Published: November 07, 2009 12:17 am      

Southern Huntingdon pulls away from Bishop Carroll

THREE SPRINGS — Bishop Carroll built a 13-point advantage in the third quarter, but Southern Huntingdon scored 24 unanswered points to defeat the Huskies 38-27 on Friday night.

“In the third quarter we went up 27-14 and had an opportunity to put the game away,” Carroll coach Craig Sponsky said. “Southern Huntingdon was able to move the football and make it a football game.”

Bishop Carroll started strong. Quarterback Drew McCabe hit Josh Barzdo on a 62-yard pass, and Michael Pyo’s extra-point made it 7-0.

Southern Huntingdon tied the game on Daniel Goshorn’s 1-yard run and Mike Gaston’s extra-point.

The Huskies regained the advantage after Barzdo hauled in a 46-yard pass from McCabe to make it 13-7.

The back-and-forth affair continued as the Rockets took a 14-13 lead after Nakota Reed’s 33-yard run and a Gaston kick.

Carroll led 19-14 at intermission after Barzdo caught a 35-yard McCabe pass for a score.

“At times we played well. At times we played awful. It was just very inconsistent,” Sponsky said.

“But Southern Huntingdon has a very good football team.

“They ran the ball very well and threw the ball very well in the second half. We played better in the first half than we did in the second, and Southern Huntingdon had a better second half than they did in the first.”

Bishop Carroll’s Shawn Perich ran 6 yards, and a McCabe conversion gave the Huskies their biggest lead, 27-14.

But Southern Huntingdon added Matt Fish’s

10-yard touchdown catch and scoring runs by Reed of 44 yards and Goshorn of 6 yards. Gaston booted a 32-yard field goal.

Carroll’s McCabe completed 11 of 25 passes for 249 yards.

“We started out 9 of 13 and had 224 passing yards at the half,” Sponsky said.

Barzdo had five catches for 167 yards. Perich gained 112 yards on 21 carries.

Carroll closed a 2-8 season. The Huskies had won two straight prior to Friday.

“We had a group of kids that competed all year,” Sponsky said. “They overcame a ton of adversity whether it was lack of numbers, kids not being able to play, multiple quarterbacks. They came to practice and completed. Their effort was always good and that’s a compliment to them.”