SAN JOSE, CA—Bellarmine (4-2, 2-1 WCAL) bounced back from its loss to St, Francis last week, cruising past the Fighting Irish (1-5, 0-3), 48-7.
Three minutes into the first quarter, the Bells' offense established the mood for the night, scoring in just four plays with a Brendan Manigo eight-yard touchdown run. The Bells never looked back.
“All I’m thinking is ‘wow!’” said Manigo, “It’s always amazing blocking. It’s always a nice lane right to the end zone.”
Manigo wasn’t done, scoring two more times in the first quarter along with a 25-yard touchdown strike from Ike Ogbogu to Austin Ajiake. Manigo finished with 58 yards on 6 carries. Their early dominance allowed for some substitutions in the second quarter. The motto “Next man up,” reigned true with two more first-half scores from Brandon Bumanlag and Ryan Bindi.
“I think it was a good team win. We came out pounding and it was cool that we all got some touches,” said Bindi. “Plus it’s always fun scoring touchdowns.”
The Bellarmine defense, led by its fantastic linebacking core, held the Irish to a shutout until Aer’on Mitchell broke out on a 75-yard sprint with 2:42 left in the first half. Despite the lone score, the defense owned the game with a fumble recovery and only allowing four plays in their half of the field all game.
“They played solid. We took away what (SHC) wanted to do and that’s great,” said Bellarmine head coach Mike Janda.
The SHC defense shaped up in the second half, forcing three turnovers on downs and three fumbles, all recovered by the offense. The Irish offense never quite caught up with the strength of their defense, only completing two passes all game in a pass-first offense.
“I think Bellarmine does a really nice job of blitzing,” said Irish Head Coach Ken Peralta. “It rattled us and we dropped a couple of balls, but that’s what practice is for.”
While the game’s fate seemed to be sealed early, Bindi crossed the plane once more late in the fourth quarter with a 55-yard touchdown run. He finished with 73 yards on nine carries.
Next week, the Bells take on their cross town rivals, the Valley Christian Warriors, and the Irish will host the Archbishop Riordan Crusaders in the Stanfel Cup.
