By Joe Pantorno
Jordan Fuchs was wearing loud, bright orange cleats Saturday afternoon, but the senior star stood out for more than that in Christ the King’s 28-0 win over host Cardinal Spellman in a CHSFL Class AA-A game.
Christ the King looked to their star receiver not only for offense, but on defense to help it earn its first football league win of the season and snap a three-game losing streak. In a slow offensive first half, Fuchs provided the Royals’ first score when he blocked a punt and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
“I just went after it and the ball was in my hand,” Fuchs said. “I was like, ‘Oh man!’ and ran it.”
Fuchs continued to be a threat at defensive end and managed to record a sack on one of the few plays he was in.
“I mean, Coach [Tyree] Allison played D-line so he taught me what to do,” Fuchs said. “Basically, it’s just run after the quarterback … it’s fun.”
He later returned to his normal role as a threatening receiver. His three receptions for 41 yards all came in the middle of the fourth quarter, the last a 10-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Matthew Gluick.
“The play before the cornerback was talking some trash,” Fuchs said with a smile. “But I got him.”
The Royals defense was shutting down Spellman as their own offense looked for a spark. It was not until an interception and return by Darryl McNeil gave Christ the King (2-3, 1-3) good field position at their 43-yard line that things started to click. After a 48-yard run by Tyquwan Morales, the senior back punched in a toss play from 5 yards out to put Christ the King up two scores with 41 seconds left in the first half.
Christ the King broke the game open when a botched snap was scooped up by Frankie DiMaiolo and brought down inside the Spellman 5-yard line. Running back Joshua Senford followed a caravan of blockers into the end zone for a 4-yard to make it 21-0 with six seconds gone in the fourth quarter. Spellman is still searching for its first win.
“The defense came up pretty huge,” Allison said. “We had a really good scheme … the tempo was great and hopefully we can build on that.”
Building has been the goal all season, Allison’s first as CK coach. He knows the program has struggled recently. Drastic improvements will not be seen immediately, but he believes his team can grow from this win.
“Mentally, this does really big things to us,” Allison said. “As you know in the past we lost a lot of game. This isn’t winning a championship, but we’re taking one game at a time. Baby steps.”
