Raleigh, NC – Cardinal Gibbons will appear in the regional final of 4A East football for the second year in a row after a thrilling 28:14 win over Richmond on Friday.
Gibbons (8-0) had taken an early 21-0 lead, but Richmond (4-1) made it 21-7 at halftime and reduced the lead to a 7-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The two teams were suspended between 9 p.m. and 2 p.m. with the Crusaders leading until 1:59 p.m. when Richmond found quarterback Connor Clark running back on a 36th on the 4th and 11th, hoping to get one last possession of the ball -Yard bike route for a knockout shot.
Clark was 17 of 22, passing 223 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the game (and had two 20-yard carries without taking a sack in the night). Shepard ran 20 times for 92 yards and caught three passes for 53 yards.
Clark found Brock Biestek from 14 yards in the first quarter for the game’s first score, then Blake Raphael’s 8-yard run made it 14-0. Clark’s second touchdown pass, a 22-yard throw against Jake Taylor, took it 3:49 in the second quarter to 21-0.
Richmond responded wildly when quarterback Kellan Hood looked for Dalton Stroman in the apartment. Stroman took the screen for 10 meters and fiddled, but fumbled. Luckily for the Raiders, teammate Tremel Jones picked up the fumble and ran 39 yards in for the touchdown to make it 21-7 with 1:53 by the half.
After a wild third quarter with two turnovers from both teams (Gibbons fiddled with the 1 resulting in a touchback at Richmond, and there were three interceptions between the two sides), Hood added a 14 yard run with 11:37 im add fourth to make it 21-14.
Biestek had nine catches for 94 yards and one score for gibbons.
Hood was 8 of 16 that passed 64 yards (Jones’ scoop-and-score mileage does not count towards grand total) and three interceptions while adding 43 yards with 11 carry on the ground. Juron Coleman had 17 carry places for 67 yards and Stroman got four passes for 35 yards.
Overall, Gibbons outperformed Richmond 389-210.
Gibbons will host New Bern in the 4A East Regional Finals next week.