Whatever else happens to the Bishop Ludden football team in 2016 as it ventures through its new home in Class D’s North/West division, it’s safe to assume that it hopes never to see Watertown IHC quarterback Nick Draught again – at least on the field, anyway.
An otherwise tremendous effort by the Gaelic Knights on Sept. 4 in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome was marred by a complete inability to stop Draught, whose astonishing total of 563 total yards helped Carry the Cavaliers past Ludden 50-42.
Once trailing by 20 points and down 34-22 at halftime, Ludden blanked IHC in the third quarter and even took the lead, only to see Draught continue to add on to his totals on a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives.
For the night, Draught threw 36 times, completing 22 of those passes for 375 yards. Then he ran for 188 yards on the ground on 17 carries, not wearing down in the latter stages.
With the score tied 42-42 midway through the fourth quarter, Draught, aided by a long kick return that put IHC deep in Gaelic Knights territory, led a march to Ludden’s 16, where he found Silas Baker for the go-ahead TD and added a two-point run.
Ludden could not quite answer, and it had lost even though Lee had gone 13-for-19 for 245 yards, hurt by three interceptions to offset his pair of TD passes. Combine that with 161 yards on the ground, and Lee had 406 total yards of his own.
Joe Connor caught six passes for 119 yards, while Sevaughan Williams had 94 yards on just four completions. Kevin Burkhart rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries and scored a pair of early TD’s that got lost in Draught’s early flurry.
Twice in the first quarter, Draught found Vincenzo Altieri for scoring passes, one covering two yards, the other going 59 yards. Then Draught twice found the end zone from six yards out on scrambles, making it 28-8 before it even hit the second period.
Between Burkhart’s second TD and Lee finding Williams for a 48-yard scoring strike, Ludden found a way to chip into IHC’s advantage, though Draught again burned the Gaelic Knights with his arm with a 45-yard TD pass to Baker that made it 34-22 going into the break.
Things peaked for Ludden in the third quarter. Not only did the defense finally contain Draught for the first time all night, it saw Lee zip a 39-yard scoring pass to Sanders and then saw Lee, from his own 39, scramble all the way to the end zone, a 61-yard TD run that, with Burkhart’s extra point, briefly gave the Gaelic Knights a 35-34 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, an exchange of scoring drives saw Draught find Altieri on a seven-yard TD pass and then add the two-point run to put IHC back in front 42-35, and Lee answered with an eight-yard scoring run that, with Burkhart’s PAT, pulled things even one last time.
Just five days would pass before Ludden would play again, hosting Beaver River, who had topped Weedsport 27-8 in its season opener. But neither the opponent, nor the short work week, bothered the Gaelic Knights too much as it put together an impressive 32-6 victory over the Beavers.
Without someone like Draught to worry about on the Beaver River roster, Ludden kept it simple on defense and proceeded to shut out the Beavers most of the way, so a first-quarter flurry of 14 points was all that was needed.
On the first play from scrimmage, Lee, from his own 43, found Se’vaughn Williams for a 57-yard TD reception, Burkhart adding the PAT. A much longer scoring drive followed late in the first quarter that Lee finished off by finding Connor in the end zone from five yards out.
Staked to that 14-0 lead, the Gaelic Knights’ defense continued to halt Beaver River’s progress. By far, its biggest stop came early in the third quarter, when the Beavers drove inside Ludden’s 10, only to get stopped on downs.
Minutes later, Carbonaro intercepted a pass at the Beaver River 19, and a short scoring drive followed that Lee finished with a four-yard TD plunge. Another interception, this one by Connor, led to more points early in the fourth quarter when Tamir Rowser scored from 11 yards out.
On an evening where nearly everything went Ludden’s way, Lee fumbled near the goal line – but lineman John Duffy recovered in the end zone for the Gaelic Knights’ final points.
Ludden goes back on the road this Friday to take on Cato-Meridian at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils lost its season opener to Sandy Creek, but knocked off Weedsport 34-26 to match the Gaelic Knights’ 1-1 mark going into this key early-season contest.
