Nolan Catholic rolls past Bishop Dunne, eliminates defending TAPPS D1 state champ
It wasn’t the greatest of starts for Nolan Catholic during its playoff opener on Saturday night.
The Vikings fumbled on the game’s first play from scrimmage and Bishop Dunne recovered, only to take the next play in for an 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Alex Orji.
But Nolan, which is ranked as the No. 2 private school team in the state, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, went on to score the next 45 points to knock out Dunne, the defending state champs, 45-14 in a TAPPS Division 1 area round game at Doskocil Stadium on the campus of Nolan Catholic High School.
“There’s a lot of respect for Bishop Dunne and the type of players and coaches they have. They’re a good team and well coached,” Nolan coach David Beaudin said. “Our team has so many weapons and it’s always next man up.”
It was the program’s first playoff win since 2015.
The Vikings (11-0) advance to face Plano John Paul II (8-3), a 21-16 winner over San Antonio Central Catholic.
“This year, we’ve emphasized on how serious each round is,” wide receiver Irene Ngabonziza said. “We’re changing the culture and it starts by finishing each game strong.”
Following the Vikings’ disastrous start, NC scored two plays after the Orji TD when running back and sophomore phenom Emeka Megwa took a dive up the middle for a 57-yard score with 10:56 left in the first quarter.
The teams traded punts, but on NC’s attempt, Dunne muffed the return and Noah Patty recovered at the BD 44. The Vikings capped off a 7-play drive on Sergio Snider’s 3-yard TD run for a 14-7 lead with 4:30 to go in the opening period.
Nolan’s defense forced Dunne to turn the ball over on downs on its next possession and the Vikings added to their lead, 17-7, on Riley Riethman’s 25-yard field goal.
Dunne (4-7) ran 10 plays on the next drive, covering 70 yards, but the Falcons fumbled at the NC 5 and Kaleb James picked it up for the Vikings.
Once again, Nolan got points off the turnover on a 19-yard TD pass from QB Jimmy Taylor to Ngabonziza to make it 24-7 with under three minutes left before intermission
The score capped off a 10-play, 87-yard drive that lasted 3 1/2 minutes.
“Throughout the week, we noticed their corners play off a bit so we could hit them short. Then when they start to bite, we could go deep,” said Ngabonziza, who made seven catches for 89 yards. “Our run game started to go and that helped our passing game open up tonight.”
Spencer Roof had a nice return in the third quarter for the Vikings and three plays later, Snider scored on an 8-yard run for a 31-7 lead with 8:44 left.
Snider scored his third TD from 20 yards to push him over the century mark with five minutes left in the period.
Nolan’s final score came on a Ngabonziza 29-yard TD from Taylor. Ngabonziza cut back inside three different times to make three defenders miss with two minutes on the clock.
“Week after week, our defense is out there playing with pride,” Beaudin said. “We put them in some situations tonight, but they approved it and saw it as an opportunity. I’m proud of that group and our coaching staff.”
Snider rushed 13 times for a game-high 121 yards and three TDs. Megwa added 73 yards, but didn’t play in the second half after limping off the field in the second quarter.
“Next man up and he did a heck of a job, and honestly, it didn’t surprise me,” Beaudin said.
Added Snider, “I hope Emeka comes back healthy, we need him. But I wanted to come out and try my best. First thing I thought of was to help my brother off the field. Second thing was ‘now it’s my time, I have to help the team win.’”
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 9:56 PM.
