Archbishop McCarthy continues remarkable season by beating Norland again

It’s always difficult beating a team twice in the same season. But as they’ve shown all year, the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks were up to the challenge.

Robert Kerns threw two touchdown passes, and Damien Grant added a rushing score to lead McCarthy to a 24-14 win over Norland in a Region 4-4A semifinal.

Defensively, McCarthy repeatedly came up with big plays, forcing three turnovers in the second half, alone. Mahki Vance and Ji’koi Highsmith each had interceptions, and Julian Garcia recovered a fumbled punt.

McCarthy (10-2) won its fifth straight game, and again took care of business against Norland (6-6). On Sept. 25, the Mavericks defeated the Vikings, 21-14.

“It’s always tough to beat a team twice,” McCarthy coach Jake Pew said. “Worry about us. Focus on us. Our game plan was good, I think, on all three sides of the ball. We came out and we executed, and we had some things go our way, which I think was a big difference tonight.”

McCarthy moves on, and the road to the state playoffs doesn’t get any easier. Next Friday, the Mavericks will be in another rematch situation, facing American Heritage.

On Oct. 17, at home, McCarthy defeated the defending state-champion Patriots, 13-10.

Also on Friday, Heritage easily handled Plantation, 48-7.

“Same process,” said Kerns, who had scoring passes of 36 and 19 yards. “Believe that we can do what we need to do. So focus on us, and getting better every day.”

As the top seed, McCarthy will be at home against Heritage.

Throughout the season, McCarthy has found ways to grind out victories. In a physical game against Norland, the Mavericks received contributions in all phases: offense, defense and special teams.

In the first quarter, McCarthy recovered a kickoff that wasn’t fielded by Norland deep in its territory, setting up Michael Johnson’s 23-yard field goal that gave the Mavericks a three-point lead.

“One, we’ve got a relentless group,” Pew said. “Two, we’ve got a group that’s been playing together for three or four years. This is a special group. That’s what I said to them in pregame today. ‘We’ve got a special group of guys, and this is a special year.’ Obviously, we’re not done. We’re excited about next week.”

Still, to advance, the Mavericks dealt with some adversity on Friday night.

Norland opened the scoring at 7:47 of the first quarter on Kai Moore’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Kenton Dopson.

The drive was set up by Javan Allison’s interception. During the drive, Moore hooked up with Marquis Siggers on a nine-yard pass play to McCarthy’s 15. But on the play, Siggers suffered a shoulder injury, and didn’t return.

After falling behind, McCarthy responded.

Kendall Brown gave McCarthy favorable field position with a long kickoff return to the Vikings’ 28. Five plays later, Grant scored on a 14-yard run, tying the game.

Special teams again played a role on the ensuing kickoff, which bounced around the 20-yard line, and recovered by the Mavericks at Norland’s 22.

Johnson’s 23-yard field goal put the Mavericks in front, 10-7.

Before halftime, the Mavericks made it a two-score game, on Kerns’ 36-yard pass play to Ja’kobi Williams, making it 17-7.

“Last time we played them, we were very run heavy,” Kerns said. “So, we knew they were going to load the box. The only way we could start running the ball, and getting them out of that box, we needed to hit them over the head. We did hit them over the head a couple of times. Got them out of [the box], and we were able to get some runs in there.”

Norland received the kickoff to open the second half, and immediately threatened. Kevin Peeples broke loose on a 32-yard run. But after driving to the Maverick’s 25-yard line, McCarthy’s defense forced a turnover on downs at its 19.

In the final minute of the third quarter, Kerns threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Ja’kobi Williams.

It didn’t take long for Norland to battle back. Two plays, to be precise. Moore completed a 19-yard pass to Armani Strong, setting up Jaden Daniels’ 36-yard touchdown pass play from Moore.

In the fourth quarter, McCarthy’s defense stepped up, with Highsmith’s interception. And in the final minute, Daniels iced it with an interception.

“We ran the football well,” Pew said. “We came up with some big plays defensively, with some turnovers. We had some things go our way on special teams. I think that was really the difference.”