Bishop Stang can't close out game against Cathedral as Spartans suffer 2nd straight loss

DARTMOUTH — Bishop Stang made some big plays on Friday night, but not enough as the Spartans lost to Cathedral 18-13 at Hugh Carney Stadium.

“We have to play the whole game with the best intensity we can,” said Bishop Stang head coach Dennis Golden. “We believe in our kids and we believe we have a good team.”

Bishop Stang rallied twice from 7-0 and 10-7 deficits, but it was Cathedral that made the big plays down the stretch.

After Stang went out front 13-10, the Panthers responded with a nine-play, 67-yard drive that saw Cathedral facing fourth-and-three from the Stang five.

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A bad snap on a field goal attempt by the Panthers sent holder Mike Bailey scrambling to his right side. The sophomore connected with Russell Glover for the five-yard touchdown pass to put Cathedral ahead. The Panthers made it a five-point lead on a two-point conversion pass from Trayvon Fields to Andrew Hedgepeth with 3:04 to play.

On Stang’s ensuing drive, the Spartans fumbled the ball on the first play and the Panthers recovered it and ran out the clock to preserve their first win against a Catholic Central League opponent this season.

“What we’re doing is we’re playing a split schedule that is independent. We have three CCL teams we’re playing against,” said Cathedral head coach Derrick Beasley. “This is really big for us. We always wanted to come back and compete in the CCL. We had two tough losses in the conference. They were a little down on themselves and they went to work. I’m so proud of them and they did an awesome job.

“The kids have been sticking it out and they did a good job. This is a turning point. I think this is just big. It’s big for our program. It’s big for the kids for everything they’ve been through.”

The Panthers did most of their damage through the air as Fields completed 17 of 21 pass attempts for 214 yards.

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“He’s a very passionate quarterback. He’s one of our leaders out there,” Beasley said. “This is his first year playing quarterback for us so this is a new role for us. He’s probably one of our better wide receivers but he chose to take the role of playing quarterback for us. As you can see, he’s doing a really good job for us.”

Golden agreed, “He’s dangerous and he’s good. He drilled it in there quite a few times tonight and the receivers caught the ball. Credit to them.”

The Spartans were without senior running back Michael Golden, who was sidelined with a leg injury.

“We think he’ll be back soon,” said coach Golden.

Senior running back Tyron Gomes filled the void on offense as he carried the ball eight times for 62 yards and scored on a five-yard run.

“Tyron is one of our captains and that’s what he can do,” Golden said. “We love his effort. We need him to give us what he gave tonight.”

Gomes added, “From practice they were telling me I was going to get the ball more and they were going to have to lean on me. Since day one, I feel like I have improved a lot. With Michael out and him being our top running back, I had to prove it.”

Gomes also blocked a punt and made multiple tackles on defense.

“Just blocking it felt like a great team effort because we practiced that the whole time,” Gomes said. “Everyone held their blocks and it was meant for me to go through.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

Cathedral went up 7-0 midway through the first quarter when Hedgepeth scored on a three-yard run and Nuno Arantes had the PAT.

Stang responded on its ensuing drive when Luca Cincotta connected with Jackson Tingley Prince on a seven-yard scoring strike and Wyatt Bergeron hit the extra point to tie the game at 7.

“Jackson is a really good player for us as is Luca and we’re going to continue to need them to do that,” Golden said.

The Panthers went up 10-7 in the third quarter when Arantes knocked down a 26-yard field goal.

Stang answered four minutes into the fourth quarter with Gomes’ TD run to go out front 13-10.

Cathedral came right back with the game-winning scoring drive.

WHAT IT MEANS: The loss is the second straight for Stang, which falls to 3-3. The Spartans host Archbishop Williams on Friday night. … Cathedral improves to 3-2 with the victory.

BEASLEY: “Stang is a tough team. I have so much respect for coach Golden. He’s done a phenomenal job. He’s so classy and the whole program is so classy. This is what we want our program to look like.”

GOLDEN: “We go up from here. We don’t hang our heads.”

NOTES: During halftime, Bishop Stang’s Jacob Cookinham was recognized for his slew of conference, divisional and state championships he won for track in 2021-22.

CATHEDRAL 18, BISHOP STANG 13

CATHEDRAL;7;0;3;8 — 18

BISHOP STANG;7;0;0;6 — 13

Scoring

First Quarter

C: Andrew Hedgepeth 3 run (Nuno Arantes kick), 4:51

BS: Jackson Tingley Prince 7 pass from Luca Cincotta (Wyatt Bergeron kick), 1:14

Second Quarter

None

Third Quarter

C: Nuno Arantes 26 field goal, 5:59

Fourth Quarter

BS: Tyron Gomes 5 run (kick failed), 7:58

C: Russell Glover 5 pass from Mike Bailey (Andrew Hedgepeth pass from Trayvon Fields), 3:04

Individual Statistics

Rushing — C: Kyree Egerton 7-12, Andrew Hedgepeth 11-58-1, Tristan Jones 2-(-1), Oswald Guy 2-6; BS: Luca Cincotta 12-73, Tyron Gomes 8-62-1, Eli Ikkela 8-31.

Passing — C: Trayvon Fields 17-21-214, Mike Bailey 1-1-5-1; BS: Luca Cincotta 2-5-16-1.

Receiving — C: Russell Glover 4-50-1, Jayden Muhammed 5-70, Andrew Hedgepeth 5-61, Kyree Egerton 1-5, Sincere Tavarez 2-30, Mike Bailey 1-3; BS: Jackson Tingley Prince 2-16-1.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Bishop Stang football loses Cathedral for second straight loss