Red Zone Regrets

Irish roll despite 300 yards of offense from Governors

By Brandon O’Neal
Staff Writer
Blount Press Row

Lane Bloom is upended by the Irish. Photos by Chris Ritchie

The Fighting Irish did a little of everything in rolling to a 33-10 win over the Governors at Mike White Field.

Catholic needed six plays and three offside penalties on an opening scoring drive of 71 yards for a 6-0 lead.

A blocked punt on the ensuing William Blount drive gave the Irish the ball at the Governor 34. They needed three plays to score on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Robbie Sampson.

William Blount retaliated with a Ryan Hodgson 25-yard field goal, only to see Catholic counter quickly in four plays, a 6-yard touchdown run from Nolan Coulter with 11:30 in the second quarter, further widening the gap.

William Blount soon found itself in a 26-3 hole after an 80-yard Catholic drive, Trace Fuller’s 6-yard touchdown run giving William Blount a well-needed spark with the half waning.

Both teams looked good offensively in the first half.  Governor quarterback Tim Green led the way with 123 yards on 7-of-11 passing and 51 yards on five rushes. Catholic piled up 298 yards in the opening first half.

The Governors came out strong in the second half. After a muffed Catholic punt, William Blount regained possession on its 45-yard line. Green hooked up with Joel Graham on a 22-yard pass to set the Governors up in Irish territory.

Green then rushed for 17 yards down to the 15-yard line. William Blount finished the 11-play drive with missed field goal from 24 yards.

“I think we get nervous,” Green said. “When we get in the red zone we hesitate, instead of just doing what we need to do, which is score.”

Trace Fuller plows ahead for the Governors.

A 38-yard touchdown run by Coulter secured the game’s final score on the next series.

There were things to build on for the Governors on the night. Green had 229 yards of offense, Fuller scoring his first career touchdown. William Blount’s offense collected 340 yards with no turnovers.

“It was great to get the first touchdown in my life,” Fuller said, “but we need to work on a lot of things before we play Heritage next week.”