PEABODY — It appears the well finally ran dry on the Bishop Fenwick offense, and it couldn't have come at a worse time.
In front of a packed home crowd yesterday, the Crusaders (4-7) turned the ball over five times while managing only 177 yards of total offense in their final game of the season: a 24-0 shutout loss at the hands of Austin Prep (8-3).
Cougars coach Bill Maradei believes his club's preparation over the last week and a half and their ability to prevent any big plays really made the difference in shutting down the Crusaders and keeping them out of the end zone.
"We (Austin Prep) knew they (Bishop Fenwick) ran the triple I (formation) and we were ready for it," said Maradei, who's team captured its first Catholic Central League Large title since joining nine years ago.
"We prepared hard all week and our defense played great. Renzulli can break away for a big one anytime, so we tried to keep them in front of us."
The Austin Prep secondary and linebackers capitalized on every errant throw made by Bishop Fenwick quarterback Brett Kidik as Jonathan Richard, Billy Maradei, and Nick Dell'Anno all had first-half interceptions, while linebacker Andrew Freedman came away with an pick of his own in the fourth quarter.
Freedman's interception gave the Cougars the ball on the Fenwick 11-yard line, and on the very next play running back Ray Acciavatti rumbled past the goal line for the final score of the game.
Austin Prep also forced a Nick Corbett fumble, killing what looked to be a promising drive for the Crusaders as Kidik had just completed a 13-yard pass to Corbett on the previous play to put Fenwick in Cougar territory.
"You can't turn the ball over that much and expect to win," noted Fenwick coach Dave Woods. "If you turn the ball over five times, you aren't going to win at any level, in any game."
The Crusaders began the game by recovering an on-side kick but failed to capitalize, going four and out on the opening drive. When Fenwick's defense took the field for the first time Woods remained aggressive, blitzing the linebackers early and often. But that aggressive style would backfire on the Crusaders as they gave up two big plays for Austin Prep touchdowns in the first half.
Cougar fullback Nick Dell'Anno broke past the Fenwick linebackers in the first quarter, and with a burst of speed took the ball 44 yards to pay dirt. Then, with just over 1:30 remaining in the half Richard, who finished 3 for 7 for 51 yards connected with a wide open Brendan Burke for a 24-yard touchdown strike that gave the Cougars a 12-0 advantage heading into the half. Acciavatti added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for an 18-0 advantage.
"(Austin Prep) has a tough offense to stop," said Woods. "We had a game plan all week that we were going to be aggressive, so we stayed with that mind set. We blitzed our linebackers and anytime you blitz you are taking a chance."
Junior defensive lineman Zach Nardone had the only real highlight for Bishop Fenwick when he blocked an Austin Prep punt, recovered it himself, taking the ball 10 yards down to the Cougar 23- yard line. But with just 13 seconds left in the half Fenwick was forced to throw to the end zone where Kidik was intercepted by Richard.
Although the loss was disheartening for the Crusaders, Woods believes his team, especially the seniors, have nothing to hang their heads about.
"Those guys have nothing to be ashamed of," Woods said of his players. "It isn't the result we hoped for, but these seniors are like brothers and have stuck together over the course of this season and over their four years here."
Tyler Thomann led Bishop Fenwick offensively with 44 yards on six carries to go along with four receptions for 61 yards.
Austin Prep 24, Bishop Fenwick 0
at Donaldson Field, Peabody
Austin Prep66012 — 24
Bishop Fenwick0000 — 0
AP-Nick Dell'Anno 44 run (rush failed)
AP-Brendan Burke 24 pass from Jonathan Richard (pass failed)
AP-Matt Mulcahy 1 run (rush failed)
AP-Ray Acciavatti 11 run (rush failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Austin Prep — Nick Dell'Anno 11-90, Ray Acciavatti 10-69, Matt Mulcahy 8-31, Lou Caraglia 2-6, Billy Maradei 2-5, Jonathan Richard 1-1; Bishop Fenwick — Tyler Thomann 6-44, Nick Corbett 5-29, Chris Renzulli 14-24, Dan Fraizer 1-4, Alex Crecco 2-(-2), Brett Kidik 2-(-3).
PASSING: Austin Prep — Richard 3-7-51-1-0; Bishop Fenwick — Kidik 6-10-81-0-4, Chris Renzulli 0-2-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Austin Prep — Brendan Burke 2-45, Dell'Anno 1-6; Bishop Fenwick — Thomann 4-61, Corbett 1-13, Renzulli 1-7.
