Bishop Ford loses to Mount but still clinches AA playoff spot
Bishop Ford had its five-game winning streak snapped on Sunday when it lost 22-12 to Mount St. Michael at Aviator. However, that loss is but a blip for the Falcons, as they have clinched the CHSFL AA playoffs for the first time in the program’s 15-year history.
“I think it’s great,” Bishop Ford coach Jim Esposito said. “The kids are down a little right now, but I told them that from here on every game is a playoff game. If they compete like that we’ll be fine. We just have to work on a few things and get a few things straightened out. It’s a huge thing to get to the AA playoffs. That’s been our goal for the last few years. We won the A championship, we had to move up and to play a AAA team like this down to the wire its definitely good for us.”
The Falcons have had a relatively easy schedule so far this year, but Sunday’s game was a real test. Mount is a AAA team and even playing at that level was unheard of a few years ago. Not only did Bishop Ford stay right in there with them all game, but at times they looked like the better team.
Ford started the game off strong as its defense held Mount on their first drive and the offense scored on their first chance, when quarterback James Esposito found Malik Warner open for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Ford then held off Mount again, this time forcing a turnover on downs at their own 18-yard line. All cylinders were firing as running back Jevon Smith broke loose for an 81-yard touchdown run as Bishop Ford grabbed a 12-0 lead still in the first quarter.