Father Ryan Recap

The Owls played one of their best games of the season last Friday night against Father Ryan. Unfortunately, they could not hold the lead and ultimately fell to the Fighting Irish, 27-21. 
Junior Gavin Gatere helped spark a rushing attack, particularly in the first half. After the Owl defense forced two punts in the first quarter, Gatere made short work of the Owls’ second possession as he burst through the line on the first play and outraced every defender to score from 68 yards out to give MUS the early lead.  
The defense continued to stymie the Irish, but then Father Ryan forced a turnover and turned it into a field goal to cut the Owl lead to 7-3 early in the second quarter. 
The Owls answered on their next drive as a nice balance of 5 runs and 5 passes got the hosts close. On 4th and 3 from the Father Ryan 17-yard line, Brady Hughes hit Kyle Sneed in the flat, and the senior receiver did the rest, getting into the endzone to extend the lead to 14-3 following the Joshua Wittber’s PAT. 
Father Ryan answered on its next possession as Joseph Derrick hit Brooks Foster from 3 yards out for the scoring pass to culminate an 8-play, 83-yard drive that took 4:03. 
Ryan continued to build momentum as Hughes was intercepted on the Owls’ next drive, but Thomas Davis ended the Ryan run just three plays after the turnover as he intercepted a pass himself and returned it 51 yards for the touchdown. The Owls led, 21-10, late in the half. 
But Ryan showed how explosive offensively that they could be. Starting its next drive with just 1:42 left in the half, they hit passes of 23, 24, and 8 yards that allowed the visitors to score as they cut the deficit to 21-17 going into halftime. 
Ryan took the lead early in the third quarter. After having forced a 3-and-out, the visitors started from the MUS 45 and needed just 4 plays to score as Derrick hit Jack Reilly from 7 yards out as Ryan now led for the first time in the game, 24-21. 
The Owls just could not sustain any drives as they did not pick up a second-half first down until early in the fourth quarter. The closest MUS could get in the second half to scoring was getting to the Ryan 36, but facing 4th and 8 early in the fourth quarter, Hughes could not connect with John Painter, and the threat ended. 
Ryan added a field goal late in the third quarter to extend the lead to 27-21. They tried to build a two-score lead midway through the fourth, but Gatere blocked the 39-yard field goal to keep hope alive for the Owls. Unfortunately, MUS could not move the ball consistently against a very good Father Ryan team and fell to 2-5, 0-2 in the division. 
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Memphis University School

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