Benedictine kicks off title defense with emphatic win
Moments before the Benedictine Cadets took the field to face visiting Blue Ridge Saturday, the crowd that filled Bobby Ross Stadium observed a moment of silence in memory and honor of Barry Gibrall and Troy Shaffer.
Then, they went out and played with a level of fire, cohesion, and precision that would make Gibrall, a Benedictine icon, and Shaffer, their special teams coach the past two years, immensely proud.
The final score was 46-0, and from the time Isaac Cuevas returned the opening kickoff 57 yards to the Barons’ 32, the visitors from St. George in Greene County never had a chance.
For the Cadets, the three-time defending VISAA, Division I champion, the game was their first since Gibrall passed away after a period of declining health on March 23 and Shaffer died unexpectedly on August 5 just after preseason camp began.
Playing in remembrance of their mentors, for sure, provided added incentive for Coach Kurt von Bargen’s guys as they began again their quest for competitive excellence.
“It starts with passion,” said Harris Mischke, a senior punter par excellence and Stanford commit. “I’ve never had a special teams coordinator who loved the game as much as Coach Shaffer did. His passion for the game was the utmost.
“The guys know how much he loved us. They know how important it was for him to come out here and just be perfect in all aspects.”
And Gibrall, who played many roles (including teacher, administrator, and “Voice of the Cadets”) during his long association with the school?
“It’s not a Benedictine game quite as much as it was when he was around,” Mischke said. “Hearing him announce the game brought a sense of ‘That’s Benedictine.’ The guys just loved hearing him announce the game.
Weldon Bradshaw
On this breezy, overcast, low-80’s afternoon, the Cadets (1-0) shined on both sides of the ball.
They amassed 305 yards of offense (174 rushing, 134 passing) on 51 plays, few of which would have been possible without the big guys in the trenches.
“It all starts in practice,” said senior David Quist, a 6-1, 266-pound center. “We get a lot of good reps because we have some of the best D-linemen in the state come through here. We take a lot of pride in our practices.
“We’re a run-heavy team. We like to dominate in the run, always get yards, and never negative plays. We take pride in that.”
Facing Benedictine’s talented, athletic, and prodigiously motivated four-man-front defense, Blue Ridge (0-1) was able to scrape together a mere 15 very hard-earned yards of offense.
The Cadets sacked the Barons’ two alternating quarterbacks nine times and created a stat line that read 17 carries for minus-26 yards, 5-for-18 passing for 41 yards, two interceptions, one fumble, and two safeties.
“We didn’t have any film on Blue Ridge, so we didn’t really know what to expect coming into the game except from (playing them) last year,” said senior Sean Boyd, a 6-0, 280-pound interior lineman who recorded four sacks. “We had to stop the rush first. When they figured out the run wasn’t going anywhere, they started to open up with screen passes, draws, and deep balls, so we just buckled down and adjusted.”
Senior running back Fred Dolan put the Cadets up 6-0 with a 4-yard run off the left side at 7:46 of the first quarter to end an 8-play, 33-yard drive.
Senior James Gasperini then drilled the first of his six, dead-solid perfect points-after.
A safety (when the punter stepped on the back line of the end zone) put Benedictine up 9-0 at 5:39.
Jordan Clarke, a junior running back, scored the Cadets’ next two TDs, the first on a 7-yard run at 10:27 of the second quarter and the next on a 1-yard run 7:53 before halftime to end a 5-play, 26-yard drive set up by Andrew Beavers’ fumble recovery.
The Barons’ next drive ended unceremoniously when Cuevas intercepted a pass in the right flat and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown.
Then, with Blue Ridge in yet another unenviable position deep in its territory, the Cadets notched another safety with a quarterback sack in the end zone at 4:11 to send them into halftime up 32-0.
They scored twice after the break, first on a 45-yard pass from Luke Kincaid to Josh Moore at 1:12 of the third quarter and the second on Clarke’s 19-yard run at 7:29 of the fourth.
Blue Ridge’s final futile drive ended with Cam Pleasants’ interception on the Cadets’ 28.
Starting quarterback Ralphie Puccinelli, a Richmond commit, completed 5-of-8 passes for 66 yards and rushed nine times for 50, all in the first half. Kincaid completed 5-of-6 for 68 yards, and Clarke, a junior transfer from James River, rushed 12 times for 77 yards.
The Cadets’ schedule intensifies in Week 2 when they host fellow VISAA power Trinity Episcopal on Friday.
“Our schedule is top notch,” von Bargen said. “You get everyone’s best shot. It only gets harder from here. We have to keep getting better, develop our roster, our depth, our younger guys, our older guys, and keep improving every day.”
