Archbishop Wood Blanks West Catholic with Convincing 28-0 Win

Even before the game started, both Archbishop Wood Head Coach Steve Devlin and senior quarterback Joe Monaghan knew exactly how they were going to attack the West Catholic defense. They expected the Burrs to hit them with a heavy dose of man-to-man defense, and the Vikings planned to exploit that with a strong balance of run and play action passes. “It’s something we saw on film—they like to play a lot of man,” Devlin said. “We had some chances and we took advantage of them.”

The Vikings rode their balanced offense and hard-hitting bend-but-don’t-break defense to a 28-0 home victory over Class AA power West Catholic at William Tennent Football Stadium Saturday night.

The game was the second straight out-of-class contest for the Class AAA Vikings (1-1) who suffered a tough 20-17 season-opening loss to Class AAAA power Central Catholic (Pittsburgh) on the road last week.

Senior wide receiver Nate Smith was the recipient of many of Monaghan’s play-action throws, as the speedster totaled 218 receiving yards and scored two TD’s of 50-plus yards. Monaghan said he knew that Smith would be able to use his speed to take advantage of the Burrs’ defense. “We knew they were going to be in man-to-man press coverage most of the night, and [Smith] did a great job beating his man,” he said. “We knew that their front seven was very aggressive coming up for the run, so we knew that play-action was going to be there.”

Smith’s first TD, a 52 yard bomb from Monaghan, kicked the Vikings’ offense into gear and ignited the crowd just before halftime. The score gave Wood a 14-0 lead, but more importantly, swung the momentum in the Vikings’ favor and exposed the vulnerabilities of the Burrs’ press defense.

West Catholic attempted to answer back with a scoring drive after they recovered a Brandon Peoples fumble to open the first half, but quarterback Antwain McCollum was stuffed in the backfield on a keeper on a second and goal, forcing a third a goal from the 14. After an incomplete McCollum pass, the Burrs decided to go for it with a bit of trickery. McCollum took the snap from shotgun and handed the ball off to running back David Williams who then threw a pass that fell off the hands of McCollum for a turnover on downs.

Wood took advantage of the mistake in a hurry, as senior running back Ryan McMullin busted a big gain to the Wood 35-yard line. On the next play, the Burrs sent a blitz and the Vikings responded perfectly with a screen pass to wide receiver Kyle Adkins. Adkins raced down field, darting in and out of defenders before finally being tackled at the West Catholic 19 for a 46 yard gain. After a 2-yard run, Monaghan hit tight end Jonathan Vicari to give Wood a first and goal at the 7.

McMullin took care of business from there, busting up the middle for TD to give Wood an insurmountable 21-0 lead with 4:48 left in the third quarter.

McMullin also opened the scoring for Wood with a TD scamper to start the second quarter, and Smith capped the scoring with a 55-yard TD catch late in the third.

The Burrs, who rely heavily on the run game, do not have a quick strike offense and are not built for late game comebacks. When the Burrs moved the ball throughout the game, it was on the broad shoulders of running back David Williams, who ripped off 205 rushing yards on 30 carries. In fact, West Catholic attempted just two passes in the first half.

But Williams never found his way into the end zone, and the West Catholic offense continues to struggle out of the gate this season. The Burrs, who fell to 0-2 with the loss, only scored seven points in their season opener against Roman Catholic.

West Catholic Head Coach Brian Fluck said he may mix a bit more play action into his team’s offense in the future, but he thinks they can have success relying on the running game as long as they team plays mistake-free football. “The bottom line is if we can’t run the ball, we can’t win games,” he said. “That’s our bread and butter. I thought we did a great job there, but we just made mistakes—fumbling the ball at the five-yard line, holding penalty here. We can’t afford to have those types of plays.”

Unlike West Catholic, who relied solely on Williams, the Vikings achieved success on the ground despite missing star running back and Rutgers recruit Desmon Peoples, who was out with an ankle sprain. The Vikings picked up the slack by committee, getting key contributions from McMullin and Brandon Peoples, Desmon’s cousin, who is headed to Temple for football next fall.

Both Devlin and Monaghan, who finished with 284 passing yards, also credited Wood’s strong offensive line in helping keep the offense on track despite Desmon Peoples’ absence. “Brandon Peoples is also an unbelievable back, [McMullin] did a great job tonight, and we have one of the best lines—I think the best line—around, so not having [Desmon Peoples] hurts, but I knew we were going to be okay,” Monaghan said.

After the game, Devlin said Peoples’ ankle was improving and that he was held out tonight for “precautionary” reasons. He also said Peoples was “fine,” but would not commit to saying he would be back in action next week. “We’re going to see during the week,” he said.

If Peoples is back by Saturday, he will join the rest of the Vikings as they face Conwell-Egan Catholic on the road. The Burrs, meanwhile, will also face a road test, as they take on LaSalle College High School Friday night.