SPRINGFIELD — There’s nothing flashy about Springfield Catholic football. The Irish are a hard-nosed, disciplined team that shreds defenses weekly.
The Irish had a stern challenge against Buffalo, but Catholic held on for a 39-27 wire-to-wire victory on Friday, Oct. 2.
“It was sloppy, but we got it done,” Catholic quarterback Jett Lewis said. “That’s all you have to do in the end, but we have to clean some stuff up next week.”
Friday’s victory comes on the heels of a huge Week 5 27-22 win against previously undefeated Fair Grove. Of course, head coach Wes Page was pleased with the win against Buffalo, but it was far from clean.
“It was a tough game where we came off a real emotional
week last week playing a state-ranked team,” head coach Wes Page said. “We made the big plays when we needed to.”
With the win, Catholic has started 6-0 in back-to-back seasons. This is the first time this has happened since at least 2008, when MSHSAA held records.
After starting last season 7-0, the Irish lost three of their last four games. Catholic is determined to continue stacking wins and avoid complacency.
“Every day the Springfield Catholic team is hungry,” senior Sam Boster said. “I don’t see one person on this team that doesn’t want to get better every day. There could be something special for us at the end of the season, but it’s not going to come to us for free.”
It was a big night for Catholic’s Hudson McLean. On Buffalo’s first possession, he snagged an interception. Two plays later, Lewis tossed a long touchdown to Jack Belz to open the scoring.
McLean would also jump on a fumble later in the game. The Irish forced four turnovers, with Brian Nwodo grabbing a fumble and Kennedy Brown grabbing an interception, too.
“Hudson played some varsity football as a freshman and sophomore,” Page said. “He’s comfortable out there and he’s a real level-headed guy. He’s a guy that we can count on and that he’s going to do his job as hard as he can.”
Lewis threw three touchdowns in the game. He found Sam Passanise for a touchdown, but his favorite throw was late in the game to Belz.
On fourth down, Lewis threw a perfect pass to Belz on a slant route. Instead of running with the route, Belz cut upfield and through a few defenders, scoring a 41-yard touchdown and icing the game.
“It was open, there wasn’t much that we couldn’t have thrown tonight,” Lewis said. “Jack said he was finally happy to run through some tackles.”
Boster rushed for two touchdowns, including a 78-yard burst down the near sideline. Boston Hartman also scored a rushing touchdown for the Irish.
Buffalo never surrendered, especially when their backs were against the wall. Isaiah Young led the Bison with two rushing touchdowns and an 80-yard touchdown pass to Javonnie Melton. Trey Aven also added a rushing touchdown.
Catholic will go on the road to face Hollister (0-6) next week. The Irish will end their regular season with two key games against Clever and Stafford.
“We are trying to fall in love with the process,” Boster said. “Fall in love with everything about it and I think that could take us there.”
Liam Keating covers high school sports and Missouri State athletics for The Springfield News-Leader. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield Catholic football enjoying back-to-back 6-0 starts
