DALLAS - There was no shortage of excitement on Thursday night when Bishop Lynch completed a monumental 41-38 comeback victory over rival Nolan Catholic.

The Friars found themselves down 21 points in the second quarter and proceeded to score touchdowns on their final six drives of the game. Freshman Legend Howell orchestrated a fantastic game-winning drive which he capped off with an eight-yard touchdown run to give the Friars their first lead of the game with just 12 seconds remaining.

The build-up to this game started off on Monday in great fashion when both these teams celebrated Mass and then had dinner together. It was a great showing by both Nolan Catholic and Bishop Lynch to build relations off the field.

With beautiful weather and clear skies over Roffino, you knew this game was going to be special. The Friars opened up the game with the ball and Daniel Ring returned the kick to midfield to give BL a great starting position. The Friars moved the ball with ease to inside the 15-yardline spreading the ball around the field. Unfortunately, the Friars would turn the ball over on a botched handoff, killing the wonderful first drive.

Nolan Catholic would use the momentum they had from recovering the fumble and go on a 17-play touchdown drive. The Vikings went for two and were successful and after the first quarter, Nolan was winning 8-0. The Friars' offense stalled their next two drives and the Vikings did not, as they scored touchdowns on their first three drives to make it 21-0 with 5:37 left in the first half.

The Friars needed a spark from anyone because this game was slipping away.  Godswill Giadolor took it upon himself and had a 37-yard rush to put the Friars inside the Nolan 15-yard line. A few plays later Howell found Ty Bradley on a fade for a 5-yard touchdown. Bradley was able to use his long wingspan to catch the perfectly placed ball. Henry Nyhart made the extra point and now the Friars were on the scoreboard.

With just under four minutes until the half, the defense needed to get a stop because Nolan was going to receive the ball to start the second half. And with a couple of fortunate dropped passes by the Vikings, the Friar defense forced a three and out to get the ball back to the offense.

After a great punt return by Josh Thornhill, Bishop Lynch had three minutes to try to get some more points on the scoreboard before halftime. After a few great catches by Cooper Alford on this drive, the Friars found themselves inside the five-yard line. That's when old reliable JP Lacsamana would rush in for a touchdown and make it 21-14 going into halftime.

Even with all the momentum, the Vikings weren't phased to start the second half. They opened up the half with another 17-play touchdown drive which they scored on the fourth and goal from the one to make it 28-14.

The Friar offense continued to answer the call as they went on their own 11-play touchdown drive that was finished off by a 12-yard touchdown reception by Cooper Alford. Giadolor continued his big night on the ground this drive with runs of 10 and 18.

Another great drive by Nolan as found themselves inside the Friar five-yard line. This time, the Bishop Lynch defense stepped up and with three straight big plays, held the Vikings to a field goal to make it 31-21 as the game headed to the fourth quarter.

Giadolor decided it was now his time to find the endzone and on the Friars' next drive he did that with a 12-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was set up by Aiden McGinnis's 23-yard catch and run. After a failed extra point, BL was only down four points with 11:10 remaining in the game.

Nolan would once again score another touchdown with 8:00 minutes to go to make it 38-27. The Friars would need to do what they did at the end of the first half, scoring 14 unanswered points, and that is exactly what they did. The first touchdown in this final comeback was a beautiful 31-yard pass from Howell to Bradley, their second time connecting for a score this game.

Now was the hard part, stopping the Nolan offense who had been doing whatever they wanted for the most part of the game. That's when an unlikely hero rose up and made, at the time, the play of the game. Senior Josh Thornhill, who didn't join the team until a few weeks into this season, got an interception to set up the Friars near midfield with just over three minutes to go.

That is when Howell and offensive coordinator Greg Millerick went on an 11-play touchdown drive taking up almost all the clock. It was a masterclass on the field. After back-to-back completions to Alford, the Friars were on the Viking 8-yard line and used a timeout with under 30-seconds to go. Howell scrambled and was hit at the five yard-line. The play looked over, but with the help of his teammates, Howell powered through the contact and found his way into the endzone to give the Friars the lead and eventually the victory.

This is a huge win for the Friars as they start district play next week. Head Coach Brandon Moats knew how important this victory was for the team and the season going forward.

"It's a big win for our boys and the Bishop Lynch community. Super proud of the fight that was shown throughout the game," said Moats after the game.

Though Nolan Catholic joined our district this season, the game last night was not a district game. Our official district game will be later in the season when BL travels to Fort Worth.

The Friars travel to powerhouse Parish Episcopal next week and we return to Roffino in two weeks for our annual Homecoming game against TCA. Read Full Article