Warriors fall short in season opener vs Bishop
On August 27, 2022, the Warriors lost 20-24 to the Bishop Badgers. The game was intense, with several lead changes and two teams that were evenly matched. Although the final result was disappointing, the Warriors were competitive and played hard. They kept fighting until the whistle blew and it was time to go home.
The Badgers won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. During the first quarter, the Warriors played two series on offense and one on defense. Their first series on offense featured two first downs gained by NG/RB Joe Cassidy on a rush for 19 yards and WR Jackson Resurreccion on a reception for 11 yards. The drive ended with a turnover on downs. On defense, the Warriors held the Badgers to a field goal. Back on offense, RB/CB Daniel Abraham and RB/OLB Garret England were major contributors in the run game and a 21 yard pass to Jackson Resurreccion brought the Warriors into the red zone. Unfortunately, the drive and the first quarter were ended by a fumble that returned the ball to the Badgers deep in their own territory. They were ahead 3-0.
During the second quarter, the Warriors put points on the board during one of their two offensive series and didn’t allow a score on their three defensive series. The defense forced the Badger offense into punting formation, but a successful fake punt continued the drive. Thankfully, it didn’t last much longer as the run game was smothered and the quarterback wasn’t able to complete a pass. The offense took the field on their 8 yard line and immediately moved forward thanks to a long pass from QB Drew Harrison to Jackson Resurreccion for 28 yards. RB Conner Burke then caught a pass for 6 yards, but the offense wasn’t able to get a first down after Jackson’s reception. The Warriors led 6-3.
Neither team scored during the third quarter. The Warriors kicked off and weren’t able to stop the returner until he reached their 21 yard line. Although the Badgers entered the red zone and were dangerously close to scoring, even reaching the 3 yard line, they were stopped by some excellent tackles and a pass breakup by SS/WR Josiah Stavinoha. A turnover on downs returned the ball to the Warrior offense and they moved down the field thanks to a 17 yard scramble by Drew Harrison. Two plays later, the Warriors ended another offensive drive with a fumble that stopped their progress at their 24 yard line. The Badgers, deep in Warrior territory once again, had a great opportunity to score. However, OLB/RB Caleb Harmon stood in their way and intercepted their first play of the drive and plowed through several Badgers for a pick 6. Unfortunately, the touchdown was called back due to a penalty for an illegal block, but the Warriors still received possession. They didn’t score on that possession but completed some passes to Jackson Resurreccion, TE Ezra Criswell, and Garrett England. The long drive ended at the Badger’s 49 yard line with a turnover on downs, where the opposing team received the ball for one play before the quarter ended. The score was still Warriors 6, Badgers 3.
The fourth quarter closed out the game in dramatic fashion. Both teams scored multiple touchdowns, with the Warriors ultimately falling short. The Badger’s offensive drive from the third quarter went into the fourth quarter and didn’t last more than a few plays. A long incompletion that was nearly intercepted by Daniel Abraham was the beginning of the end of that drive. The Warriors stormed down the field with a 43 yard pass to Jackson Resurreccion and a 13 yard pass to Ezra Criswell. Joe Cassidy rushed into the endzone for a 3 yard touchdown. Daniel Abraham kicked the extra point. The Warriors tried an onside kick but were unable to recover it and the Badgers got the ball at their 40 yard line. Three plays later, they scored a touchdown. Garrett England took his revenge in the form of a 27 yard rush, followed shortly by a 23 yard rush by Ezra Criswell. Drew Harrison padded the Warrior’s lead with an 11 yard rushing touchdown and K Ethan Rice added an extra point. Now the score was 20-10 in favor of the Warriors. But the Badgers were far from done. They stormed down the field and the defense was unable to stop them from completing a 52 yard pass and rushing into the end zone. Instead of regaining a comfortable lead, the Warrior offense fumbled on their first snap of the series, and the Badger offense was unforgiving. Another long pass, a hard run, and a penalty set them up to score another touchdown. The Warrior’s former lead was now completely gone as the Badgers went up 24-20. The score was there to stay. With the help of the passing game the Warrior offense made it to the red zone with under 3 minutes left. At one point they were on the opponent’s 3 yard line. Drew Harrison threw a pass to Jackson Resurreccion, who caught the ball and fell out of the corner of the end zone. The catch was ruled out of bounds. One penalty later, the Warriors were pushed back to the 10 yard line on third down. Everyone in blue and orange was holding their breath and waiting for a miracle, but the offense couldn’t reach the end zone. The final play on fourth down was a rush by Drew Harrison for no gain, and the dejected offense left the field. The Badgers took a knee and the game was over. The final score was Warriors 20, Badgers 24. Although it was a hard fought game, it was still a tough loss and not the outcome any Warrior wanted.
