Cobras grind out victory over Bishops

John Cantey made a brief statement to his team, and walked away shaking his head after Friday night's game.

All he could do was wonder what happened.

Cantey watched his Bishops surrender 274 yards rushing to Cane Bay, as the Cobras posted a 23-13 victory in a Region 6-AA opener on homecoming at Bishop England.

"I thought it would be a close game coming in, but I didn't think they would just run the ball right down our throat, but that's exactly what they did. They controlled the game," Cantey said.

The Cobras (2-4, 1-0) had the ball for nearly 29 minutes, using a three-man ground attack consisting of Fritz Simmons, Anthony Enos and James Bishop.

Bishop England (2-4, 0-1) trailed 20-13 after Brenden Costa drilled a 29-yard field goal with 9:35 remaining.

But the Bishops defense couldn't get off the field. Cane Bay converted four consecutive third downs, eating up 7:06 off the clock, their longest drive of the evening. Zach Wimmer capped off the 16-play drive with a 37-yard field goal to secure the victory.

"We couldn't get a stop when we needed it. We really need to start buckling down. We just could not get off the field tonight," Cantey said.

All four of the third-down conversions were of at least five yards, including one on third-and-12.

At one point, the Cobras ran the ball 30 consecutive times, before finally throwing a pass on its first possession of the third quarter -- the first since their opening series.

Bishop England made four trips in the red zone, but could only come up with one touchdown, that coming early in the third quarter on a Thomas Grimsley 1-yard run to make it 12-10 at the time, the closest it would get.

"We moved the ball pretty good but we stalled when we got close. Field goals aren't good enough. We need to put a full drive together, from start to finish," Cantey said. "We just aren't focused. Toughness is an issue right now, all around."

After Bishop England trimmed the deficit to two, Cane Bay answered with a 66-yard scoring drive that consumed 4:54, ending with a 5-yard touchdown by Bishop, his second of the night.

Simmons rushed 20 times for 114 yards, while Enos added 77 yards on 20 attempts in the win.

Stephen Griffith paced the Bishops with seven catches for 132 yards.

Ashley Ridge plays at Cane Bay next week, while Bishop England will be at Burke.

CB--Hall 10 run (kick failed)

CB--Bishop 6 run (kick failed)

BE--Costa 34 field goal

BE--Grimsley 1 run (kick good)

CB--Bishop 5 run (conversion good)

BE--Costa 20 field goal

CB--Wimmer 37 field goal