Bishop Diego’s Anthony Carter made a split-second decision and took a big risk in the first quarter of Saturday night’s football game against Fillmore at La Playa Stadium, and what could have been a trip to his coach’s doghouse ended up a trip to the end zone.
On 4th and 14 with the Cardinals deep in their own territory, Carter took a snap to punt but saw some daylight and decided to run the ball, not stopping until he hit pay-dirt 86 yards later, It kicked off a 31-6 romp over a Flashes team that entered the game 3-1 and was averaging over 23 points per game.
“I got the ball and rolled out and saw a lot of blockers, so I chanced it a little and found open field,” said the speedy sophomore.
He knew what would have happened if the decision backfired.
“I would have gotten chewed out,” he said with a chuckle.
Cardinals quarterback Nolan Tisdale completed 10 of 16 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns, while Brandon Gonzalez rushed for 108 yards and a score on 16 carries. Reese Moulton’s 33-yard touchdown catch was one of four receptions on the night for a total of 64 yards.
Fillmore got a hard-nosed effort from running back Collin Farrar, who finished with 13 carries for 79 yards. The only points on the night for the Flashes came on a 6-yard run by Daniel Cruz in the third quarter that cut the Bishop Diego lead to 17-6.
Cardinals coach Tom Crawford noted that his offense was sputtering early with a pair of fumbles, but that Carter’s play helped get things going.
“I think it made everyone relax and things started to happen a little bit,” he said. “He said he thought that he could pick up that yardage, so what can you say?” said Crawford.
Defensively, Bishop recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass in the end zone in the waning moments of the game.
“I thought defensively we played pretty solid throughout,” said Crawford. “They’ve been putting up a lot of points on teams and they’re so hard to prepare for in a week because of all the misdirection and things they can do.”
After Carter’s 86-yard scamper, Jack Gregson scored on another big first-half play on a 70-yard reception in the second quarter. Gonzalez’s fourth-quarter run was just a one-yarder, but the senior picked up extra yards all night thanks to relentless power running. He broke tackles all over the field, keeping his legs churning for five carries of 10 yards or more.
“He just refuses to go down. He got stopped early on, but goodness gracious he just keeps plugging away, and as the game goes on he gets better,” said Crawford.
The Cardinals (3-1) head south to play undefeated St. Genevieve next week while the Flashes (3-2) take on Santa Clara.
BISHOP DIEGO 31, FILLMORE 6
First Quarter
BD — Carter 86 run, 0:43.
Second Quarter
BD — Gregson 70 pass from Tisdale, 10:16.
BD — #10 25 kick, 0:14.
Third Quarter
F — Cruz 6 run (kick no good), 4:00.
BD — Moulton 33 pass from Tisdale, 1:00.
Fourth Quarter
BD — Gonzalez 1 run, 11:20.
Fillmore…0 0 6 0 — 6
Bishop Diego…7 10 7 7 — 31
