Harwood, Jones lead Catholic Memorial to Div. 2 state semifinals

WEST ROXBURY — If they are lucky, opponents of Catholic Memorial may stop either one of the Knights’ talented running backs, Carson Harwood and Datrell Jones. Shutting down both seems like an improbable task.

But in Saturday’s Div. 2 quarterfinal against Reading, both Harwood and Jones made big plays early, and the result was a 47-13 win.

With the victory, CM improves to 9-0, and advances to the Div. 2 semifinals, where the Knights will play Marshfield. Reading falls to 9-1.

“It gives us a one-two punch,” Catholic Memorial coach John DiBiaso said. “When you get two good kids like that, and the kids we have at receiver, I wouldn’t want to try to defend us.”

Reading knows how difficult it is. Harwood ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, and also had a 24-yard touchdown reception. All three scoring plays came in a first quarter where CM built up a 28-7 lead. Jones had 171 yards and a touchdown — also in the first quarter — on 14 carries. CM quarterback JC Petrongolo completed 13-of-20 passes for 151 yards and two scores.

Even kicker Jack Sokol got in on the act, with field goals of 22 and 47 yards.

On the other side of the ball, CM had to defend Reading’s star quarterback, James Murphy. The junior completed 19-of-34 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, but coverage from Knights cornerbacks Devon Marshall and Maxwell Tucker was sticky.

“This kid’s very good,’ DiBiaso said of Murphy. “He’s as good a high school quarterback that I’ve seen. I mean, he’s good. His dad was a pro player. He’s a good player.”

Tucker and Marshall liked having to face someone of Murphy’s caliber.

“Of course. We love getting our hands on the ball,” Marshall said. “It’s better than a team that just runs all the time.”

“We usually don’t get thrown at during the season,” Tucker said. “This is our first time getting thrown at a few times during the game. But … we did not let anything happen to our side.”

CM jumped out early, as Harwood found a hole and ran 59 yards for a touchdown on the first Knights possession. On the next one, Petrongolo hit Harwood over the middle for a 24-yard touchdown, and it was quickly 14-0.

Reading battled back when Murphy hit Ryan Strout for a 79-yard touchdown. Again, though, Harwood had an answer, this time rolling out a 42-yard touchdown run.

When Jones followed with a powerful, 8-yard touchdown run, it was 28-7 Knights, with 1:39 still left in the first quarter.

Although Murphy had another touchdown pass before the half, a 25-yarder to Patrick DuRoss, that was the last of the Rockets’ scoring, and Sokol had a 22-yard field goal to give CM a 31-13 halftime edge.

Harwood was asked what he knows about Marshfield, which is coming off a big win over Lincoln-Sudbury.

“The only thing I really know is they had a great game against the Prep (St. John’s Prep beat the Rams, 47-42, in the first week of the regular season),” Harwood said. “It was a very good game. So, we’re going to go in this week locked in, prepared, on to next week. Hopefully, we can beat them.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3c7AeVV