Patriots Ruin Oskaloosa Homecoming 21-12

OSKALOOSA, KS - Christ Prep ruined a beautiful homecoming evening for the Oskaloosa Bears last night by dominating the line of scrimmage and raising their season record to 3-1 with a 21-12 victory.  Will Cook rushed for 157 and two touchdowns as the Patriots did most their damage on the ground.  The Patriots marched 80 yards in seven plays on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead and Oskaloosa's wedge offense struggled against the aggressive Patriot defense all night.

The Patriot defense held Oskaloosa to two scores in their 21-12 victory.

The Patriots grabbed control of the game midway through the second quarter when Oskaloosa had penetrated into Patriot territory but the drive stalled.  On a crucial 4th & 5 play, Clark Bee, sacked Harris for a loss to give the ball back to CPA.  Metzdorf then led the Patriots to the Oskaloosa 15 yard line including a 28 yard scamper on 4th & 3 from the Bears 39 but Gabe Jones 32 field goal attempt fell just short. 

Isaac Smith awaits this pass from Tanner Metzdorf.

The Bears did do enough to make things interesting.  Their ground attack kept the ball out of the Patriot offense playmakers hands and consumed enough clock to keep the game close.  Luis Rodriguez scored on a 5 yard pitch from quarterback Colby Harris but the 2pt conversion was stopped by cornerback, Chase Stamatis.

Stamatis then returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Bears 30 to put the Patriots in scoring position and Metzdorf completed all three of his passes on the drive, capped off by a 1 yard toss to Matt Dawdy with 57 seconds remaining in the half to make the score to 14-6.

Oskaloosa drove the second half kickoff to the CPA 30 before Metzdorf picked off a Harris pass and returned it 23 yards to the 33 yard line.  With the Bears eating up the clock and the Patriots unable to generate enough offense to score CPA could not afford any mistakes but Justin Sharp took a Harris pass inside the red zone and Rodriguez scored a few plays later to make the score 14-12.  Then the Bears recovered the onside kick at the Patriot 38 but could not muster a first down.

Metzdorf picks up a Christ Prep first down.

Regan Hurley led the CPA defense in another solid performance with 15  tackles.  Metzdorf contributed 4 tackles to go with his interception.  David Schilling notched a sack along with his career high 10 tackles.

Next up for CPA is the undefeated Midway Vikings on Saturday.

Patriots Winning Battles

How important are turnovers?  Last Friday night, Christ Prep won the turnover battle.  Last Friday night, Christ Prep lost the war.  The 6-0 defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for a team that played hard and played well.  McLouth was favored to win - the Bulldogs were ranked #11 among the 41 2A schools while CPAs rank would have put them at #21.  McLouth gained more yards 277 compared to 196 for the Patriots.  But usually the team that can limit their big mistakes can bring home the victory.  That didn't hold true last week.

Christ Prep picked off a pass and recovered two fumbles and essentially gained another when McLouth punter, Nick McAferty, bobbled a high snap on fourth down at his own 20.  CPA on the other hand had zero turnovers and yet only penetrated into the McLouth red zone twice during the game.

Here's a look at the drive summary:

Here are some reasons CPA came up short:

1) Poor special teams play resulted in poor field position for the Patriots including a kickoff and a punt that were not returned and resulted in drives starting inside their own 10.  

2) McLouth turnovers kept the Bulldogs out of the endzone but didn't help the Patriots.  The interception resulted in a touchback and the first fumble occurred at the CPA 30.

3) Penalties turned valuable field position into 3rd and unmakeable.

For the first three games of the season Christ Prep is a +5 turnover margin against McLouth they were +3.   Lesson learned.  Usually the team that wins the turnover battle wins the war. 

Usually.

McLouth Defense shuts out Patriots 6-0

KANSAS CITY - The McLouth Bulldogs shut out the Christ Prep Patriots tonight 6-0 at Center HS.  The defensive slugfest started on the first possession and then continued for the rest of the night.  Last season at home the Bulldogs had no trouble putting points on the board, cruising to a 42-7 victory but this year it was a different story.  McLouth's only score came on a 30 pass from quarterback Jack Courtney to all-state receiver Nick McAferty with 8:18 to go in the game.  Prior to that play neither team threatened to score.

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs did penetrate the Patriot red zone to the twelve yard line but Chase Stamatis picked off the Drew Cerney pass in the end zone to quash that scoring opportunity.  And in the second quarter with McLouth deep in Christ Prep territory, Will Cook recovered a Courtney fumble.  

Chase Stamatis with a 3rd quarter reception against McLouth.  The Patriots were shut out and lost 6-0.

When the first half ended with the score 0-0, intensity filled the air.  When the fourth quarter started with the score unchanged you could cut the tension with a knife.  The Patriot defense was led by Tanner Metzdorf (11 tackles) and Cameron Rucker (10 tackles & a fumble recovery) but every Patriot contributed to the stellar defensive effort.

David Schilling, Stephen Malloy, and Charlie  Davis give Tanner Metzdorf time to throw deep.

Poor field position plagued the Patriots all night but Coach Jay Geeding's bend but don't break defense stymied the Bulldog offense for three and a half quarters before McAferty got loose.

Offensively, Christ Prep could not get anything going until late in the game and even when they did they hurt themselves with penalties.  Metzdorf's passing line was 13-24-0 for 139 yard before the final two possessions when he went only completed one of 10 passes with the Bulldogs in a prevent defense.  He finished 14-34-0 with 150 yards and 45 of that came on a pass to Stamatis late in the first half.

Cook rumbled 38 yards off the right side sprung by a David Schilling block to set the Patriots up at the McLouth 30 but the Patriots stalled at the 23.  Cook finished the night with 59 yards rushing.

