Dominate second half carries Concordia Prep to the 2023 MIAA B football championshp

by Nelson Coffin

TOWSON, MARYLAND – To avoid being assessed a delay-of-game penalty on the first play from scrimmage, John Carroll took a timeout in the first five seconds of the MIAA B Conference championship game at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Although the Patriots would go on to commit a slew of other infractions in the opening half, they also refused to let the gaffes sink their chances to pull off a significant upset of top-seeded Concordia Prep.

Considering that the Saints had prevailed, 34-9, when the teams met during the regular season early last month, John Carroll (7-5) put up stiff resistance against a formidable foe which entered the battle riding a nine-game winning streak and owning the inside track to claim their second title in three years under coach Joe Battaglia.

With flashy senior quarterback Keshawn Mister directing an offense averaging 42 points per game in its last three outings, Concordia Prep possessed the kind of wherewithal to break open a game at any moment.

In the second half, the Saints did just that on the way to a dominating 35-0 victory to finish the season with a stellar 11-1 record.

Even so, Concordia Prep only led, 7-0, at the intermission before reviving its road-grading running game to pull away in the second half.

The lone score the Saints could muster in the first half came after senior defensive back Jaylin Harcum’s interception put the ball at the John Carroll 42-yard line.

On the next play, Mister found Noah Robinson 20 yards down the field and the 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior streaked into the end zone for the game’s first score.

“We ran a hitch-and-go, and he was wide open,” Mister said.

The Saints were knocking on the door again late in the second quarter until senior safety Luke Robinson picked off Mister at the goal line to kill the drive on the next-to-last play of the half.

Mister credited John Carroll senior standouts Jojo Aidoo (6-2, 260) and Oliver Lent (6-4, 225) for being the main reasons why the defensive perimeter was so stout.

“They were containing the outside a lot,” he said. “They made it hard for us because that’s what we’re good at. At halftime, we went back to the drawing board, we changed blocks and were able to get outside, and we ran it down their throats in the middle. That’s what we wanted.”

A recovery of a muffed punt by junior strong safety Ryan Kruk was also helpful at keeping the prolific Concordia Prep offense relatively in check before Mister and a grinding stable of senior running backs — Geulius Cornish, Kevin Montague and Justin Harvey — began taking charge in the third period.

It started on the first possession of the second half, a 79-yard, 15-play drive that culminated with Mister’s 3-yard touchdown burst and continued with a more-efficient 81-yard sequence finished on a 64-yard Cornish jaunt to balloon the advantage to 21-0 advantage with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

By the time the Saints were on the move again in the final period, on a series that featured Montague’s battering-ram bursts, the ground game had eclipsed the 300-yard mark and would continue until Cornish burrowed in from the 1-yard line for a 28-0 bulge.

Senior linebacker Cam Gross’ interception set up the final score of Mister’s high school career when he reversed the field to slither away from would-be tacklers with just over six minutes left in the contest on a 19-yard run.

It has to be noted that injuries to senior running back Avin Alexandre, who lit up Archbishop Curley for 319 yards and four TDs in a 26-18 win in the semifinal round, and several other Patriot stalwarts were a factor in the setback.

That said, even in full force, John Carroll would have had to play its best game of the season to take down a team that blasted A Conference members Gilman, 28-0, and fell to the champion of that league, Archbishop Spalding, by a mere point.

Battaglia said that his team is used to wearing down the opposition.

“We knew that we would outlast them — that’s who we are,” he said. “We know that eventually you’ll break. We kept pounding the rock.”

Battaglia acknowledged the resolve displayed by the injury-riddled Patriots.

“That was a heck of a tough team out there,” he said. "(John Carroll coach Mark Modeste) has done a tremendous job getting that team here. They gave us everything they could. They have a bright future over there.”

MIAA B CONFERENCE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

(at Johnny Unitas Stadium)

Concordia Prep 35, John Carroll 0

JC 0 0 0 0 — 0

CP 0 7 14 14 — 35

Second quarter

CP - Noah Robinson 42 pass from Keshawn Mister (Ryder Bentz kick)

Third quarter

CP - Mister 3 run (Bentz kick)

CP - Geulius Cornish 64 run (Bentz kick)

Fourth quarter

CP - Geulius Cornish 1 run (Bentz kick)

CP - Mister 19 run (Bentz kick)