By Joseph Staszewski
Holy Cross’ Jordan Francklin left the Chaminade football field proud of his team’s second half effort.
Unfortunately, it came after the second-seeded Flyers jumped on the Knights early to grab control of the game and never relinquished it.
“With this football thing, you have to pounce on your opponents,” Francklin said.
Chaminade did that.
The Flyers’ John Tigh returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and Chaminade recorded a safety when a high snap on a punt rolled out of the back of the end zone to take a nine-point advantage. The sixth-seeded Knights didn’t score until the third quarter of an eventual 24-12 defeat in the CHSFL Class AAA football semifinals Saturday afternoon. Cross, making its first appearance in the final four since 2009, trailed 24-0 at the half.
“They took the first play to the house on us, that safety,” Francklin said. “Little things in this football game that really, really mattered.”
His team didn’t go down without making it interesting. An interception at midfield by Brian Contino helped set up an eventual 1-yard scoring run by Brandon Pelzer to pull the Knights within 24-6 with 4:48 left in the third quarter. Holy Cross recovered the onside kick on the Flyers’ 48-yard line, but sophomore quarterback Joshua Evans threw an interception on their first play of scrimmage. Francklin and Pelzer combined for just 41 yards on the ground.
The Knights (7-4) failed to capitalize when Brandon Jackson returned a punt to the Chaminade 20-yard line in the third quarter. They did strike again. Diwani Wiles-Singletary scooped up a fumble and returned it 46 yards for a score to get Holy Cross as close as 24-12 with 7:46 remaining in the game.
“I saw the ball and I saw green,” Wiles-Singletary said. “I had to get my team to the end zone.”
The Knights saw its final drive stall at the Flyers’ 32-yard line, leaving them unable to reach the championship game. Head Coach Tom Pugh took some of the blame. He said with so many players going both ways, he took some of his top kids off special teams and it hurt them.
His defense, however, was again solid, but allowed key third and fourth down conversions. A fourth-down pass from Sean Cerrone to Robert Speranza. It led to Cerrone throwing a 14-yard touchdown from Speranza (19 carries, 87 yards) to give Chaminade (11-1) a 17-0 lead on the opening play of the third quarter. Cerrone, who had 110 yards of total offense, later added a 16-yard scoring run.
“They’re a good team,” Pugh said. “We’re wearing down. We got some kids going both sides of the ball. You know that’s going to happen.”
Even in defeat Holy Cross was left proud of what it accomplished this season and believes the future is bright, thanks to the progress of its offensive line and Evans. The Knights seniors will hang their hats on getting the program back to the semifinals and picked up a playoff win over St. Francis Prep in the quarterfinals.
“It was a great year,” Francklin said. “It’s progress. That’s what life is about.”
