Father Gabriel Richard advances to the playoffs, Catholic Prep Bowl with win over Divine Child
For the fourth straight year, the Father Gabriel Richard High School football team will play in the state playoffs.
For the third straight year, it will get a Ford Field tune-up to prepare for the postseason.
The Fighting Irish defeated Dearborn Divine Child 14-6 on Saturday to clinch a spot in the Detroit Catholic High School League Prep Bowl at Ford Field on Saturday, Oct. 22. Gabriel Richard has won a Prep Bowl title each of the past two years.
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The Irish needed a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to get past the Divine Child, which led 3-0 at halftime and 6-0 after three quarters.
"It was tough running. Both teams were pretty solid on defense we were trying to execute things through the air, but were having trouble and couldn't convert on third down," Gabriel Richard coach Brian Lemons said.
An interception, fumble and muffed punt didn't bode well for the Irish offense, either. "Every time we had something going, we'd shoot our self in foot," Lemons said.
Gabriel Richard's defense kept them in the game while the offense sputtered. Both of Divine Child's field goals came on drives that stalled inside the 10-yard line.
"Defense came up big today they were really on the money," Lemons said.
A 30-yard pass from Joseph Kendzicky to Patrick Wolf put Gabriel Richard on the board with 7 minutes remaining in the game and a Steve Tracy point-after kick put the Irish ahead. Nick Pauze added an insurance touchdown with 2:30 left. He finished with 82 yards on 12 carries.
Ashton Hundley ended Divine Child's comeback attempt with an interception with a minute remaining.
Gabriel Richard will get a chance to avenge its only loss of the season at the CHSL Prep Bowl. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep beat the Irish, 48-22, in Week 3. Last year, Gabriel Richard lost its only regular season game to Divine Child before defeating them in the Prep Bowl.
Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.