PLANO — In their first meeting on the gridiron since 2021, the Bishop Lynch football team made a statement Friday night, defeating John Paul II 41-14 at Athletic Stadium to win its second consecutive game and improve to 2-2 on the season.
The Friars controlled the game on both sides of the ball, forcing three turnovers while recording seven tackles for loss, two sacks, and four pass breakups. Bishop Lynch also piled up 439 yards of total offense, including 222 through the air and 217 on the ground.
Senior defensive back Hayes Bonds recorded his first career interception, Oliver Reidy recovered a fumble following a bad snap, and Nick Payne forced a fumble that was recovered by Corbin Hernandez.
Junior linebacker Andrew Love continued his impressive start to the season, finishing with five tackles, including a game-high three tackles for loss. Making his first appearance of the season, senior Mason Schopfer immediately made an impact, leading all Friars with six tackles.
Offensively, senior quarterback MJ Haggan Jr. completed nine of 15 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Palmer Montgomery led the rushing attack with 114 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries, while also adding a 13-yard receiving touchdown on his lone reception to finish with three scores.
Senior All-State wide receiver Nick Payne continued to find his rhythm, catching three passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. His first reception of the night was an explosive 73-yard touchdown, during which he eluded five Cardinals before outracing the remaining defense down the sideline.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Friars won the toss and deferred to the second half. John Paul II opened with a 14-play drive, but Bishop Lynch forced a turnover on downs.
- On just the second play of the Friars' opening drive, Payne took a swing pass 73 yards for a touchdown. Caleb Malouf's extra point gave BL a 7-0 lead with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter.
- After spending 14 plays on the field during the Cardinals' opening possession, the Friars' defense responded by forcing a three-and-out.
- Bishop Lynch extended its lead to 14-0 with 8:29 remaining in the first half when Haggan Jr. connected with Montgomery on a 13-yard touchdown pass.
- The Friars forced another three-and-out on John Paul II's next possession.
- The Cardinals prevented another score when they forced and recovered a fumble at the goal line midway through the second quarter.
- With John Paul II backed up near its own end zone, the Friars' defense forced its third consecutive three-and-out, giving the offense excellent field position late in the half.
- On the first play of the ensuing drive, Haggan Jr. found Payne for a 37-yard touchdown. Payne made another impressive individual play to extend the lead to 21-0 with 3:22 remaining before halftime.
- Following an interception by John Paul II, the Cardinals scored in the closing seconds of the half to cut the deficit to 21-7.
- Montgomery opened the second-half scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run, making it 28-7 with 7:38 remaining in the third quarter.
- Payne then delivered a big hit to force the Friars' first turnover of the night, with Hernandez recovering the fumble at the Bishop Lynch 14-yard line.
- Montgomery capped an 86-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, his third score of the night, to give the Friars a 35-7 lead with 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
- Bonds recorded the Friars' second forced turnover of the night with a leaping interception in the end zone.
- Two plays later, John Paul II recovered a Friar fumble at the Bishop Lynch 14-yard line and eventually scored to cut the lead to 35-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
- Nicholas Dressel closed out the scoring with his first career touchdown, a 1-yard run with 1:55 remaining, to make the final 41-14.
GAME NOTES
- Due to a 90 minute lightning delay, the game was played with 10-minute quarters. As a result, the two teams agreed to designate the Oct. 2 meeting as the district contest, while Friday night's game was classified as non-district.
- With the victory, Bishop Lynch improved to 15-2 all-time against John Paul II, dating back to 2006.
- The win marked head coach Brandon Moats' 25th career victory at Bishop Lynch, moving him into fourth place on the program's all-time wins list.
- Payne's two receiving touchdowns matched his career high for touchdown receptions in a single game.
- The Friar offense now has four players who have surpassed 100 rushing yards on the season:
NEXT UP
Bishop Lynch will officially open district play Friday night when the Friars travel to Plano to take on Prestonwood Christian. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Lions Stadium.
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