Several Warriors on offense earned some impressive stats. Daniel Abraham had 89 rushing yards on 13 carries for an average of 6.8 yards per carry. The freshman’s longest run was 23 yards and he scored a 10 yard rushing touchdown. Garrett England provided the second most rushing yards for the Warrior offense, with 53 total yards on 14 carries for an average of 3.8 yards per carry. Garrett’s best run was for 27 yards in the third quarter. Joe Cassidy had 5 rushes for 32 yards and a touchdown. The new starting quarterback Drew Harrison was 14/24 for 233 yards and no interceptions. His longest completion was to Jackson Resurreccion for 43 yards. He also helped the run game with 6 carries for 42 yards, with an average of 7 yards rushing, the highest of the night. He also had a rushing touchdown. Drew’s excellent performance earned him a quarterback rating of 91.1. Jackson Resurreccion was the source of most of Drew’s passing yards, with 6 receptions for 118 receiving yards. He reeled in a 43 yard pass that was the longest play on offense. Ezra Criswell had the second most receiving yards, with a total of 4 catches for 76 yards and a long of 24 yards.
On the other side of the ball, Caleb Harmon was a force to be reckoned with as he collected 15 tackles and an interception. Daniel Abraham, Mark Haynes, and Reagan Zyblot all tied for the second most tackles with 8. Reagan’s cousin and OLB Peter Zyblot and Drew’s younger brother Luke Harrison were tied for third most tackles with a total of 6 each. CB Anthony Carias, Josiah Stavinoha, FS/TE Cameron Frank, and Daniel Abraham each had 2 pass breakups for a total of 6 for the defense.
After the game, I interviewed junior QB Drew Harrison about his performance, the new offense, and the team’s mindset heading into next week.
Ella: First of all, how are you feeling about the team’s performance tonight?
Drew: I’m feeling that we didn’t execute very well but we had a lot of heart and we had a lot of really great plays and a lot of things to build on. We had some guys that balled out. Jackson had I think over 100 receiving yards; Conner did a really good job out of the backfield. Defense did great out of the first half. There’s obviously things to work on; we didn’t want the game to end like this but it’s the first week so we’ll build off of that.
Ella: What are your takeaways from your performance tonight? What did you do well and what areas of your game do you want to improve?
Drew: So I feel like tonight I spread the ball fairly well and I kept my eyes downfield. I’ll take that as a win and lose situation because keeping my eyes downfield helped me to see receivers but in certain situations I didn’t see yard markers; didn’t see that I could just run for it; didn’t see the linemen closing in on me. I think I ran fairly well and spread the ball.
Ella: Last season you were quarterback on the JV team and over the offseason you earned the role of of starting quarterback on Varsity. How are you handling the pressure that comes with a transition like that?
Drew: It is a lot of pressure but I’ve kind of always been prepared for this moment. I was eighth grade quarterback on junior high and I kind of knew that I would end up back here at TCW. Yeah there is pressure but I don’t really let it get to me. I kind of just focus in on what I’m supposed to do and don’t let the talk get to me and know that I have to be the best self that I can.
Ella: Who are some of your teammates that stood out to you tonight?
Drew: Again, as I mentioned, Jackson and Conner. Offensively, those two guys were crazy. Defensively I’m gonna have to say Caleb. I think he had one interception, maybe two? Caleb did a great job on defense. There were many standout guys I could shout out a lot; many guys that stepped up. Daniel Abraham was also one of those guys who did a great job offensively and defensively had a couple broken up passes.
Ella: In what ways has the offense changed since last season?
Drew: Last season we were run heavy, this season we are changing to more pass heavy. I’m not sure, but I was told that I had over 200 passing yards and I think that’s more than the single game passing yards that we had last year which shows a bunch about our offense and how we’re going to run things. So we’ve changed it a good amount we’ve changed it from run heavy to mostly pass heavy. We can run still, we can run fairly well but now we can pass.
Ella: What is the team’s mindset going to be heading into next week?
Drew: I think the team’s mindset next week is to lock in on the small things. I think that a lot of us including myself are focused on all the big things; all the big plays we’re gonna make, all the big touchdowns and stuff, but if we don’t focus on the small things the big things won’t come. So I think this next week our mindset is get the small things right and the big things will come later. And against a team like Kincaid we really have to execute the small things or we’re gonna get…(Drew trails off. Kincaid is the highest ranked team the Warriors will face this season).