Archbishop Thomas Murphy’s first game ended in defeat but coach Terry Ennis came away encouraged.
Tacoma Baptist, the Class A state runner-up, defeated the Wildcats 25-6 in a non-conference football opener for both teams at Curtis High School.
“We played a good football team,” Ennis said. “We weren’t able to play at their level.”
Archbishop Murphy nevertheless amassed 260 yards on offense. Its lone touchdown was on a 4-yard run by running back Jevon Butler in the first half.
“We moved the ball relatively well,” Ennis said. “We just couldn’t put it in the end zone.”
On one occasion, the Wildcats drove down to the 1-yard line of the Crusaders but were unable to score and turned the ball over on downs.
Despite being the opening contest for both schools, each team only turned the ball over once. Archbishop Murphy’s penalties also were kept to a minimum.
“I was kind of pleased with the lack of turnovers,” Ennis said. “It was a fairly well played game in that respect.”
Archbishop Murphy, however, had trouble stopping Tacoma Baptist’s ground game.
“They had a very good back,” Ennis said. “We let him get away. He made some big plays. Our breakdowns on defense were more critical than on offense.”
The Wildcats (0-1 overall) had a few players in their first varsity game, which contributed to some of the team’s mistakes.
Ennis told his players that the first game is usually determined by mistakes and missing assignments of which there were several on Archbishop Murphy’s part.
“These are things that can be corrected,” Ennis said. “We can go out and improve on those things and be a better football team. I’m confident we can make big strides as a group.”
Archbishop Murphy hosts Charles Wright in a 1 p.m. game Saturday (Sept. 21), at the high school.
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