the second time in 46 years of coaching that I saw a defensive end go up and do that; normally they knock it down. You could just feel the momentum pick up right there.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cocalico | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Berks Catholic | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Cocalico | Taddei, 5 run (Roos kick) | 4:23 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Cacchione, 36 run (Givens kick) | 1:42 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 47 run (Given kick) | 3:45 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 32 run (Givens kick) | 1:10 |
Team statistics
| Cocalico | Berks Catholic | |
| First downs | 16 | 8 |
| Rushes-yards | 53-187 | 34-214 |
| Passing yards | 12 | 2 |
| Total yards | 199 | 216 |
| Passes | 2-6-1 | 1-2-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 6-29.5 | 3-39.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-45 | 5-42 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Cocalico: Bourassa 31-111, Flinton 11-47, Longenecker 3-13, Steffey 1-11, Taddei 7-5.
Berks Catholic: Jordan 6-80, Cacchione 16-75, Hughes 8-33, Gatz 4-26.
PASSING
Cocalico: Taddei 2-4-1–12, Flinton 0-1, Team 0-1.
Berks Catholic: Gatz 1-2-0–2.
RECEIVING
Cocalico: Flinton 2-12.
Berks Catholic: Cacchione 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS
Berks Catholic: Givens.