Ben Lippen quarterback Joey Carter looks for an open receiver against Cardinal Newman. The Ben Lippen Falcons came to George R. Watson Field Friday, October 23 looking to spoil Senior Night for the Cardinal Newman Cardinals. After a tougher game than many expected, the Falcons went home with a 35–21 win.

The Falcons (8–2, 2–2) began the game with an onside kick trying to catch the Cardinals off guard. Cardinal Newman recovered, but, two plays later, Joey DeAngelis was stripped of the ball, and André Hennie picked it up and sped 50 yards to a Falcon touchdown. Just over a minute into the game, Ben Lippen held a 7–0 lead.

The Falcons forced the Cardinals to punt on their next possession, and Gabe Smith blocked it, then recovered the loose ball and rumbled 32 yards for another Falcon touchdown. Before Joey Carter and the high–powered Ben Lippen offense hit the field, they had a 14–0 lead.

Photos by Jim Marczesky Cardinal Newman quarterback Tommy Winterstein pitches the ball as Ben Lippen’s defensive line closes in. The Cardinals (1–7, 0–3) refused to quit. A couple of possessions later, they drove to the Falcon two–yard line where Stiles Monteith plunged over for a touchdown cutting the lead to 14–7. But the Falcons answered on their next drive as Hennie capped the drive with a three– yard run to extend the lead to 21–7.

After the kickoff, the Cardinals ran a misdirection play, and Nick Palevich took the pitch and ran 52 yards to the end zone reducing the lead to 21–14 and giving hope to Cardinal Newman. After forcing a Ben Lippen punt, the Cardinals staged another drive at the end of the first half. The Falcons held stopping Monteith on fourth–and–goal at the one with under 30 seconds left in the half, and the Falcons clung to a 21–14 going into halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Cardinal Newman started driving again, but stalled at the Falcon 29–yard line. Rather than attempt a long field goal or a short punt, Coach Michael Bolchoz decided to go for it, and the Cardinals responded as Tommy Winterstein threw a 29–yard touchdown pass to Rico Martinez. After Pennington Nieri’s extra point, the score was tied at 21.

The Falcons then marched the ball down the field in just over two minutes scoring on a one–yard plunge by Isaac Elsenheimer with just under five minutes remaining. Cardinal Newman got the ball back but were rebuffed by the Falcon defense on fourth– and–ten turning the ball over with 2:30 remaining. Elsenheimer added an insurance touchdown with 14 seconds left to seal the victory for Ben Lippen.

Carter ended up with 135 total yards for the Falcons, while DeAngelis had 81 yards rushing for the Cardinals.

Ben Lippen hosts Orangeburg Prep for their own Senior Night on October 30. Cardinal Newman visits Heathwood Hall that same night.