‘It was like a playoff game in August’: Cardinal Gibbons wins close game vs Palmetto
Cardinal Gibbons quarterback Brody Palhegyi had to grow up quick last year. He was thrust into the starting role two weeks into the high school playoffs and guided his Chiefs to three wins and their first state championship.
After Cardinal Gibbons’ shutout loss to Northwestern last weekend to open the 2019 season, the Chiefs needed to see Palhegyi find a way step up once again.
And did he ever on Friday.
The junior quarterback led three touchdown drives while completing 14 of 24 passes for 232 yards and a key touchdown to receiver Troy Stellato as the host Chiefs defeated the Palmetto Panthers 23-21.
The Chiefs (1-1) held off two Palmetto last-ditch drives in the final two minutes to seal the win.
And it was a needed win for Gibbons, a team that wanted to avoid going 0-2 for a second consecutive season.
“I can’t tell you we played our best football because we made a lot of mistakes,” Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc said, “but our guys fought the whole time a lot better than last week when we were inept in many ways. ... It was like a playoff game in August.”
The Chiefs went into halftime up 2-0 on the Panthers, a contender in Class 8A.
What followed in the final 24 minutes was a back-and-forth affair. Gibbons took a 9-0 lead midway through the third quarter after marching 75 yards down the field, capped by a 7-yard jump pass from running back Coleman Bennett to tight end Bryson Williams.
Both teams had their ensuing drives stall near midfield before five consecutive touchdown drives kept the game interesting down the stretch although Gibbons never trailed.
▪ Palmetto went 74 yards, highlighted by a 40-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Smith to Mike Jackson to make it 9-7 with 58.6 seconds left. Gibbons’ lead cut to 9-7.
▪ Palhegyi then had his best play of the night, hitting Stellato on a crossing pattern 10 yards down the field, with Stellato taking it the rest of the way for a 70-yard catch and run touchdown. Gibbons’ back up 16-7.
▪ Jackson took the ensuing kickoff about 60 yards to set Palmetto (1-1) up at the Cardinal Gibbons 25 yard line. A 25-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Brashard Smith cut the deficit back to 16-14.
▪ Gibbons, aided by two Palmetto unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, drove 63 yards down the field to set up a 3-yard touchdown run from Bennett. 23-14 Gibbons.
▪ Palmetto dropped its deficit down to two points one final time after marching 76 yards down the field. Kevin Smith, who went 5 of 6 for 70 yards on the drive, ended the sequence with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brashard Smith with about 4:30 left to play.
But the Panthers’ final two attempts to take the lead in the waning minutes failed. A drive that started at their 6 yard line resulted in a turnover on downs in four plays. Palmetto quickly recovered a Gibbons fumble but turned the ball over on downs again to seal their fate.
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