LAFAYETTE — Coming into Friday’s monster Class A Sectional 34 showdown, No. 1-ranked Lafayette Central Catholic had allowed just 10 points on the season, but many thought No. 2 Pioneer would represent their first major test.
It is safe to say the Knights passed that test.
Catholic gave up just 197 yards of total offense and kept Pioneer out of the end zone in a 20-0 victory.
“They’re outstanding on the defensive side,” said Pioneer coach Mike Johnson. “We had lots of opportunities and good field position all night, but we couldn’t get it in. We even drove the ball well a few times in the first half but couldn’t finish. My hat is off to them.”
Pioneer (9-1) will lament its missed opportunities this morning as it started four drives in Catholic territory. The Panthers also had four drives end by either turnover on downs — four with interceptions and one on a fumbled punt.
“I am not saying this because he is my brother, but our defensive coordinator, Tim O’Shea, has done a whale of a job all year and to shut down an outstanding offensive team like we did in the manner we did where they had the ball in our territory all night is fantastic,” said Catholic coach Kevin O’Shea, whose squad improved to 9-0. “We turned them back on fourth down. We forced turnovers. We did everything we needed to do [Friday] night.”
Both teams came into the game averaging better than 50 points scored per game. It appeared that Pioneer’s offense was going to stay on track with the game’s opening drive. The Panthers marched 59 yards in 10 plays down to the Kinghts’ 9-yard line, but were stopped short on fourth down. That was Pioneer’s best drive of the night, as Catholic slammed the door on Illinois State recruit Bryce Kiser the rest of the night.
Kiser had a 21-yard run on fourth down to keep the opening drive alive. He also managed a 23-yard run on Pioneer’s second drive, but he was held to just 91 yards on 20 carries as the Panthers stalled time and again.
Catholic got on the board on its second drive when QB Chris Mills plunged in from a yard out on fourth down with a minute left in the first quarter. His score was set up by a 61-yard pass to Connor Mackey down to the 4-yard line.
After the teams traded possessions, Pioneer made perhaps its biggest mistake of the game. Facing fourth-and-10 inside its own 20, Pioneer opted for a fake punt. The attempt came up short, and Catholic scored again two plays later on a 24-yard pass to Marc Withers to make it 14-0.
“We thought we could make something happen on that play,” said Johnson. “It unfortunately backfired, but had it gone we might be down just 7-0 at the half and it is a different scenario. It ended up being a big play.”
O’Shea gave credit to not only his defense on the play, but his special teams coordinator.
“It was hard to prepare for something like that because we didn’t have much video when they barely punted all year,” said O’Shea. “Our special teams coordinator finally found something [Friday] morning where we saw they had the rollout, rugby-style punt so we kept our defense on the field and just covered that side.”
Pioneer had a few chances to get back into the game in the second half, but Catholic’s defense answered the call each time. The Knights finally delivered the knockout blow with 8:34 left in the game when Mills found Mackey again, this time for a 49-yard touchdown.
Mackey finished the night with five catches for 140 yards and a score.
Pioneer was forced to throw much more often than it was used to. Quarterback Tyler Miller was intercepted four times, three times on tipped passes. Scott Windler was twice the beneficiary of his interceptions in addition to making several tackles all over the field.
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