The Bishop O’Connell Knights are in the win column.
The squad’s first victory this season came on the road in Dumfries under Friday night lights Oct. 11 with a 35-7 non-conference victory of the St. John Paul the Great Catholic Wolves (1-5) in high-school football action. The triumph snapped a nine-game losing streak spanning two seasons.
O’Connell led 14-7 at halftime, then pulled away over the final two quarters to improve to 1-5. The Knights won with a balanced running and passing attack on offense, hitting on a couple of 70-yard scoring plays 401 total yards while gaining
“We have gotten better and it’s nice to get a win,” O’Connell coach Todd Sabatino said. “We hit some big passes and we had a long touchdown run.”
O’Connell quarterback Graham Deaton was 8 of 13 passing for 184 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown pass to Joe Williams (five catches, 102 yards). He also threw a shorter scoring pass to Williams.
Douglas O’Donnell had a 70-yard scoring run and another for five yards, gaining 121 yards on the ground for the Knights. Mikhai Martin ran for 37 yards, Nick Morris for 30, Anthony Pham for 15 and a TD, and Deaton for 14.
Will Headley caught a 45-yard pass, Martin had a 29-yard reception and Xavier Reid had one catch. Josh Graham booted five extra points.
Leading O’Connell’s defense in tackling were Williams (one tackle for a loss), Scott Anderson, Brandon Green (two tackles for losses and a fumble recovery), Will Bryant (one tackle for a loss), Josh Taliaferro, Eli Moran and Sam Lobaugh with a sack. Alejandro Vega had an interception.
O’Connell will play its third Fright-night game of the season on Oct. 18 against the St. Mary’s Ryken Knights (4-2, 1-0) in St. Mary’s, Md., at 7 p.m. The contest will be O’Connell’s opening Washington Catholic Athletic Conference game of the season.
