Archbishop Curley defeats Pallotti for its first MIAA B Conference championship in 10 years

by James Peters

Archbishop Curley’s first MIAA B Conference championship victory in 10 years can be succinctly summed up this way: big plays and costly mistakes.

After committing one of those untimely miscues themselves to help stake St. Vincent Pallotti to an early 7-0 lead, the top-seeded Friars turned the game completely around on a pair of 50-yard-plus plays, namely, a touchdown pass and an interception return, to quickly gain the momentum of the game en route to a 21-7 defeat of second-seeded Panthers at Calvert Hall College High School for their first league crown since 2014.

“We’ve been through a lot this year,” said first year Curley head coach Bobby Jones, whose squad did not drop any games in conference play this fall. “We started off really slow, but the kids just kept battling and battling. I want to thank my staff. They’ve done a great job in spite of me at times. I’m just really proud right now.”

The Friars (9-3) started the contest on the wrong end of the turnover battle as quarterback Adam Cook mishandled a shotgun snap deep in his own territory. Two plays later, Panthers quarterback Xavier Brookins hooked up with Anthony Griffin from 32 yards out on a pattern down the Curley sideline with 2:53 left in the first quarter for the seven-point advantage.

Undaunted, Curley answered right back with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Cook to a wide-open Scott Anderson in the middle of the field. Anderson then ran untouched to the end zone to tie the score with 2:02 left in the opening quarter.

“The safeties fell for the run,” Anderson said. “Before the play, I called out the safety. He thought I was blocking him, so he ran where he thought the run was, and I was wide open. They scored early, but we didn’t lose hope. We stayed on it and scored, and it was over from there.”

Curley’s defense then forced a quick punt by the Panthers that traveled just 16 yards to set the Friars up on the Pallotti 35-yard line. Seven plays later, Dylan Fish broke a couple of tackles at the line of scrimmage before breaking into the clear on the left side of the line and into the end zone for a 14-7 Curley lead with 9:07 left in the opening half.

That advantage grew to 21-7 with 7:58 left in the second quarter when Curley linebacker Jack Athas stepped in front of a Brookins pass and raced untouched 54 yards down the Pallotti sideline.

“They came out with a bunch of stuff we didn’t recognize, so we adjusted to it,” Athas said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be there; I was supposed to be rushing the quarterback. I dropped back. I think it was a slant. I picked it off and took it to the house. I saw his eyes the whole time. I knew he was going to throw it. 

“There were doubles on my side, so I thought to myself, maybe I shouldn’t rush. It wouldn’t be the smart thing to do. We were confused on that play. I had to take matters into my own hands.”

The Panthers (8-3), on the strength of a long kickoff return by Brayden Moore, drove to the Curley 3-yard line, but on fourth down, Brookins bobbled the snap and was dropped at the 9-yard line to seal Curley’s 14-point halftime lead.

“We had to work on holding the ball and keeping our hands inside the pads and not holding and all the other stuff and penalties, but we’ll learn from it and be back next year,” said Moore, whose squad returned to the B Conference this season after spending the last four years in the A Conference after winning the 2019 MIAA B crown. “(Turnovers) killed us.”

Those miscues included a fumble deep in Curley territory, with 4:12 left in the third quarter, at the end a lengthy pass play to end an impressive opening drive by the Panthers that came off a fumble by the Friars on their first drive of the second half. 

Pallotti was stopped on two fourth-down conversion attempts in the fourth quarter and was plagued by numerous false starts and a running into the kicker penalty to deny the Panthers a short field in the third quarter.