Bishop Diego’s defense caused four turnovers and held St. Genevieve to a season-low in scoring on Saturday night, resulting in a 33-22 non-league victory for the visiting Cardinals.
More painful than the season-low in scoring was that it was the Valiants’ first loss of the season after five victories. St. Genevieve’s previous season low was 48 points.
The Cardinals defense limited St. Genevieve’s Mark Chin and Anthony Blue, who had 11 rushing touchdowns between them entering the game. As the quarterback, Chin had four more through the air.
“I thought our kids did a really solid job of being patient and containing those guys,” said Bishop Diego head coach Tom Crawford.
The Cardinals offense also had a good showing, led by Nolan Tisdale’s three touchdown passes. Starting running back Brandon Gonzalez rushed for a touchdown but an ankle injury opened the door for Jack Gregson to get some touches. Gregson rushed for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown on the ground while adding a TD reception from Tisdale.
“It was nice to see Jack step in,” Crawford said.
Sam Kwock’s second receiving touchdown of the game followed by Gonzalez’s scoring run put Bishop up 33-14. It wasn’t until the final minute that St. Genevieve picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to make it 33-22. Kwock’s first touchdown reception was a 40-yard strike that got the Cardinals going. They led 14-7 at halftime.
Nic Mon recorded an interception and a fumble recovery for two of the Cardinals’ defensive takeaways. Christian Pearson and Adrian Solis also took possession for Bishop on fumbles.
Bishop Diego ups its record to 4-1 on the season just ahead of starting the Frontier League season. The Cardinals open up hosting Malibu at La Playa Stadium. St. Genevieve also begins league next week, opening up against Salesian.
