LANCASTER – Fisher Catholic had two costly turnovers that led directly to 14 points for visiting Grove City Christian, and as it would turn out, it proved to be too much for the Irish to overcome in a 35-14 Mid-State League-Cardinal Division loss on Saturday night, Oct. 17, at Fulton Field.
Ironically enough, the Irish used an interception on the Eagles' first possession of the game and turned it into a 7-0 lead, but after the two teams went in at halftime tied 14-14, Fisher Catholic returned the favor at the start of the third quarter, and from there, Grove City Christian leaned into its running game, led by senior running back Giovanni Cotton, who finished with 230 yards rushing and four touchdowns, the rest of the way.
The Irish got on the board first when Anderson Crook intercepted a pass. Six plays later, junior quarterback James Wilkinson connected with Blake Woher on a 61-yard touchdown pass to give the Irish the early lead.
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The Eagles responded with a 40-yard touchdown run by Cotton to tie it at 7-7 with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, disaster struck for the Irish when a line-drive kickoff bounced off an Irish returner and was recovered by the Eagles. They turned it into points as Cotton scored from nine yards out with 10:11 left in the half.
Fisher Catholic came right back and put together an impressive 91-yard, 13-play drive that was capped off when Nick Harris scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to tie it at 14 with 2:21 left in the first half. The Irish ran the ball on all 13 plays in the drive as they leaned on Ethan O’Rielley, Sam Tencza, and Charlie Tencza, who each took turns carrying the ball.
Fisher Catholic had a chance to take the lead right before halftime, but a 35-yard field goal fell short as time expired.
Things couldn’t have started any worse for the Irish at the start of the third quarter. A fumbled snap gave Grove City Christian the ball at the Irish 39-yard line. The Eagles would eventually score on a Cotton 2-yard touchdown run to take a 21-14 lead with 9:22 left in the third quarter.
Cotton would score two more times on a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:14 left and added a 16-yard touchdown run with 4:48 remaining to push the score to 25-14.
Fisher Catholic fell to 6-3 and will travel to Manchester on Oct. 23. Fisher Catholic dropped to No. 9 in the Division VII, Region 27 computer rankings, and more than likely will need to win their final game to qualify for the postseason.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Costly turnovers sink Fisher Catholic in loss to Grove City Christian