KETTERING, Oh. – It’s been seven years since Archbishop Alter has celebrated a Greater Catholic League Co-Ed title in football. Next Friday, they’ll play for one.
The Knights blanked GCL Co-Ed rival Archbishop McNicholas 12-0 Friday night, paying back the Rockets for a 7-3 defeat the Knights suffered to them last season while also setting up a winner-take-all battle next week against Hamilton Badin for the GCL Co-Ed title.
Coming into the game, both Alter and McNicholas were undefeated in league play at 2-0, and looking to keep pace with Badin, which kept their conference record unblemished Friday night with a 55-6 annihilation of Carroll.
So Friday’s game was essentially a GCL Co-Ed elimination game for both the Knights and the Rockets, and the first half played out with all the drama of one. Both defenses were stiff as boards, and the first half ended with the score deadlocked at 0-0, stirring echoes of last season’s defensive struggle between the two schools.
Alter saw its offense come to life a little bit in the third, and the Knights were able to take a 6-0 lead into the fourth quarter. They would add some insurance, extending the lead to 12-0, which is how it would stay.
The victory is Alter’s fifth in its last six games, and its second consecutive shutout following a 55-0 annihilation last week of Carroll. It is also the third win in the past five years for the Knights in the rivalry with McNicholas.
The Alter defense will need some of that same magic next week when they travel to Hamilton to challenge Badin for the GCL Co-Ed crown, as the Rams have been averaging 44.6 points per game and have the leader passer, rusher and receiver in the conference in QB Colt Emerson, RB Lem Grayson and receiver James Brink.
SCORING BY QUARTERS
McNicholas: 0-0-0-0 0
Alter: 0-0-6-6 12
SCORING SUMMARY
A: Rod Owens Jr. 10 run (kick failed)
A: Jake Botti 1 run (run failed)
RECORDS: Alter (6-2, 3-0); McNicholas (5-3, 2-1)
UP NEXT: Alter at Badin (8-0, 3-0); McNicholas at Fenwick (4-4, 1-2)
