Cardinal O'Hara Stumbles Against Rival Monsignor Bonner, 20-13

It was as if champagne corks were popped and sprayed all over the field. It was only water, and it was splashed around everyone wearing green Saturday afternoon as Monsignor Bonner celebrated what looked like its Super Bowl.

On the other side of the field, ’s players just glared at the overboard celebration. To a man, the Lions thought subconsciously, and quite verbally, they’ll see archrival Bonner again.

The core of the commotion was Bonner’s 20-13 victory over O’Hara at Upper Darby High School. It marked the first time the Friars beat O’Hara in a decade, since 2001. O’Hara fell to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the Catholic League Class AAA Division, while Bonner improved to 4-3 and 1-0 in the league.

The issue for the Lions was offense. They received too little of it too
late. O’Hara had the ball early in the fourth quarter at the Bonner 30, in a
position to tie the game. The Friars held a 14-6 edge at the time, which they would increase to 20-6 by holding O’Hara on a three-and-out, and then see junior quarterback James Haley rip through the center of the Lions’ defense for a 33-yard touchdown.

“We had our chances,” O’Hara coach Dan Algeo said. “We didn’t take advantage of them. I do think we’re getting better. We have a sophomore quarterback who is going to be good, and the thing I continue to like about this team is that it’s an overly competitive bunch. Even when we were down 20-6 [after the Haley score], this team still believed it could come back and win.”

A 62-yard kickoff return by Joe DeMaio gave the Lions a sliver of hope, and Deshawn Darden’s six-yard dart to Damiere Shaw aided O’Hara into closing within 20-13 with 1:25 left to play.

But when Bonner’s Paul Pfeffinger recovered the ensuing on-side kick, and with O’Hara out of timeouts, that spelled the end of the Lions’ decade of dominance over the Friars and may have caused O’Hara to do some thinking.

“We had to capitalize on mistakes and we didn’t,” Lions’ senior defensive end Shane Johnson said. “But I think this game motivated us. Maybe we did play an easy schedule to this point, and we needed this to help us get our heads up. But I tell you this, we’ll see them again down the line in the league playoffs, and they may have got us this time, but we’re going to end their season.” 

Bonner coach Tom Oropeza made sure his team would be tested against a heavyweight program like O’Hara. The Friars’ coach and 1995 Bonner graduate placed as many tough teams as he could on the schedule, and it may have paid off. The Friars punched—sometimes literally—and when O’Hara punched back, Bonner knew how to respond, especially defensively.

“Our offense played well, but I was especially pleased with the way our defense played,” Oropeza said. “I think the tough schedule did prepare us, but sometimes, that could be a double-edged sword. A tough schedule gets you ready for tough games like O’Hara, but you also want to build some confidence and win. You have to balance the two.”

One thing seems certain. These two teams may be meeting again in a month, when the Catholic League Class AAA playoffs begin.

“We’ll be there,” said O’Hara’s Jay Watkins, whose 25-yard, third-quarter touchdown reception put O’Hara on the board. “We’ll see [Bonner] again. Everyone [on O’Hara] will be looking forward to it.”