O'Connell, Ireton Look to Regroup

Bishop O'Connell High School defeated Ireton 31-24 Sept. 3 and dropped a 23-10 decision to St. Alban’s on Sept. 10. The Knights were 2-8 one season ago and are taking strides to regain their level of recent success.

Anchoring the Knight offensive line are senior Eric Butler at center, senior co-captain Corey Jackson at left guard, sophomore Matt Dillon at left tackle, senior Mike Bedont at right guard and senior co-captain Nick Kaminski at right tackle. Junior Emani Fenton has quarterbacked the Knights thus far in 2005.

"We didn't play our best ball versus St. Alban’s," said Head Coach Steve Trimble. "We've got a pretty young team. We're running the ball with (junior) Devon Brown and others much more than we are throwing the ball thus far. The kids have been working hard. We're headed in the right direction."

O'Connell hosts Episcopal Sept. 17 and visits McNamara Sept. 24.

Bishop Ireton High School defeated Richmond Benedictine 34-13 Aug. 27, but dropped their two diocesan clashes with arch-rivals O'Connell and PVI in the ensuing two weeks.

The Cardinals, under coach Inman’s leadership, had a banner season in 2004 when they posted an overall record of 8-3 and qualified for the Virginia Independent Schools State semi-finals.

Anchoring the Cardinal offensive line are junior Chris Burns at center, junior Dan Patton at left guard, junior Cameron Gadway at left tackle, senior tri-captain Eddie Pitts at right guard and senior Fred Wenger at right tackle.

Senior tight end/fullback/defensive end/linebacker Frank Curry as well as senior slot back/free safety/kick off returner/punt returner Jorel Joseph are the other two Cardinal captains.

Sophomore Andrew Rodriguez has quarterbacked the Cardinals thus far in 2005.

"We lack some experience in certain areas," said Inman. "Not to take anything away from O'Connell or PVI, but we feel as though we let a couple of games slip away. We didn't realize how much O'Connell wanted to win this year’s game after we got the win versus them in 2004. We had a blown coverage versus Paul VI defensively. Turnovers and penalties have hurt some. We've got a very good team. We're not discouraged at all here at Ireton."

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