By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
In a rematch of week five of the regular season, the Bishop LeBlond Golden Eagles hung with Archie through the first half, but ultimately fell 46-28 in the semifinals of the MSHSAA 8 Man State Tournament.
Bishop LeBlond did take the first lead of the game, after a big fourth down stop at their nine yard line, driving down the field before senior Carson Staggs broke a big run down the right sideline for a touchdown. The two point conversion would fail, and on the very next drive Archie switched the lead, a one yard rush by quarterback Tristian Leeper, followed by a successful two point conversion with 1:39 left in the first quarter.
After using up the remaining time in the first, the Golden Eagles started the second quarter immediately with a bang, as quarterback Cooper Tabor threw a screen pass to wide receiver Trey Icke, who spun off several defenders on way to a touchdown for the third lead change of the game. Then, after the LeBlond defense recovered a bad snap at their own nine yard line, Tabor again found Icke in the corner of the endzone, extending the lead to 20-8 with 9:20 left in the half.
For the remainder of the first half though, it was all Archie, first getting a rushing score from Jackson Kash on a wide receiver reverse, and a two point conversion run by Brayden Daniels. Following the kickoff, Daniels made a play on the defensive side of the ball, punching the ball out of Tripp Helsel's hands, setting the Whirlwinds up to score again on another rushing score by Leeper, who also converted the two point try with a floating pass into the endzone.
Archie went into halftime with a 24-20 lead. Bishop LeBlond head coach Chuck Davis says his message to his team, was they had the Whirlwinds right where they wanted them.
"We knew it was going to be a battle coming in, and it was a tight ballgame last time at half and we laid an egg in the second half the last time we played them," Davis tells reporters after the game. "And our guys didn't want a repeat of that performance in the second half, I thought we did come out and we played hard, but kudos to them."
Bishop LeBlond opened up the second half with a scoring drive after a couple big runs from Staggs, the second long run getting the go ahead touchdown, then getting a two point conversion on a catch from Nick Daise, but after that it was all Archie on way to the eventual end.
The Whirlwinds got two touchdown passes from Leeper to Kash, converting both two point conversions as well, and also a touchdown pass to Kale Snook from Leeper to push the lead to 46-28. As the Golden Eagles drove down the field on a drive that started with 4:28, an interception by Archie was the stamp on the game, before the Whirlwinds ran out the clock.
Davis says even before the game, his message to the team was that when good meets good, something was going to happen.
"Today we didn't come out on top, hats off to Archie, they play really hard, they had a good gameplan coming in, they're well coached, and like I said leading up to this they're a team that doesn't really make many mistakes," Davis says. "So, I thought we did a good job making them earn it."
Bishop LeBlond finishes the season with a 10-2 record. They graduate nine seniors.
Davis says for the underclassman that will return next year, his hope is they remember their last game.
"You hope that when there's tears and it's sad and they're not ready for it to be over, that carries with them in the offseason," Davis explains. "And hopefully everybody picks a winter sport to play, they all stay in the weight room, and stay focused on not only bettering themselves for football, but for all the other sports they're going to play throughout their career here, and the work ethic that these upperclassman show, has to rub off."
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