By: Zachary Harmuth
Now, that is more like it.
BA got its groove back Friday night against Pope John Paul II, and how, as with two straight wins the Eagles have turned a nightmare of a season into a respectable 4-3 (and 1-2 in AA Division II).
Despite both teams sharing the same 3-3 record coming in, this game was a study of complete opposites, with BA scoring 56 straight points to start the game to literally run away with the victory, passing the in-conference Knights with a 56-6 win.
The explosive C.J. Sanders went off on Pope John Paul II for three touchdowns. He had two catches, both touchdowns, for 77 yards and a rushing score.
The surgical Tyler Swafford sliced PJP’s defense apart, throwing 11 of 15 for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns.
And the bulldozer sometimes referred to as Shon Lumpkin ran for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7 carries. As a team, the Eagles scored 6 times on the ground.
Just to give a sense of how dominant of a win this was for BA, against the in-conference Knights, think of it like this: BA outscored PJP 56-0. In the first half.
Another way to put it? All BA did in the first half, literally, was score touchdowns. 8 possessions, 8 touchdowns.
Or how about this? Not only did BA not punt once, but did not have a single 4th down offensively in the entire game.
The final score, 56-6, was only not a shut out because BA played its second string most of the second half.
The Knights (3-4, 0-3 in AA Division II) really just never had a chance. They ended up with 153 yards of total offense; BA with 404. The Knights lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions. They were out rushed 213 yards to 50. For the game, BA average 8.6 yards per play; the Knights averaged 3.0.
And BA won efficiently, too. The only stat the Eagles not dominated by the Eagles was time of possession: BA 16:30, PJP 31:30. Which worked out for the Knights. If the Eagles had held the ball for another 16 minutes, this might have been a triple digit loss for PJP.
The win brings the Eagles record on their five game road trip, which ended Friday, to 2-3. They come home next week, for the first time since August.
