Brazicki, Bishop Ahr snap Spotswood football's division winning streak
Andrew Brazicki certainly does not lack for motivation.
But when the Bishop Ahr senior learned that his team was ineligible for the GMC Blue Division title last week, and that Spotswood could claim it's third-consecutive crown with a victory this week, his focus elevated even higher.
"We knew it was going to be a high-intensity game and someone had to step up," Brazicki said. "As captain of the team, I knew I was going to have to step up, do what I do. We're trying to show the GMC who the Blue Division champs are."
Brazicki insured that Spotswood would not capture the division at the Trojans' expense with a brilliant performance on a dreary afternoon Saturday, running for 326 yards and five touchdowns on 18 carries to a power a 46-30 victory. The loss also snapped the Chargers' 13-game divisional winning streak, dating back nearly three years to November 2013.
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READ: GMC football division standings through Saturday, October 22
Brazicki scored on runs of 44, 84, 52, 51 and 11 yards and rushed for 142 yards in the first quarter alone. He also completed a pass for 44 yards and caught another for 4 as his 374 yards of total offense accounted for 96 percent of Bishop Ahr's total of 389.
Ninty-six percent!
"He's just a great athlete," said Bishop Ahr coach Joe Vigilante. "The things that we ask him to do, carrying the load at running back, going into the quarterback position and making reads on very, very tight windows, quick plays. He's just been great."
Much of Brazicki's success came on direct snaps out of the Wildcat formation, a play Spotswood still hasn't stopped. And while the line opened up spacious lanes throughout the contest, Brazicki could (should?) have been stopped on four of his five touchdown runs but was able to break loose.
"(The Wildcat) is a great weapon because they just don't know who is going to get the ball. Usually, when I get the ball, there's a hole and I just take it," Brazicki explained. "You've got to be strong, too, you can't just be fast. You have two be able break tackles and not let one guy take you down."
None of Bishop Ahr's scoring drives required more than six plays and Reminiss Funderburk set the tone early by returning the opening kickoff 93 yards for a 6-0 lead 14 seconds into the contest. Spotswood responded with a 13-play, 71-yard drive that consumed more than seven minutes and ended on a 9-yard pass from Nick Mohr to Jack Keenan.
Mohr and Keenan each had splendid afternoons, at least by non-Brazickian standards. Mohr ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more, both to Keenan, who hauled in nine passes for 101 yards and paced a balanced running attack with 52 yards on 14 carries.
The contest was much closer than the final score suggests, as Mohr's second touchdown narrowed Bishop Ahr's lead to 27-24 on the final play of the third quarter.
Brazicki answered with a 51-yard touchdown jaunt out of the Wildcat three plays later and his 44-yard pass to Jack Roarty on the first play of the Trojans' next drive left the ball at the 1, where Benjamin Protts put the margin into double digits for good.
BISHOP AHR (5-2) 20-0-7-19-46
SPOTSWOOD (5-2) 7-3-14-6-30
SCORING SUMMARY
BA - Funderburk 93 kick return (Santiago kick)
S - Keenan 9 pass from Mohr (Szatkowski kick)
BA - Brazicki 44 run (Brazicki run)
BA - Brazicki 84 run (kick failed)
S - Szatkowski FG 28
S - Mohr 1 run (Szatkowski kick)
BA - Brazicki 52 run (Santiago kick)
S - Mohr 2 run (Szatkowski kick)
BA - Brazicki 51 run (kick failed)
BA - Prott 1 run (run failed)
BA - Brazicki 11 run (Santiago kick)
S - Keenan 20 pass from Mohr (no kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - BA: Brazicki 18-326, Funderburk 3-9, Cardona 7-5, Prott 1-1, Wells 2-0; S: Keenan 14-52, Vincelli 10-47, Esser 7-24, Mohr 8-2.
Passing - BA: Brazicki 1-1-0-44, Wells 1-2-0-4; S: Mohr 13-23-1-155, Keenan 0-1-0-0.
Receiving - BA: Roarty 1-44, Brazicki 1-4; S: Keenan 9-101, Fee 2-34, Szatkowski 2-20.