Just a few minutes before kickoff at Chambers Field on Friday, Bishop Dwenger head coach Jason Garrett laid a statement onto his players.
“Let’s have some fun tonight!” yelled Garrett.
The Saints had plenty of that against North Side.
Bishop Dwenger’s 27-14 victory over the Legends on Friday was closer than the score indicated, but it also made clear who rules the SAC at this point in the season.
While North Side entered the game looking to make a point that Week 1’s rout of Snider wasn’t a fluke, the Saints emerged as the one making the statement.
“We heard all week how explosive their offense was,” Bishop Dwenger senior Devon Tippmann said. “We came out, set the tone and shut ’em down.”
While do-everything quarterback Duce Taylor had another big night for the Legends, throwing for 320 yards and a touchdown, Bishop Dwenger made North completely one-dimensional. Counting sacks, the Legends finished with negative-23 yards rushing.
Coach Mike Brevard knew that for his team to win on Friday, it had to execute in all three facets. For the majority of the game, the Legends did just that.
But the few errors were costly:
- North Side struggled in the field position game, shanking a few punts while Bishop Dwenger pinned the Legends back time and again.
- A Duce Taylor fumble on a sack by Matthew Jimenez was picked up by K.J. Tippmann and returned for a touchdown to open the scoring.
- The Saints finished 8-of-14 on third downs, with several conversions coming on third-and-medium situations.
- North allowed Bishop Dwenger to execute a near-flawless two-minute offense late in first half, going up 14-6 at the break with a late TD.
- Momentum gained in tying the game at 14 in the third quarter quickly evaporated when the Saints responded with a go-ahead score on the very next possession.
All told, the Legends showed they could hang with Bishop Dwenger on the field, something that was still being questioned entering the night. But when it came to making plays when they counted, the Saints were able to do that more regularly than North.
The Saints ground down the Legends in the trenches over the course of four quarters. While North did an exceptional job for the better part of the game in the trenches, linemen were gassed when Dwenger began grinding out yards. A 10-play, 56-yard touchdown drive in the fourth took nearly six minutes off the clock, putting the Saints on top by two scores and leave North Side will barely five minutes in an effort to come back.
While one team prepped to head home happy while the other felt the sting of a loss for the first time in 2020, Blitz noticed the salutes that each team gave the other – complete with waves, a few hugs and helmets held high. After four quarters of physical action, both squads found camaraderie and respect with each other.
As Bishop Dwenger moves to 2-0, it looks forward to the next challenge sitting between it and a return of the Victory Bell off Washington Center Road. Meanwhile, North Side preps for another huge challenge as it heads to Carroll in Week 3.
Blitz? Well, he is already licking his chops for a potential rematch between these two come sectional time. Last year, Bishop Dwenger won the first matchup 36-0 before having to earn it in the playoffs with a 35-22 win.
Can the Legends find a way come late October? Will Brenden Lytle (152 total yards, three TDs) lead the Saints with more veteran leadership and playmaking at QB?
Yeah, Blitz is already excited for Round II.
These opinions represent those of Blitz and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Blitz on Twitter at Blitz_OTH
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