This Friday was the first round of the TSSAA playoffs and there are a number of schools from the greater Knoxville area that are involved. However, only two were teams playing at home in stadiums I hadn't made it to during the regular season. CAK is a #2 seed and played #7 Kingston while Catholic is a #4 and played #5 Shelbyville. I chose the Catholic game because based solely on seeding it should have been a decent game. Hopefully I'll be able to go to a game all the way up until the State Championship in Cookeville, but we will have to see how that plays out.
I knew the stakes would be higher tonight as far as the press pass goes. I would no longer be shorting a school from $6, but the state from $7, and The Man doesn't like to be shorted. I was a bit nervous as I approached the gate and after the two ticket takers pointed me to the pass gate by saying, "They have a list over there." my fears grew slightly more. I have saved a total of $54 by not paying throughout the season. Well make it $61. I showed the lady my fake pass and without hesitation she reached and gave me a real one making the fake pass a perfect 10-0.
I immediately named my pass Zenyatta.
Since I was at Catholic, I started comparing everything I saw to when I went to Notre Dame. I also thought of a lot of jokes that start with, "A priest walks into a bar. . ." but that is for another post. Right as the game was about to kickoff my dad and I discussed how incredibly empty the stands were. This could have been the last game for some of the kids on the Catholic team and there weren't even enough people in the stands to say "at least the parents came." It was amazing to me. I know that Catholic is a relatively smaller school, but with around 50 players on the team there should have been at least 100 adults there and I can't confidently say that there was. I can understand why the bagpipe player's parents didn't come, but if you child is a player, you have to be there no questions asked.
I don't think I could ever point at my son while he is dressed in a kilt carrying around bagpipes and happily say, "THAT'S MY SON!"
Catholic received to start the game, and took quite a bit a time off of the clock to start the 1st quarter. It became pretty evident really quick that Shelbyville was over matched. Catholic's Nolan Coulter broke what would have been a touchdown run, but after a gain of about 20 yards, the 30 yard line jumped up and tackled him. It took a great catch by Michael Bonfini to keep the Catholic drive going. Coulter eventually scored from 8 yards out to give the Irish a 7-0 lead and that's how the quarter ended. Shelbyville's defense was a little more than suspect on the drive, as they allowed 8 and 9 yards a play. It was freezing cold, so the fact that the Golden Eagles defense looked like Swiss cheese made me happy. I knew I was leaving early. The Catholic girls' soccer team was recognized at the end of the quarter for making it to the State semifinals. Play almost resumed while the girls were still on the 30 yard line. I was hoping it would with the play selection involving a deep fade.
Shelbyville's struggles continued on offense, where on their first drive of the 2nd quarter they went three and out and had to punt to Catholic. On the second play from scrimmage Mike Wegzyn hit a wide open Michael Bonfini for a 45 yard touchdown pass that put Catholic up 14-0. Shelbyville looked like it may get something going when Zach Hamler broke free on a run that covered 25 yards, but before being tackled, Hamler fumbled and Catholic recovered. The Irish drove down the field again and once more it was Nolan Coulter who put the points on the board for Catholic making it 21-0. Catholic got the ball back with just over a minute remaining and executed their Indy offense to perfection. Wegzyn put the cherry on top when he hit Vic Wharton on a beautiful post route in the end zone. The Irish took a 28-0 lead into halftime, with 21 points coming in just 12 minutes of play.
The Shelbyville medical staff, consisting of the man here in overalls and a fanny pack, may have been working double at halftime because The Golden Eagles were being run all over.
I stayed to see Shelbyville's first drive of the 2nd half and thought they might erase the goose egg after Hamler completed a pass for a gain of 36 yards. Once again though the Golden Eagles had to punt, and Catholic called off the dogs after Wegzyn scored on a QB keeper from 11 yards out to make the final of 35-0 Catholic. With this loss Shelbyville's season is over and Catholic moves on to face Columbia in the 2nd round of the playoffs next week with the game being played at Columbia. Maryville topped Science Hill and Farragut beat Sevier County to set up a rematch in the second round that will once again be played at Maryville. I wonder if they will have another parachuter bringing the game ball. I'll let you know next week as that is the game I plan on attending.
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