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Sports

Catholic Memorial Wins Thriller In Football Season Opener

AJ Doyle's 73 yard touchdown pass, strong pass defense lead Knights to last-minute victory over Lynn Classical.

The Catholic Memorial Knights opened their football season with a thrilling home victory over Lynn Classical on Friday night.

Quarterback AJ Doyle found Armani Reeves on a deep route along the far sideline and connected with his fellow returning starter for a 73 yard touchdown pass to break a 14-14 tie with 27 seconds remaining in the game. Donovan Henry's interception – his second of the game – of Lynn quarterback Nick Grassa's pass with six seconds remaining sealed the victory.

Senior defensive back Dmitri Claude's interception with just over a minute remaining provided the Knights' the opportunity for the winning strike.

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"We anticipated this sort of hard fought game," Knights coach Alex Campea said after addressing his team. "We just made a play at the end."

The game was indeed a grinding, hard-nosed affair that saw strong tackling and defensive intensity on both sides. Catholic Memorial, however, was able to score rather easily after receiving the ball to open the first half. William Earl received four hand-offs during the Knights' first drive, three of which came on draw plays, collecting 48 yards in the process. The last 19 resulted in the Knights' first touchdown of the season and gave Catholic Memorial an early 6-0 lead.

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The teams then traded stalled series for much of the rest of the half. But with four and a half minutes left in the second quarter, Grassa found an open Keith Nance on a short route along the sideline. Nance, the Rams' senior running back, found more open space after the catch and covered most of the mileage on the 47 yard score. Grassa converted the two point conversion to give his team an 8-6 lead entering halftime.

But to open the second half, the Knights benefited from a misplayed kick return by Lynn that saw the Rams open the drive on the three yard line. Two plays later, the Catholic Memorial defensive line collapsed on a cluttered Lynn backfield to record a safety and tie the game at 8.

"I think pretty much all the guys up front got in on that one," Campea said of his defensive line.

The Knights took further advantage of the play after receiving the kickoff. An eleven yard scramble by Doyle set up Tom Byrne's first field goal from 30 yards, giving the Knights a three point lead midway through the third quarter.

The Rams responded in kind, though, as Grassa led his team on a twelve play drive that saw him sneak in behind his offensive line for a touchdown from the two yard line on fourth and goal. After stopping Grassa's attempted two point conversion, the Knights trailed 14-11.

Doyle then led the Knights on a long drive of their own, but the series stalled when he was unable to connect with Reeves in the endzone on two plays in a row. Campea elected to bring Byrnes on for another field goal in an attempt to tie the game. Byrnes converted from 34 yards out.

"A huge part of the game was our kicker, Tom Byrnes," Campea said. "He was huge, and he put us right back in the game."

The Rams received the kickoff with the game tied and, after a seventeen yard run from Eric Slasson, looked poised to claim victory. But Claude broke up a Grassa pass on third and seven and then intercepted the his fourth down pass to get the ball back in Doyle's hands. And after a shaky start to the series that saw the Knights penalized and a Doyle fumble, the quarterback was able to get it into Reeves's, sending the Catholic Memorial sideline and fans into celebration. Henry's interception to ice the game sent the Knights, who spent most of the night challenged by a tough Rams squad, home happy.

"This was a hard fought game for both teams," Campa said. "[Lynn Classical has] tough kids, they're well-coached, and they have a lot of skill. We just happened to have the ball at the end of the game."

"I'm happy to have the win," he added with a smile.

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