RallyNorth.net

Fri, Oct 19, 2007 06:30 PM @ Arlington Catholic

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Bishop Fenwick	7	0	19	0	26
Arlington Catholic	7	15	7	13	42

Despite Tarr's 325 yards, Fenwick can't stop Arlington Catholic

Friday, October, 19 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

ARLINGTON | The two or three shadows Arlington Catholic coach Serge Clivio assigned weren't enough to slow down Bishop Fenwick running back Bobby Tarr. But neither Tarr, his 325 yards rushing or the torrential rain that drifted over Arlington High School in the second half was enough to derail the Cougars' potent offense. Arlington Catholic built a first half lead and matched Fenwick's three second half touchdowns for a 42-26 win.

The loss already sends the Crusaders spiraling down the Catholic Central League standings | and for the second straight year it was the Cougars who handed Fenwick an early league loss. AC's 48-26 victory last year at Donaldson Field had the Crusaders running up hill all fall, and this setback will no doubt do the same.

Despite having the premier player in the league in Tarr, Fenwick already will need help to win its league and earn a postseason berth.

With another monster night running the football | including two touchdowns | Tarr now has 1,600 yards on 166 carries this season.

In his three-year career on the varsity for Fenwick, Tarr has rushed for 4,632 yards on 502 carries. He also has 55 rushing touchdowns.

Fenwick (3-4 overall, 0-1 CCL) simply couldn't get defensive stops when it need them.

"I really don't have any answers," Fenwick coach David Woods said. "I don't have a comment for the first time. I don't know what to say."

Arlington Catholic built a 22-7 first half lead after scoring on three possessions on a short field.

Two long kickoff returns by Justin Cerra and a Fenwick fumble allowed the Cougars to start three drives inside the 50-yard-line. Twice Derek Harmon, a returning CCL all-star, scored on touchdown runs (14 and 8 yards) and junior quarterback Corey Spencer had a 1-yard keeper for the other score.

Fenwick managed just one first half touchdown when John Baker connected with Brendan Barrett on a slant for an 18-yard score.

The Crusaders showed more spunk to start the second half, scoring two quick third quarter touchdowns (a 73-yard run by Tarr and a 1-yard keeper by Baker) to trim the lead to 22-20. But down the stretch, AC took control in the trenches.

Cerra scored for the Cougars on a 10-yard keeper when he stepped in as quarterback for one play, and Tarr broke another long one (65 yards) to answer. A missed PAT left AC leading, 29-26, with less than a minute to play in the third.

Arlington Catholic (4-3, 2-0) added two fourth quarter touchdowns to put Fenwick away.

"For our kids to come in | especially for a spread team that likes to move the ball around in this weather | and be able to take over the line of scrimmage was huge," AC coach Serge Clivio said. "Getting out on top was key because they can score at any time just by giving him (Tarr) the ball."

There's no one in the CCL who respects Tarr's ability more than Clivio.

"We'd shut him down, contain him, and then boom, gone," Clivio said. "We put two and three shadows on him. I said, 'I don't care if they hit a pass, still shadow Tarr.' And he still broke it. He is just one of the most spectacular athletes I have ever seen."