#ALLIN: Cathedral Football — Part II

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cathedral falls to clemson in death valley

by: beast10 — cfb week 3



cathedral fell short in a 24-21 loss to no. 21-ranked clemson saturday in death valley.

the rainy contest was suspended prior to halftime due to thunderstorms. trenches played a heavy factor, as either coach will tell.

the spartans played around a lot with the offensive line—and seemingly found success—but ultimately costly mistakes expelled them from this outing.

j.t. wiggins completed 18-of-29 passes for 190 yards and a score. the redshirt junior was sacked three times, two of which resulted in fumbles— the second returned for six.

khyree briscoe coughed up a fumble late in the fourth while the spartans had an opportunity to reduce a 24-14 deficit.

briscoe was playing in place of starting running back cameron blackshear, who left the game on two separate occasions. briscoe, a redshirt freshman, finished with 64 yards rushing on 16 carries, scoring twice while blackshear tallied 10 carries for 39 yards.

neither team had over 300 yards of offense.

clemson’s rush heavy defense disrupted the spartans play, but there were clear signs of improvement from prior weeks.

“we experimented with a lot of different things today,” uc coach bo pelini said. “our offense has the potential to really be opened up, and i think we took a step in the right direction.”

aiyden holliday had the bulk of receiving yards for cathedral, finishing with 108 on seven catches. halfback kordell holland hauled in a six yard touchdown pass late in the third.

clemson threw for just 105 yards, as junior quarterback zach mccollum completed 8-of-14 attempts for a touchdown and interception.

blake alford had a gain of 125 yards on the ground, recording a game-high 26 carries.

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spartans add two verbal commits in promising start to 2028 class

by: beast10 — cfb week 4

despite early struggles on the field this season, cathedral has not missed a step in recruiting. they are looking to rebound on what was their best class in school history last season.

bo pelini and the spartans lauded two new four-star verbal commitments this week in athlete jaireh fields and defensive end alec zimmerman.

the pair joins fellow four-star commit devin saturday, the son of former all-pro lineman jeff saturday, who announced his decision in march.

fields, a 5-foot-11, 180 pound athlete, projects well as a college defensive back. he is among the fastest players in the state of he florida, and is backed by impressive technique. touted by other high major programs such as miami, georgia tech, and florida state, fields could find a place early in cathedral’s narrow defensive backfield.

zimmerman is a rare commit from the state of ohio. the 6-foot-3, 257 pound defensive linemen could stand to add some more weight playing in the spartans’ 3-4 interior, but is a tremendous athlete that should develop into another great pass rusher, much like former uc linemen tyrone crockett jr., or parker cothren from years back.

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spartans losing skid continues against boston college

by: beast10 — cfb week 4



cathedral lost its home opener against boston college 31-19 saturday.

the spartans played all three quarterbacks as their losing skid dropped to two straight loses to open conference play.

“our inability to convert on third down irked us,” uc coach bo pelini said. “but we continue to take strides as a team overall. this was a talented, veteran-led boston college team.”

pelini noted the improving ground offense, which accounted for a season-high 234 yards. making his first collegiate start, redshirt freshman running back khyree briscoe rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

quarterback j.t. wiggins had a career high 86 yards rushing on just seven attempts. the junior completed 10-of-25 passes for 127 yards, a touchdown and interception before leaving the contest injured.

wiggins would return, but not before backup james hudson also went down injured, prompting the debut of third-stringer dillion de lange.

“j.t. broke a finger,” pelini confirmed. “he’s tough and was able to return.”

defense had issues slowing down boston college’s potent ground game. only 77 yards came through the air for the eagles.

senior running back joe holmes took 30 carries for 160 yards and two scores.

a huge momentum boost came to begin the second half when bc’s marcus richardson returned a kickoff the length of the field to increase the eagles lead, 24-7.

“the energy wasn’t there, we need to recoup because we’re a better unit than what we showed,” said senior linebacker nicky wisniewski, who had 10 tackles, including four for loss.

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wiggins go-ahead score prevails spartans over virginia

by: beast10 — cfb week 5



cathedral hung on to beat virginia 43-40 on the road saturday at scott stadium.

junior quarterback j.t. wiggins took in the go-ahead touchdown on a three yard scamper with 0:11 seconds left in the contest. wiggins score turned out to be the game winner.

the thriller began as a low scoring affair before erupting into a 55 combined point second half.

cathedral finished with 518 yards of offense compared to virginia’s 492. the spartans continued to receive great production from its rush offense, which totaled 246 yards, a new season-high.

