The Top: Where the Cream Rises and Discipline Starts

By : Charles Farber

Holy Cross is good, like really good, almost great.  A smart quarterback, explosive skill players, and a physically dominant offensive and defensive front, add in play calling that knows when to take shots, and these guys are dangerous.

The flip side of that is discipline.  I want to be clear that most of the fouls committed were aggressive fouls, playing hard through the whistle, and losing the 50/50 calls.

Those were a majority, but there were others, holds on outside runs that were already gone, late hits on defense, and unnecessary crackbacks on plays that were already house calls (Malachi Watkins had two amazing TDs called back).

The game started with a kick out of bounds, giving up a short field, and Holy Cross didn’t hesitate getting the game started with a 25-yard dime from QB1 Jerek Hoover to William Shelburne Jr. (PAT No Good).

Providence put together a decent drive in response, capped off by a big 36-yard run by standout senior Kalen Sipes (his longest carry of the night; 2-pt try successful).

From there, Cross took over and put on a display, racking up another 21 points on two TD passes from Hoover of 22 and 32 yards to Dion Brent and the aforementioned Malachi Watkins, respectively, and a bruising 7-yard run from senior Colton King.

As the first half closed out, Providence appeared to abandon the “three yards and a cloud of dust” mentality and got aggressive through the air, as junior Nikolas Fondrisi led the charge down field, eventually finding his favorite target of the night, Noah Leasor, for a 12-yard score to bring the halftime tally to Holy Cross 27, Providence 15.

Despite the first half dominance from Cross, a late score and deferring the coin toss put the Pioneers in position with a decent fighting chance.  The second half started with a couple of drives that sputtered out near midfield before Hoover found Watkins for a big gain before he was stripped.

There was an unsportsmanlike conduct after the play, and all of a sudden it looked like Providence was in business starting near midfield down just two scores. Unfortunately, not much materialized as the Pioneers continued to try to force the ball down the middle with little to no success.

Cross eventually got a drive started up near the end of the third and would end the quarter tacking on 7 more points.

The Pioneers ended the third/started the fourth with a long, methodical drive that ended with big man #56 Jorge Reyes-Nino punching it in from 1 yard out after a big 22-yard connection from Fondrisi to TE Kaleb Galloway.

Add on one more long run for a score from Cross by King (30 yds) and a late Providence connection from Fondrisi to Leasor from 12 out, and the scoring closed out at 41-31.

Again, I want to emphasize exactly how good Holy Cross can be. Without penalties, I believe they easily could have hung 60 on Providence, but the lack of discipline in the moment slowed that momentum.

If Cross wants to accomplish all the things they are capable of, they will have to get on the discipline train or watch their dreams leave the station without them. Providence will try to recover from the 0-2 start at home against Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter High School.

Holy Cross will try to keep their strong start going as they go on the road to Desales in what should be a good game for them to work out the kinks and get this machine going to its fullest potential.

Stars of the Game

First Star

Jerek Hoover (SR. QB Holy Cross)

11/16 for 207, 3 TDs, and 12 carries for 42 yards

Second Star

Colton King (SR RB/OLB Holy Cross)

15 carries for 95 yards and 3 TDs, no defensive stats, but this dude is a menace!!!!

Third Star

Noah Leasor (SR WR/DB Providence)

6 catches on 8 targets for 74 yards and 2 TDs