‘Game of inches’: Bishop Kenny takes advantage of young Matanzas Pirates' mistakes in season football opener

After a Matanzas onside kick recovery was ruled illegal, the Crusaders piled on, handing the Pirates a 42-14 loss.

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It had the makings of a turning point. Matanzas quarterback Caden Burchfield had just delivered a 26-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Larywon. It brought the Pirates to within a touchdown of Bishop Kenny at 14-6 early in the second quarter on Aug. 23. And Matanzas coach Matt Forrest elected to take his chances with an onside kick.

The gamble seemed to pay off. Ladarian Baker leaped in the air to corral the kick and the Pirates appeared to have regained possession. The players celebrated. The opening-day crowd at the Ship rose to its feet with a roar.

But after Matanzas fans had remained in their cars as the school waited out a lightning warning that delayed kickoff, the game officials would put another damper on the festivities, ruling the recovery was illegal and giving the ball to the Crusaders.

“Obviously in the moment, our kids thought we got the ball,” Forrest said. “But that’s 100% the right call. You’ve got to allow the ball to hit the ground before you can recover it. It’s a safety concern. They took that play out for good reason. We were going to let Ladarian cover it because of his range. But he didn’t let it hit the ground.”

The Jacksonville team took advantage of the short field to score its third touchdown on the way to a 42-14 victory.

“They rebounded from that and made us pay for it,” Forrest said. “It was a short kick, gave them a short field and started their 21-0 run (to end the first half). Bishop Kenny is a playoff-caliber team, and they have a first-class program. We’re a young, inexperienced team. We just weren’t ready to handle that type of deficit in week 1. We’re going to grow from it.”

QUARTERBACK’S DEBUT

Matanzas junior quarterback Caden Burchfield was making his first appearance in a varsity game. In fact, he was playing in his first game that counts since early last season.

“He had an injury in a JV game against Atlantic last year. So this was the first time he’s been on the field in about a year,” Forrest said.

Burchfield showed what he could do when he found Larywon open in the middle of the field for a touchdown in the first minute of the second quarter.

“It was soft coverage,” Larywon said. “I did a double move and he put it right where I could catch it in a perfect spot. It all went perfectly. Everyone did their job. That's how it works. If we all do our job, if we all execute, that's what happens.”

The throw was the kind of a confidence booster a young quarterback needs.

“Coach called the double move, and I saw the middle of the field was open,” Burchfield said. “It was a designed rollout. I look to the right and I see (Larywon’s) open off that double move, and the safety is tripping. So I know if I put it out there, he's going to go get it.”

It was an up-and-down season opener for Burchfield and the rest of the Pirates.

“I think it’s just minimizing the small mistakes, putting a little more zip on the ball when I need to and adjusting to how I need to throw the ball. I just need to work on that and executing the small things, because football's a game of inches,” Burchfield said. “It's a tough loss but you learn from these things and especially when it's your first game. You just got to get the jitters out and you got to take what the defense gives you.”

The Pirates were driving again at the end of the half when they were down 35-6, but as the final seconds were ticking down, Burchfield launched a ball into the end zone that was intercepted.

“We were going to take a shot,” Forrest said. “We had it planned. We were trying to get their safeties to come down and then throw the ball over the top. It was a little poor execution. If we had a medium route occupying them, we would have had it over the top.”

TOUGH FIRST TEST

Forrest was pleased with the play of the offensive line — the most experienced position group on the team — which led a running game that tallied 132 yards.

The defense showed its youth, he said. Bishop Kenny ran for more than 200 yards with four rushing touchdowns, three by Caleb Mattison.

It's a tough loss but you learn from these things and especially when it's your first game.
— CADEN BURCHFIELD, Matanzas quarterback

“It looked like a poor defensive effort, but it was just inconsistency,” Forrest said. “We would make a mistake and (the Crusaders) were there to bust it wide open.

“We knew what we were doing when we scheduled Bishop Kenny," he added. “They are a perennial playoff team. We’ve got a lot of guys playing varsity football for the first time. We’re going to go through ebbs and flows, ups and downs in a game. We needed to schedule some tough tests to get us ready for district play. At the end of the day we want to be a team like that, hard to play against.”

The Pirates added a touchdown late in the game on running back Darwin Harris’ 7-yard run.

“We definitely came together more (in the second half),” Larywon said. “We still need to work on executing, getting together and keeping our energy up. We need to keep working on doing our jobs. If one of us messes up, we all mess up.”

The Pirates hit the road this week against Atlantic on Friday, Aug. 30, and then return home Sept. 6 against Deltona.

 

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