APA rolls past Cary Christian, prepares for title game showdown with John Paul II next week
Story by Keith Spence
No way history was going to repeat itself.
Last year, favored Parrott Academy got caught looking ahead to a possible state championship matchup with rival John Paul II and was upset by Cary Christian in the playoff semifinals.
This year, top-seeded APA again welcomed Cary Christian for a semifinal contest, but this time the laser-focused Patriots rolled to an easy 54-22 victory, setting up the title game with JPII that they missed out on last season.
“This team learned its lesson,” Parrott coach Matt Beaman said. “Last year we got a little greedy and full of ourselves. This year, from the first day of practice, we kept our eye on the ball and vowed not to let it happen again.”
Another stunning loss was never in the cards although APA had a few anxious moments on the first half.
Knights quarterback David Wisniewski picked apart the Parrott defense for 211 first half passing yards as the visitors trailed just 22-14 at halftime.
The Patriots were fortunate to take the lead into intermission as the Knights twice were stopped on downs after venturing inside the APA 15.
“Their quarterback has a big arm, and he was getting way too much time to throw,” Beaman said. “We knew we had to make some defensive adjustments at halftime.”
The adjustments actually started late in the first half as Wisniewski connected on just two of his last seven passes before the break with a pair of sacks.
“We put some more speed in on defense and decided to just go after him,” Beaman said. “They had basically abandoned the running game, so we just started to blitz to get more pressure and force the kid to make quicker decisions.”
The strategy worked as Wisniewski and his backup Reed Harvey combined for just 123 second half passing yards, 90 of which came on a single throw against the Patriot reserves after the game had already been decided.
Wisniewski completed 15 of 27 throws for 229 yards before leaving the game with an injury late in the third quarter but was just three of his last nine for 19 yards.
The Patriots (10-1) threw just five passes total, relying instead on a devastating rushing attack that generated 463 yards on the ground.
Three Parrott runners Aaron Jones (159), Ashton Brinson (151), and Andrew Daniels (119) crossed the 100-yard threshold.
“Three 100-yard runners tells you how well our offensive line played,” Beaman said. “The guys up front were very physical and allowed us to control the game on the ground.”
Brinson tallied all of his yards and a pair of TD’s in the first half before suffering a minor injury.
“He’s a fine and will be ready to go next week,” Beaman said.
Jones used his blazing speed on scoring bursts of 38 and 63 yards, while Daniels was the blue-collar fullback, picking up tough yards inside and scoring twice from short yardage.
“Aaron and Andrew did a fantastic job picking up the slack once Ashton went out.” Beaman said. “Ashton is our workhorse and gets a ton of credit, but Aaron and Andrew are pretty darn good football players themselves.”
All three will be needed when the Patriots host John Paul II in the upcoming championship game.
APA scored a wild 66-60 victory over the Saints in the regular season, so Beaman knows they will be looking some revenge.
“They have an excellent team and it’s going to be another battle,” Beaman said. “We had a great crowd that was really into the game tonight, and we’re going to need them again next week. With the crowd support we’ve been receiving all season, getting to play the title game at home is a huge deal for us. It should be a tremendous game.”
Story by Keith Spence
No way history was going to repeat itself.
Last year, favored Parrott Academy got caught looking ahead to a possible state championship matchup with rival John Paul II and was upset by Cary Christian in the playoff semifinals.
This year, top-seeded APA again welcomed Cary Christian for a semifinal contest, but this time the laser-focused Patriots rolled to an easy 54-22 victory, setting up the title game with JPII that they missed out on last season.
“This team learned its lesson,” Parrott coach Matt Beaman said. “Last year we got a little greedy and full of ourselves. This year, from the first day of practice, we kept our eye on the ball and vowed not to let it happen again.”
Another stunning loss was never in the cards although APA had a few anxious moments on the first half.
Knights quarterback David Wisniewski picked apart the Parrott defense for 211 first half passing yards as the visitors trailed just 22-14 at halftime.
The Patriots were fortunate to take the lead into intermission as the Knights twice were stopped on downs after venturing inside the APA 15.
“Their quarterback has a big arm, and he was getting way too much time to throw,” Beaman said. “We knew we had to make some defensive adjustments at halftime.”
The adjustments actually started late in the first half as Wisniewski connected on just two of his last seven passes before the break with a pair of sacks.
“We put some more speed in on defense and decided to just go after him,” Beaman said. “They had basically abandoned the running game, so we just started to blitz to get more pressure and force the kid to make quicker decisions.”
The strategy worked as Wisniewski and his backup Reed Harvey combined for just 123 second half passing yards, 90 of which came on a single throw against the Patriot reserves after the game had already been decided.
Wisniewski completed 15 of 27 throws for 229 yards before leaving the game with an injury late in the third quarter but was just three of his last nine for 19 yards.
The Patriots (10-1) threw just five passes total, relying instead on a devastating rushing attack that generated 463 yards on the ground.
Three Parrott runners Aaron Jones (159), Ashton Brinson (151), and Andrew Daniels (119) crossed the 100-yard threshold.
“Three 100-yard runners tells you how well our offensive line played,” Beaman said. “The guys up front were very physical and allowed us to control the game on the ground.”
Brinson tallied all of his yards and a pair of TD’s in the first half before suffering a minor injury.
“He’s a fine and will be ready to go next week,” Beaman said.
Jones used his blazing speed on scoring bursts of 38 and 63 yards, while Daniels was the blue-collar fullback, picking up tough yards inside and scoring twice from short yardage.
“Aaron and Andrew did a fantastic job picking up the slack once Ashton went out.” Beaman said. “Ashton is our workhorse and gets a ton of credit, but Aaron and Andrew are pretty darn good football players themselves.”
All three will be needed when the Patriots host John Paul II in the upcoming championship game.
APA scored a wild 66-60 victory over the Saints in the regular season, so Beaman knows they will be looking some revenge.
“They have an excellent team and it’s going to be another battle,” Beaman said. “We had a great crowd that was really into the game tonight, and we’re going to need them again next week. With the crowd support we’ve been receiving all season, getting to play the title game at home is a huge deal for us. It should be a tremendous game.”