WESTSIDE- In a must win game, Tyler Townsend delivered the knockout punch to help the host Bishop Snyder Cardinals stun the visiting Christ’s Church Eagles 14-12 at Cardinals Stadium.
The two compete in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference First Coast Division along with Harvest Community and Duval Charter. The top two teams in each division make the conference playoffs. After dropping a divisional game to Harvest back in Week 1, the Cardinals faced a win or go home mentality Friday night and came ready to play.
So excited to be here at Bishop Snyder as the Cardinals take flight with Christ Church Eagles! #GameOn @DuvalSports
Start of 1st Q
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🕊 0 pic.twitter.com/ODggpviPxz— BJ Jones (@4everjones90) September 15, 2017
Everything was looking so well on the final drive of the night for the Eagles, who were in position to line up for a game winning field goal or touchdown within the last two minutes of the game.
That’s when Townsend made the big play of the night, picking off Eagles quarterback Jared Carwile and bringing it back to almost midfield with 1:03 left in the game.
Both offenses had trouble moving the ball in the air as both quarterbacks Chris Bailey from Bishop Snyder and Carwile did not attempt many passes.
This was a very run heavy game as running backs Pedro Valez, Christian Mayhew and Johnny Gullet were the stars of the game. Valez was an electric back who scored the first touchdown of the game as he bounced off defenders and maneuvered to an easy touchdown that put the Cardinals up by a score. Mayhew was explosive as well as he was able to break another long run to set the Cardinals up for another touchdown.
The Eagles featured back Gullet racked up several yards and two touchdowns. He was quick to find the open hole and use his elusive speed to burst through for good yardage. Credit to the other physical running backs for the Eagles as well, Josh Dennie and DJ Lampp, as they drove almost the length of the field with physicality and force.
There were several opportunities for both of these teams to ultimately put this game away, especially the Eagles. There were countless turnovers on downs and fumbles or interceptions that proved to be too costly to overcome. The Cardinals drove all the way down the field to the 5-yard line only to turn the ball over on downs.
The heartbreaking drive at the end of the game resulted in an interception for the Eagles. The game was far from squeaky clean, but the Cardinals proved to make the lesser of the mistakes which resulted in the win for them.
Next up, the Cardinals (2-2, 1-1) travel to Branford to face the Buccaneers on Sept. 22 for a 7:30 kick, while the Eagles (2-2, 0-1) take the week off and host division rival Duval Charter Sept. 29 at 7:30 in another First Coast Division game.
