By CHRISTPHER SHABAN
Eagle Times sports
LITCHFIELD — For the 4th straight year, the Stevens Cardinals will head to the semi-finals as the defense was dominant. “We switched into a different set today on defense and the team just did an outstanding job today” said Stevens head coach Paul Silva.
With both teams seeming a bit nervous in their first possessions, Campbell seemed to take an early lead when an interception was returned for a score but a penalty brought the ball back. The Cougars had zero success moving the ball as the Cardinal front line overpowered the running game. Phillip Mason, Hunter Paradis, Tucker Derosier, Hunter Christian and Quentin Bicknell were hunting today as as a unit the Cardinals defense allowed 18 total yard on the first 2 Cougar possessions which set the tone for the day. “ We came in here today with an I know we can attitude” said Bicknell after the game.
With the Cardinal defense dominating play, Campbell opted to run a 4th down attempt that never had a chance as Stevens took over on the Cougar 43 yard line. That gamble would haunt Campbell as Keaghan McAllister rumbled for 13 yards and Jai-Lique Ribeiro would add a few more rushing yards as the Cardinals were looking toward pay-dirt. After another McAllister run, Mathew Jones ripped off a strong 7 yard gain to put the Cardinals inside the 10 yard line. A couple of plays later, McAllister would bull his way into the end zone and the kick made it 7-0 Stevens into the break.
Campbell received the second half kickoff and lost 10 yards on 3 plays and punted as Paradis blew through for a sack during that series. After a Stevens punt, the Cougars were desperate to get any offensive momentum but Derosier single handily put a quick end to that with back to back loud tackles. Once again Campbell opted to try their luck on 4th down and this time they had the same result as McAllister and Jones introduced themselves to the Cougars quarterback Connor Sweeney in a rude way for no gain.
With the Cardinals sideline fired up, Owen Taylor dropped back and hit Lucas Mudge in full stride for a 26 yard gain down to the Campbell 14 yard line and after back to back Stevens penalties after short gains, Silva made his own decision to go for it. On 4th down late in the 3rd quarter, McAllister was the weapon of choice for Stevens as McAllister refused to go down after being hit and bulldozed his was for a first and goal for Stevens. “What a play that was for us, Keaghan wasn’t going to be denied” said Silva. McAllister would score his second TD of the game 2 plays later as Stevens had a 14-0 cushion.
The #3 seeded Cougars weren’t going to lie down as Sweeney went airborne and connected with Carter Vedrani for a 10 yard gain then scrambled for 12 more yards as the 3rd quarter had ended. On the very first play of the final quarter, Sweeney hit Vedrani for a 29 yard TD and again for the extra points slicing the Stevens lead to 14-8.
Stevens would turn the ball over on downs as Sweeney and his favorite target Vedrani would connect for 23 more yards as Campbell had all the momentum on their side. Pascal Lemieux and Christian would swallow Sweeney for a big sack and on the next play Taylor would end up with an interception deep in Cardinal territory.
Matt Jones would grab a short gain on 1st down but Josh Duford called a designed quarterback run on the next play and when Taylor was finally brought down 36 yards later, Stevens had ripped the momentum right back. Two plays later Taylor hit Mudge down the sidelines for a huge 42 yard pass play setting up a Cardinal 1st and goal. McAllister was called upon again and lowered his shoulders and his 3rd TD put Stevens up 20-8 with under 5 minutes to go. “ We were a confident group today and yeah we had a bit of swag going on, this team has heart, we never stopped believing in each other and today we played the way we know we can play” said McAllister.
Campbell was looking to cut into the Stevens lead once again as Sweeney was looking sharp with 4 straight completions and knocking on the door for a score. Sweeney went to the air once too much as Mudge undercut the route and fully extended to grab the pass inside the 5 yard line to give the ball back to Stevens with time winding down. “We went to a cover 3 and I read the route and just jumped on the pass” said Mudge and added” when I caught it my stomach dropped after I got up, I knew we were going to win”.
“The kids executed so well today, they deserve all the credit, they are so unselfish and such a close family, its a pleasure to be headed back to the final 4 with this group” said Silva. “I think that this is the first time in school history that a Stevens football team will be going to four consecutive final four appearances, I just could not be more proud than I am right now” added Silva.
Stevens will be headed to face Trinity next Saturday for 1pm kickoff.
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