Bishop's Julian Cassano runs around end for a big gain against St. Genevieve. (Vince Agapito photo).
Jack Gregson stepped up when his team needed him.
In his first varsity start, the sophomore running back had a monster game, scoring five touchdowns to lead Bishop Diego to an impressive 50-18 non-league football win over St. Genevieve on Friday night at La Playa Stadium.
Gregson broke a scoreless game with a 3-yard run for his first varsity touchdown and added scoring runs 3, 5 and 10 yards.
His highlight play came on a pass from quarterback Nolan Tisdale in the right flat. Gregson broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then turned on the afterburners for an 86-yard score that put the Cardinals ahead 41-6 late in the third quarter.
“You got to see his speed,” Bishop coach Tom Crawford said. “He’s very, very quick.”
The victory was the 52nd in Crawford’s career at Bishop, moving him into second place on the program’s all-time list ahead of Norris Fletcher. Bob Morelli is the all-time wins leader with 74.
Gregson, who rushed for 70 yards on 12 carries, started in place of Brandon Gonzalez, who was nursing an ankle injury. Gonzalez saw limited action on offense, though, and he made the most of it, rushing for 137 yards on eight carries and scoring on runs of 45 and 46 yards.
“With Brandon’s ankle being a little bit tender, I was really pleased how he played, as well,” Crawford said. “If Jack can give us that sort of effort that he gave tonight, I think Brandon and Jack will be one heck of a combination for teams to have to deal with.”
St. Genevieve had trouble dealing with the Cardinals’ 1-2 punch.
Gregson gave the Valiants a preview of what he can do on his second carry of the game. He took a pitch out, followed his blockers and turned the corner for a 36-yard gain.
“Our line was amazing,” said Gregson. “I saw the holes and I ran through them. Fullback Bruce Garcia led me through the holes every time and Brandon Gonzalez, he taught me everything I know.”
The offensive line did a stellar job blocking against a bigger St. Genevieve front.
“A big concern going into the game was I thought they would outsize us by quite a bit,” Crawford said. “I thought our guys did a great job dealing with it and hanging in there, allowing us to break some long things. It was really a team effort.”
Gonzalez broke off a 51-yard run on a counter play to help set up Bishop’s first touchdown. A roughing the passer penalty against the Valiants on the previous play also aided the 92-yard drive.
Brandon Gonzalez breaks a tackle on his way to a touchdown, making it 13 - 0 Bishop in the second quarter.
Gregson capped the drive with a 3-yard run at the 10:39 mark.
Gonzalez made it 14-0, taking a pitch from Tisdale, stepping over a defender and running 45 yards for the touchdown.
The Cardinal defense, meanwhile, had its hands full trying to wrap up fleet-footed and shifty St. Genevieve quarterback Mark Chin (18 rushes for 127 yards). They did, however, deliver some big blows on him and the other Valiant ballcarriers.
A big hit by members of the Bishop kickoff team forced a fumble on the second-half kickoff and Nick Mon recovered at the St. Genevieve 26. After a five-yard penalty, the Cardinals fooled the Valiants with a halfback option pass. Gonzalez threw a 24-yard completion to Paul Garcia that put the ball at the 3. Gregson ran it in for a 21-0 lead at 10:28 in the third quarter.
Bishop would score again 19 seconds later.
A kickoff into the end zone by Mike Morando (he had five that were unreturnable) put the Valiants at their 20. On second and 10, Gonzalez grabbed a scrambling Chin behind the line of scrimmage and forced the quarterback to fumble. Tyler Rogers recovered for the Cardinals at the 5.
On first down, Gregson ran behind Dakotah Sutton and Rogers for the touchdown and a 28-0 lead.
St. Genevieve put together an 80-yard drive behind the running and passing of Chin. He gained 41 yards on one play and hit big Linwood Foy on a 28-yard strike for the touchdown. The PAT failed.
Bishop would come right back on a well-executed trap play. Gonzalez ran through the huge hole and kept going 46 yards for a 35-6 lead with 7:14 left in the third quarter.
“We tried to run it once before in the game and it got stuffed,” Crawford note. “We noticed they made it a little bit of an adjustment to the sweep efforts and started to shift some personnel over, so we decided to give it another shot. That time I think we caught them slanting the other way.”
Bishop’s defense continued to harass Chin and got the ball back again in the third quarter.
“That kid was an incredible runner and our ‘D’ line did a great job of pursuit and not making him comfortable putting the ball in the air,” said Crawford.
Starting at the 11, Gregson gained three yards on first down before catching the pass in the flat that he broke into an 86-yard play. The PAT failed, leaving the Cardinals ahead 41-6.
Mon intercepted Chin on the next possession and Mike Morando kicked a 33-yard field goal four plays later for Bishop.
The Valiants put together their most impressive drive of the game, going 80 yards in eight plays for their second touchdown, a 2-yard run by Andrew Arredondo.
St. Genevieve stopped Bishop on four downs, but the Cardinals got the ball back in scoring position when the Valiants snapped the ball over the punter’s head, resulting in 24-yard loss to the 10-yard line.
Gregson would score from 10 yards to cap his huge game and a big homecoming night for the Cardinals.
“I had an awesome time,” Gregson said.
St. Genevieve…0 0 6 12 — 18
Bishop Diego…0 14 27 9 — 50
Second quarter
BD—Gregson 3 run (Morando kick), 10:39
BD—B. Gonzalez 45 run (Morando kick), 6:37
Third quarter
BD—Gregson 3 run (Morando kick), 10:28
BD—Gregson 5 run (Morando kick), 10:09
SG—Foy 28 pass from Chin, (kick failed), 8:50
BD—Gonzalez 46 run (Morando kick), 7:14
BD—Gregson 86 pass from Tisdale (kick failed), 2:59
Fourth quarter
BD—FG, 33 Morando, 11:09
SG—Arredondo 2 run (run failed), 7:53
BD—Gregson 10 run (kick failed), 2:46
SG—Paige 5 pass from Chin (pass failed), :21.5
………… SG BD
First downs… 15 19
Rushes-yards…36-146 33-268
Passing yards…177 148
Total yards…323 416
Passes (comp-att-int)… 5-8-0 10-24-1
Fumbles-lost…2-2 0-0
Individidual Statistics
Rushing—SG: Chin 18-127, Blue 9-39, Vidal 4-15, Arredondo 2 (minus 19), Ramirez 2-7, Team (minus 24). BD: B. Gonzalez 8-137, Gregson 12-70, P. Garcia 4-40, B. Garcia 5-17, Valle 2-4, Hammond 2-0.
Passing—SG: Chin 10-24-1, 177. BD—Tisdale 4-7-0, 124, Gonzalez 1-1 24.
Receiving—SG: Foy 6-148, Ramirez 1-31, Paige 2-29. BD: B. Garcia 1-19, Moulton 1-18, Schneider 1-1, P. Garcia 1-24, Gregson 1-86.
