JV Football vs. Potomac

O’Connell JV Football With Explosive Game Defeats Potomac 20-0

By Club Writers, Andreas Millradt (class of 2028) & Warren Hawthorne (class of 28)

The Bishop O’Connell Knights JV football team shutout the Potomac Panthers on Wednesday Oct. 1, behind a strong defense and high-powered offense that seemed to stay dominant all game. From start to finish the Knights maintained control of the game, dominating both sides of the ball.

The Knights started the game after the kickoff with the ball on their own 28 yard line. The boys came out looking shaky with a false start penalty on third down and not much ball movement. After that play, the Knights punted over to Potomac. Potomac had a quick drive as well with six plays, but stopped when trying to convert on fourth down as Henry Robertson (‘28) came up with a huge sack for a turnover. 

On their second drive of the game, the Knights came out with a run-heavy offense, gliding down to their own seven. They used running back Sam Stezin (‘28) on all the first seven plays of the drive. Facing a fourth and goal from the seven yard line, quarterback Connor Schied (‘28)  rolled to the right and made a successful pass to freshman receiver Ryan Padone (‘29) for a touchdown. Though the PAT attempt was blocked, sO’Connell still held a 6-0 lead. 

The second quarter started off very slow, as the first three drives by Potomac and DJO resulted in punts or fourth down turnovers. The action really got going on O’Connell’s fourth drive of the game. Taking advantage of some defensive miscues, the offense once again came alive culminating in an electric 32 yard touchdown run by Stezin. Because of a bad snap, the PAT was wide left but the Knights now held a two score lead, 12-0 over Potomac.

Potomac got the ball back with only 40 seconds left in the half looking to score. On the last play of the quarter from the DJO 40 yard line, quarterback Carter Reynolds passed deep to receiver Solomon Mitchell down the sideline. Mitchell had a wide open lane to score the TD, but out of nowhere came defender Tristan Summeg (‘28) who miraculously tracked down Mitchell to punch the ball out at the goal line. The ball was recovered by the Knights in the endzone, resulting in a touchback and holding the lead to 12-0 O’Connell at halftime. 

The second half didn’t see much of a change for Potomac as more miscues, penalties, and drops forced a three-and-out. The Knights went back to the ground game using Stezin as the ball carrier down the field. The boys marched all the way down the field to the one yard line which set up the goal line QB sneak by Shield, deemed “O’Connell’s version of the Tush Push” by game announcer Wyndham Robertson. On the subsequent PAT attempt the Knights ran a trick play and faked the kick, instead passing to wide open receiver Doug Kelly (‘29) for the two point conversion extending the lead to 20-0.

The rest of the game didn’t see much action, as Potomac and O’Connell’s defense held each other in a deadlock. Each team had three more drives but didn’t have much ball movement. The Knights ran out the clock on their last possession, ending the game with a 20-0 victory over the Panthers. 

The loss dropped Potomac to 0-4 on the year, while the Knights extended their win streak to four in a row and an overall record of 4-1, their best start since 2004. O’Connell takes on Falls Church next Thursday on the road looking to stay hot and extend their win streak