Knights Shine on Homecoming against Bishop Ireton
By Podcast Content Creator, Monroe Duff (class of 2027)
Bishop O’Connell picked up their second win of the season against rival Bishop Ireton on Homecoming, 33-27. O’Connell dominated in the air and on the ground with 205 yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Ryan Turpin (Class of 2027). Nick Morris (Class of 2027) continued the success on the ground with 156 yards and a touchdown to cap off a wonderful day.
Bishop Ireton started the game with a two-yard touchdown by their running back. O’Connell responded with Ryan Turpin rolling left and throwing a dime to the back of the endzone to Jacob Geisler (Class of 2026) for a 25-yard touchdown. At the end of the first quarter it was knotted up, 7-7.
The Knights drove down the field to start the second quarter and went for it on fourth and two inside the ten. It paid off. Turpin threw his second touchdown of the day to Geisler in the corner of the endzone to take the lead. The Knights would put another touchdown on the board with a pick-six from Kian Kaboli (class of 2028) to go up 20-7. Ireton would respond right before half with a 10-yard rushing touchdown to cut the lead to six, with the score being 20-14.
The third quarter started with a bang when Nick Morris used his speed to take one 80 yards to the house. The Knights took a 13 point lead going up 27-14. Ireton didn’t let the game slip away yet, scoring another touchdown to cut the lead right back down to six.
O’Connell looked to put away the Cardinals in the fourth quarter. Turpin hit a wide open John Tyler for a 40-yard touchdown that looked to be a busted coverage from the Cardinals secondary. The Knights now led the Cardinals 33-21. Ireton would respond with a touchdown in the last minute of the game but couldn’t get the onside kick. The Knights ended up in victory formation, moving to 2-5 on the season, and 1-0 in WCAC play.
Coach Sabatino was impressed with how his team responded, going down early, saying, “At no point did I feel our team wouldn't respond. That is exactly what we did, we went right down the field to tie the game.” On his defense, Coach Sabatino added, “The defense did a tremendous job stopping the run. They played with a high intensity all game and made big plays when we needed them.”