St. Michael Catholic School continues to suffer through some early season woes after falling to UMS-Wright Prep, 17-13, on Friday.
Despite a superb performance from Cardinals running back Nygel …
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FAIRHOPE - St. Michael Catholic School continues to suffer through some early season woes after falling to UMS-Wright Prep, 17-13, on Friday.
Despite a superb performance from Cardinals running back Nygel Mitchell and the home side making it a four-point game in the final quarter, St. Michael made some fatal mistakes and ultimately fell short to make this their third straight loss dating to last season.
“Disappointed that we didn’t find a way to get it done,” St. Michael head coach Philip Rivers said. “I thought our guys played their tails off, kept fighting ‘til the end. I thought the defense was outstanding and offensively we kept battling. I don’t know how much Nygel (Mitchell) ended up rushing for or where our team rushed for, but it had to be a lot.”
Cardinals star quarterback Gunner Rivers was inactive for Friday’s game after suffering a leg injury during the Cardinals’ season opener against Battle Ground Academy (TN) two weeks ago.
During the game, Rivers patrolled the sideline in street clothes while using crutches but did not have a brace on his leg, instead wearing just a compression sleeve. Coach Rivers, his father, said his injury wasn’t season ending and they are taking it week-to-week.
With Gunner Rivers not playing, the St. Michael turned to junior quarterback Marshall Pitre as its starting signal caller.
The Cardinals relied heavily on the run game in the first quarter, with little ground gained. They tried to make a field goal at the 4:19 mark, only to miss it, but St. Michael’s defense kept UMS-Wright at bay to maintain the scoreless draw at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the game, St. Michael’s defense was doing its job in preventing UMS-Wright from reaching the endzone, but the Bulldogs struck first by kicking a field goal at the 10:28 mark of the second quarter to take a 3-0 lead.
St. Michael then threw a 35-yard pick six to UMS-Wright defender Colby Weaver, giving the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead.
Mitchell got the Cardinals on the board with a 75-yard touchdown run at the 9:10 mark, cutting the lead to 10-7.
However, UMS-Wright responded soon after with a deep touchdown pass to receiver Manning Amorde, extending their lead to the halftime score of 17-7.
Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, but St. Michael started to gain some momentum when it forced a turnover on downs and Cardinals receiver Anthony Howard made a huge fourth-down conversion.
At the 7:43 mark in the fourth quarter, Mitchell would walk into the end zone for his second score of the night, but the Cardinals would miss the ensuing kick, making it 17-13 with UMS-Wright leading late.
Despite some stops from St. Michael’s defense, the offense wasn’t able to capitalize and failed to convert on fourth down with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter. That gave UMS-Wright the ball back and allowed them to effectively end the game by running out the clock.
Overall, Mitchell ran for 236 yards and two touchdowns during Friday’s contest. Pitre went 7-for-17 on his passes for 79 yards.
“We just didn’t make enough plays to finish it off and then we obviously had some errors that were costly,” Coach Rivers said. "There are a few calls I wish I put us in a better position too as well, but all in all, it was a hard-fought ball game. A great high school football game and we came up short, but we’ll carry on. Got a long way to go.”
With the loss, St. Michael finds itself in somewhat of a hole with a 0-2 record to start the season.
The Cardinals have a challenge ahead, hitting the road for the first time to take on McGill-Toolen in the Battle of the Bay on Friday, Sept. 11. The Yellowjackets are 2-1 and coming off of a win against St. Paul’s Episcopal, where they won 34-24.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Rivers said on preparing for McGill-Toolen. “McGill’s better up front defensively than what we saw tonight so it’ll be a little tougher running the football. I know they had a big win tonight against St. Paul’s, but it’ll be another region game. Another fun opponent to play and we’ll heal up because this one was a hard-fought game and we’ll be ready to go next week.”
The game marks the start of a three-game road trip for the Cardinals, who will also play at St. Paul Episcopal on Sept. 18, followed by a matchup at Bayside Academy on Sept. 25.
