Cathedral posts 2nd straight shutout
By CHRIS KENNEDY
Union-News
Staff writer
10/25/98
SPRINGFIELD --Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the
Cathedral High School football team's shutout of Central
last week is that the Panthers followed it up with another
goose egg yesterday.

And this time, the Panthers were not scoring so they needed
every bit of the defensive effort they received against a
stubborn and dangerous Holyoke team.

Defensive end Chris McDonald caused a fumble that linebacker
Mike Buoniconti returned 30 yards for a touchdown in the
opening quarter, and the Panthers rode their stingy defense
to a critical 14-0 AA Conference victory.

The Panthers, who beat Central 35-0 last week, improved to
7-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference.

"We're proud of that," McDonald said of the shutouts. "The
defense was very strong today. We really go to the ball
well."

Opponents have struggled to score against Cathedral all
season, managing just 41 points. Holyoke's defense matched
the Panthers' effort for most of the day, however, and that
kept the game in doubt until quarterback B.J. Lawlor ran 15
yards for the game's final score with 5:13 to play.

Cathedral had been averaging 32.3 points per game. "The
defense did excellent today," Buoniconti said. "The way
things were going on offense, we knew the defense had to
stop their offense."

Cathedral, which is off this week, has conference games
against Chicopee Comp (1-4-1, 0-2), Agawam (3-3, 1-3) and
Westfield (2-4, 1-2) remaining and all three will be on the
road. The Panthers need two wins to wrap up the AA's
automatic berth to the Division I Super Bowl and three to
clinch the conference title outright.

Fittingly, a defensive play produced the first points in the
win over Holyoke (4-2, 2-1). McDonald made a hit that caused
a fumble on a completed halfback option screen pass. "I just
tried to throw him down as hard as I could and somehow the
ball came lose," McDonald said.

Buoniconti knew what to do from there. "Chris McDonald did a
good job knocking the ball loose," Buoniconti said. "I
hopped over (a Holyoke player) and picked it up. I felt one
guy around my legs, but I was able to break away from him."

For most of the rest of the day, the Cathedral defense
limited Holyoke's opportunities. "We didn't maintain our
blocks," Holyoke coach Ray Mitchell said.  "When we did, it
seemed we had a penalty that brought the play back."

Cathedral's offense did not have much better
luck. "Holyoke's an excellent team," Ballard said. "They
laid some licks on us today."

In fact, Cathedral's final scoring drive was the only time
either team could move inside the other's 30 in the second
half. The drive covered 65 yards on eight plays with Lawlor
scoring on a fine individual effort.

"We somewhat knew the play was coming," Holyoke coach Ray
Mitchell said of the quarterback sweep. "We talked about it
at the timeout and reminded the kids again before the snap,
but you still have to stop it.

"He is a fine athlete. He turned on the jets and beat our
guys to the outside."

John Piascik also had a 21-yard run to start the ball
rolling on that last drive.

Despite the loss, Holyoke once again stamped itself as one
of the top teams in the region with its effort. "Our defense
was well prepared," Holyoke linebacker Marcus Humber
said. "We had a big game defensively.

"We just tried to flow to the ball and make the tackle. They
are a tough team."

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