“we sat down as a an offense after the clemson loss,” wiggins said. “we wanted to figure out how we could add a new dimension to our offense, and that was running the ball. everybody bought in and it’s been great since.”

khyree briscoe, before leaving the contest injured, had 17 carries for 127 yards — his second straight +100-yard finish. cameron blackshear added two touchdowns, 85 yards and 15 carries in reserve.

j.t. wiggins passed for 272 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. aiyden holliday bounced back a quiet performance against virginia and hauled in seven passes for 155 yards.

niles kirkland and efrem diallo, both tight ends, added receiving scores.

defense was a polar opposite from its last week performance in which they struggled against the run. the spartans gave up 406 passing yards to true freshman quarterback jonathan moore, who tossed three touchdowns as well.

three uva receivers had over 100 yards receiving, led by andy newman’s 146 yards and two scores.

“our main point of emphasis this week was virginia’s depth at receiver,” uc coach bo pelini said. “they’ve got talent that can make a lot of qb’s look good. how we responded was upsetting, but we can only learn from it at this point.”

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cathedral slips past north carolina at home

by: beast10 — cfb week 6



the cathedral spartans won its second straight contest with a 21-17 victory over north carolina saturday at father dalmoro stadium.

the win boosts the spartans acc record to 2-2 midway through the season.

cameron blackshear rushed for a career high 165 yards on 25 carries as the junior and former starter started the game in place the injured freshman khyree briscoe.

“the turnaround of our ground game has been great,” blackshear said. “it’s all come together. our line is playing great. they made it very easy for me.”

receiver aiyden holliday hauled in two receiving scores and 75 yards. j.t. wiggins had three passing touchdowns, 182 yards, but did record a trio of interceptions.

wiggins, who began the first half of the season with just one pick, has thrown six over the past three games.

“j.t. will remain our guy, but we’ve got to get him back to the level of composure he showed earlier this season,” said spartan head coach bo pelini.

defense had trouble slowing down unc’s run offense, but did make stops when needed. the tar heels were just 4-of-12 on third down conversions.

true freshman jahkel butler and nicky wisniewski made plays in the backfield, and r.j. parrish led the spartans with nine tackles.

corner jaylen house-bowen recorded a late, clutch interception on unc’s final drive. the secondary held the tar heels to just 152 passing yards.

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spartan defense struggles to contain wilson, Pittsburgh ground offense

by: beast10 — cfb week 7



cathedral’s struggle against the run has quickly become a weekly theme.

pittsburgh exploited the spartan defense for 274 yards rushing behind a 212 yard performance by running back marcus wilson as the no. 21 panthers strolled to a 38-21 win saturday at father dalmoro stadium.

the spartans have now given up 556 yards rushing in its past two contests.

“that’s all pittsburgh wanted to do,” uc coach bo pelini said. “it was another case of a veteran o-line defeating us in the trenches. we have to get better in that regard.”

on offense, cathedral’s quarterback issues continued as j.t. wiggins tossed a trio of interceptions for the second straight week. the junior, first-year starter has thrown 9 in the past four games.

he lost a previous Biletnikoff finalist receiver in aiyden holliday, who left the contest with a possibly severe back injury.

“we continue to hope for the best,” pelini said. “aiyden’s a huge part of the offense. and he wouldn’t be the first guy out wide that has had to miss time this year.”

khyree briscoe returned from injury to rush for 108 yards on 14 carries. cameron blackshear, coming off a career game against virginia, added eight carries for a gain of 28 yards.

amari shelton paves the uc defense with seven tackles, including three for loss. shy crabtree added an interception.

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cathedral prepares for hot duke team

by: beast10 — cfb week 9

this time around last year, cathedral’s upcoming opponent, duke, was quietly boasting one of the best statistical defenses in the country. now, the blue devils are sporting not only an undefeated record, but also the no. 5 rank in the nation, making them the spartans’ biggest opponent thus far.

cathedral, who blew past the blue devils 45-27 last season, are again preparing heavy for this week nine contest.

“we want to bounce back,” senior linebacker nicky wisniewski said. “something our coaches have really been drilling into us lately is that we need to play a complete game. all four quarters.

“we’ve competed with great teams this year,” wisniewski added, “but we’ve crumbled late. against duke, we want to prove a statement from start to finish.”

duke is coming in with two consecutive wins over currently ranked teams in clemson and mississippi state, who they defeated on the road. the blue devils hold a 197-97 point margin against its opponents this season.

quarterback andy harris and wide receiver chris brown lead the offensive charge. omarr harris, a former premier running back recruit, has gelled in while taking the starting reigns as a sophomore.

ralph brown, a fourth-year starter, again leads a solid duke defense. brad miller has three picks in the early goings of this season.

“this is a duke team that’s been together for a few seasons now,” uc coach bo pelini said. “they played guys early and watched them reach this point. we’re preparing for one of the most experienced teams in the acc.”

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