The good news was that Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria advanced to the Virginia State Independent Football Schools Playoffs for the first time in over a decade.

The bad news was that the Cardinals dropped a 17-14 overtime decision to Richmond Collegiate in the state semi-finals.

The Cardinals, coached by Brian Inman, traveled to Richmond to square off against the Cougars. Both teams punted twice each to open the contest.

Spanning the late first/early second quarter, the Cardinals moved the ball 39 yards on six plays and scored when senior QB David Rodriguez punched it in from one yard out. Junior PK Mike Brideau added the PAT and the visitors led 7-0.

Key plays in the drive included runs of 19, seven and seven yards by senior fullback Pat Shannon. Freshman tailback Tucker Lucas had a run of eight yards.

The Cougars were "three and out" on their next possession. Cardinal senior linebacker Charlie West recorded a sack during the series.

Ireton fumbled the ball away at the Cougar 30 yard line. The Cardinals then forced a Collegiate punt.

Ireton generated one first down offensively, but eventually punted from the Collegiate 45-yard line.

The Cougars moved the ball 47 yards on 10 plays, but eventually punted. On the defensive series, Ireton defensive linemen Ed Culbert and Buddy Buckner both recorded "sacks." The teams headed to the locker rooms with Ireton nursing a 7-0 lead.

Collegiate received the ball to open up the second half, and punted from their 24-yard line after generating a negative four yards. Cardinal defensive lineman Mark Wu recorded two tackles on the series.

Ireton moved the ball 26 yards on eight plays, but fumbled the ball away on first down from the Collegiate 17 yard line.

The Cougars were "three and out" after Cardinal senior defenders Wu, Buckner and Kwinten Brown combined on a "tackle for loss" on third down.

Late in the third quarter, Ireton started their drive on the Collegiate 47-yard line. The Cardinals appeared to have moved the ball down to the Collegiate goal line eight plays later, but the referees thought otherwise.

On "second and goal" from the Collegiate eight-yard line, Ireton’s Shannon appeared to have carried the ball down to the one-inch line, but Ireton was whistled for a holding call on the play and the ball was returned to the Collegiate 17-yard line.

Three plays later, a 26-yard field goal attempt backfired. The snap was high, and Brideau's kick was blocked.

Collegiate, with the fourth quarter well under way, moved the ball 80 yards on six plays and evened the score at 7-7, on a four yard TD pass. Ireton punted seven plays later with 5:25 left in regulation.

Collegiate only needed four plays to move the ball 49 yards. The Cougars scored via a 25-yard TD pass and following the PAT the home team was ahead 14-7 with 3:29 left in the fourth quarter.

It was do-or-die for the Cardinals. Senior Brian McSween returned the kickoff 20 yards. Ireton ran five consecutive rushing plays, with Shannon's two runs for nine total yards and Justin Joseph's three runs for 13 total yards.

On "fourth and two" from midfield, with Collegiate expecting another run, QB David Rodriguez connected with tight end Buddy Buckner down the right sideline for a spectacular 33-yard reception.

Rodriguez connected with wide receiver Charlie West over the middle on the next play for 13 yards. Two plays later, in a huge clutch play, Rodriguez connected with wide receiver Brian McSween on a five yard diving TD pass in the middle of the endzone. Brideau's PAT knotted the score 14-14 with only 40 seconds remaining.

The game headed to overtime following two Collegiate offensive snaps. Ireton lost the coin flip and went on offense first to commence the overtime (their first overtime game this season).

Things headed south for the "Cardinal and Gold" during the overtime session. The ball is placed at the 10 yard and each team gets four downs to score if they turn the ball over - that ends their possession.

On first down, freshman tailback Andrew Rodriguez ran for three yards. On "second and seven" Rodriguez lost two yards. On "third and nine," David Rodriguez scrambled under duress and lost seven yards when his knee went down, following a slip due to the poor field conditions.

Out came Mike Brideau to attempt a 33 yard field goal. The junior soccer player/placekicker missed it wide left.

The Collegiate coaching staff didn't waste any time figuring out what play to run.

The Cougars lined up immediately to attempt the game winning field goal.

The ball was snapped from the 10 yard line/held at the 17 yard line. Collegiate ended the Cardinals season with a successful 27-yard field goal and made for a most difficult bus ride up highway 95 to Alexandria with Ireton on the short end of a 17-14 score.

"This was a very, very tough loss," said Buckner.

Ireton finished the season with an overall record of 8-2, following a 3-5 mark in '02 and a 2-7 mark in '03.

"This team and especially the senior class have done everything that we have asked of them this season," said Inman.