Stephenson powers Bishop Englnd past Porter-Gaud

If DeAngelo Stephenson had his way, the Bishop England football team would play every Thursday night.

Stephenson rushed for 171 yards and scored three touchdowns in the first half and propelled the Bishops to a 47-14 win over Porter-Gaud at Jack Cantey Stadium.

Stephenson finished the game with 212 yards rushing on only 10 carries, scoring a fourth touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Bishops rolled up 443 yards on the ground in the game.

Quarterback Kevin Herbst added 104 yards and a touchdown and fullback Griffie Loy rushed for 96 yards and scored two touchdowns to help Bishop England improve to 2-1.

“We got off to a good start offensively with DeAngelo’s run on the first play and we needed that start because we didn’t play great defensively,” said Bishop England coach John Cantey. “He’s a special player, no doubt. I guess he really wanted to show up in the TV game tonight.”

Stephenson wasted little time getting cranked up, jetting to a 69-yard run on the game’s opening play and giving the Bishops a 7-0 lead 15 seconds in.

He ripped off a 44-yard scoring run on his third carry, upping the lead to 14-0 with 7:51 remaining in the first quarter.

“I felt great tonight and as a team we were really excited about this game and wanted to play well,” said Stephenson. “It’s a good win for us and hopefully we are back on track (after losing to Hanahan last week).”

After the Cyclones cut into the lead on the first of two touchdown runs by Trey Pierce, Stephenson scored on a 49-yard run with 9:52 to play in the second quarter.

Pierce’s two-yard plunge made it 21-14 with 6:13 remaining but the Bishops answered on Griffie Loy’s eight-yard run for a 28-14 halftime lead.

Loy added a 20-yard run midway through the third quarter and Stephenson capped his night with a 12-yard run with 11:23 to play in the game.

Porter-Gaud, which falls to 2-1, had success offensively as Pierce rushed for 120 yards and quarterback Thomas Rogers threw for 180. The Cyclones, however, were unable to finish several drives.

“That’s the thing, we have to be able to score when we get down there because we know Bishop England is going to just pound on us,” said Cyclones coach Rick Reetz. “They were just bigger, faster, deeper and stronger. Stephenson has more speed than anyone we see in our league. They’re a good football team.”

The teams had not played since 2007 but Reetz is hopeful that the series with the Bishops continues into the future.

“It was a great atmosphere and I think both teams had a lot of fun,” said Reetz. “Hopefully we can close the gap on them and make it more competitive in the future but I definitely think it’s a game that should be played every year.”

Bishop England 14 14 7 12—47

Porter-Gaud 7 7 0 0—14

BE — DeAngelo Stephenson 69 run (Drew Costa kick)

BE — Stephenson 44 run (Costa kick)

PG — Trey Pierce 4 run (Trey Lowe kick)

BE — Stephenson 49 run (Costa kick)

PG — Pierce 2 run (Lowe kick)

BE — Griffie Loy 8 run (Costa kick)

BE — Loy 20 run (Costa kick)

BE — Stephenson 12 run (kick blocked)

BE — Kevin Herbst 27 run (kick failed)