McLouth raised their record to 2-1.  CPA dropped to 2-1 on the season and travel to Oskaloosa for a chance to redeem another loss from last season.

Will Cook carries the ball against a stingy McLouth defense.

NOTES:

McLouth recorded the first shutout of Christ Prep since the Patriots began playing 11-man football in 2006.

The CPA defense held McLouth to its lowest total since the second round playoff loss last year.

Rankings Update: CPA Rising

Christ Prep Academy saw it's ranking increase 9th among the 40 homeschool team at Homeschool Football.  The Patriots began the season at 23rd but have climbed the chart by winning their first two games.

McClouth visits CPA on Saturday for a key matchup between the two teams.  McLouth dominated last years game 42-7.  The Bulldogs, however, return only 7 letterman.  McClouth is ranked 11th in Kansas class 2A whereas CPA is ranked 21st according to MaxPreps list of the 41 schools.

Saturday night 7:00pm at Center High School, 8701 Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO.

Patriots Upset Douglass

DOUGLASS, KS - Visiting Christ Prep Academy Patriots jumped out to an early lead when Davis White took the opening kickoff for a touchdown. It was a lead they would never relinquish. CPA stopped Douglass on the Bulldogs first possession and then Tanner Metzdorf found Chase Stamatis for a 30 yard completion to the 1 yard line. Three plays later the Patriots scored on a Metzdorf run to push the score to 13-0.

Matt Dawdy stuns Douglass on this 74 yard TD reception.

Both teams struggled to sustain drives due to miscues and penalties but in the second quarter Metzdorf hit Matt Dawdy in stride for a 74 yard catch & run and the Patriots had the Bulldogs on their heels. Douglass size and strength seized momentum of the game and they scored two touchdowns before halftime to make it 20-12.

Douglass overcame their own mistakes by making spectacular plays - once converting on 3rd & goal from the 20 yard line for their first touchdown an



d later in the game scoring on 3rd & goal from 27 yards out.

CPA couldn't get much going on the ground but was able to make plays themselves, Metzdorf found Stamatis for another touchdown pass and the Gabe Jones kick made the score 27-12. Then Jones did damage on the defensive side picking off a pass and returning it 35 yards to the Douglass 15. Two plays later, Will Cook ran off the left side for another CPA touchdown and the Jones kick made the score 33-12.

Douglass answered with a 70 yard scamper to the CPA 10 and that set up a touchdown to make it 33-20.

Will Cook carries the ball in the CPA victory over Douglass 40-28.

Douglass then put themselves in a passing situation and Cale Thomas made them pay by picking up a Douglass fumble and returning it for a CPA defensive score and the Bulldogs backs were against the wall. But Douglass fought back and scored on again but ran out of time as the Patriots move to 2-0 on the season and the Bulldogs drop to 0-2.

Cale Thomas returns the Douglass fumble for a 4th quarter touchdown.

Chase Stamatis clears the way for Isaac Smith on the jet sweep.

NOTES:

- Metzdorf was 12-19-0 220 yds and 2 TDs, clearly the best game of his career.

- The Patriots were heavily penalized for the second week in a row.  Against Jeff County North they had 13 - 112 yard and against Douglass 9 - 85 yards.

Christ Prep wins opener 40-7 at Jefferson County North

WINCHESTER, KS - Christ Prep avenged their loss in their opening game last year by thumping the Jefferson County North Chargers 40-7.  Tanner Metzdorf, a sophomore from Peculiar, Missouri shined by rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another in his debut at quarterback.  The Patriots dominated the line of scrimmage anchored by seniors Regan Hurley and David Schilling and this opened up the run game for Metzdorf and Will Cook who had a game high 149 yards rushing and a TD.

Will Cook gets loose in the first half of Christ Prep's 40-7 victory over Jeff Co. North.

Jeff County North was unable to mount any offense in the first half and CPA scored three first quarter TDs to blow the game open.  The highlight was a Metzdorf bomb to Chase Stamatis for a 71 score to make the score 21-0.  

Newcomer Gabe Jones, filling in for the cramping Cook, nailed a 27 field goal to put CPA up 26-0 at the half.

The Patriots didn't make it easy for themselves by being penalized for 65 yards in the first half alone.  But their smothering defense kept the Chargers offense off the field most of the game.  Metzdorf contributed on defense as well, grabbing a first quarter interception to set up a Cook 10 yd touchdown run.

Isaac Smith on the jet sweep.

Chase Stamatis fields the Jeff County punt while Davis White takes out Charger defenders.

Metzdorf then lost his entire starting receiving corp from the first half when Stamatis went down with a hip flexor strain, first year starter Ethan Moran tore his ACL and Davis White was suffering from cramps.  But that didn't stop the Christ Prep offense from reaching paydirt twice in the second half with Metzdorf and Cook both scoring on short touchdown runs.

The CPA defense pitched a shutout until the final minute when quarterback Bryce Noll set up his own 1 yard touchdown run by throwing a 34 yard pass to Jimi Pisachubbe.  The defense also recorded a safety when Noll was called for intentional grounding in the endzone.  The Patriots defense swarmed to the ball throughout the game with tackles for loss by Hurley (1 for -4), Charlie Davis (3 for -9), Schilling (1 for -6), Cameron Blair (2 for -12), and Metzdorf (1 for -2).

As the Patriots travel to Douglass next week the team will need to see more players be prepared to fill in for their injured teammates.

Patriots Beat Jefferson Co. North

The Christ Prep Patriots avenged last year's opening loss to Jefferson County North by toppling the Chargers 40-7 last night at Winchester, Kansas. The Patriots, 1-0, for the 2013 campaign, will travel next Friday to Douglas, Kansas.

Stay tuned for new Patriot blogging developments as we anticipate the development of a new and improved site.