A game identified as a trap for No. 19 Boys’ Latin in its quest to return to the MIAA B Conference football championship game turned into one of the Lakers’ strongest performances of the year, as BL jumped out to a 20-0 lead and rolled to a convincing, 34-15, victory.
Boys’ Latin (7-3) is now 6-1 in the league and locked in a three-way first place tie with Archbishop Curley and defending champion Archbishop Spalding. All three teams have one final league game left, next week, and could be headed for a dead heat which may require a coin flip to determine the two finalists for the league championship game on Nov. 13 at Mount St. Joseph.
Jeff Chase scored two first half rushing touchdowns and Alec Whitman brought in a 22-yard TD pass, on a fourth down play, as Boys’ Latin went on top, 20-0. John Carroll (5-3, 4-2), which was fighting to stay in the title chase, got on the board just before halftime, with a one-yard touchdown run from Kyle Miele. The Patriots’ score was setup by a 55-yard kickoff return by Brian Hunt.
However, the game got away from John Carroll in the third quarter. Seeking to extend its opening drive of the third quarter, JC went for a fake punt from its own 17 yard line. The gamble did not payoff and Boys’ Latin took over on the John Carroll 10. Two plays later Brandon Barnes scored for the Lakers, from five yards out, and the lead grew to 27-7.
Barnes, who rushed 14 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns, added a 16-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter to cap the Lakers scoring.
John Carroll got on the board again, with less than two minutes to play, with a five-yard run from senior Tyler Ray.
Boys’ Latin will now move on to another big test next week, as it faces arch-rival St. Paul’s, in the traditional regular season-ender between the two schools. The Crusaders were eliminated from the title chase by Archbishop Spalding on Friday, and they will be gunning to do the same to the Lakers.
John Carroll can still play a role in the championship mix. It hosts Curley next Friday with a chance to knock the Friars out of the race.
Should Boys’ Latin, Spalding and Curley all win next Friday, they will finish tied for first with no tie-breaks to separate them. In that case, league rules call for a coin flip which would elevate one team into the final. The other will be the team that won the head-to-head meeting between the two which fall short in the coin flip. Boys’ Latin defeated Curley, the Friars topped Spalding and the Cavalier defeated the Lakers.
