MAX Game of the Week Recap: CMA moves to 5-1 thanks to 4th-quarter rally vs. Kankakee Valley
CULVER – OK, it’s time to start called head coach Andy Dorrell’s Culver Military Academy football team the ‘Cardiac Kids.’
Last Friday the Eagles won their fifth game of the season, and did so again in dramatic fashion.
Of those five wins, four have come by a touchdown or less.
Following CMA’s 35-28 win over visiting Kankakee Valley, the Eagles record improved to 5-1 on the season, a game that was heard LIVE as MAX 98.3 FM’s Game of the Week.
As it had done the previous week at Hammond Central, CMA needed a late fourth-quarter score to get by the Kougars.
Senior Tay Rodriguez delivered the game-winning blow when he returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown with just 3:18 to play in the game.
Rodriguez fielded the returnable punt on the fly and split the KV defenders racing down the sideline for the crucial score.
“I’m so proud of our team’s resiliency,” CMA head coach Andy Dorrell said.
“We needed a three-and-out and that was our first three-and-out of the game.”
What Dorrell was referring to was the defensive stand he got from his Eagles just prior to Rodriguez’s game-winning punt return that forced the Kougars to punt from their 17-yard line.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kankakee Valley drove to CMA’s 5-yard line and had it first-and-goal, but back-to-back tackles for loss made it third-and-goal from the 17.
On fourth-and-goal from the 8, Kougar quarterback Diego Arroyo threw an interception with 39 seconds remaining that sealed the visitors’ fate.
The victory was the second in a row for CMA, which hasn’t scored less than 28 points in any game this season.
Meanwhile, the struggles for Kankakee Valley continue as it lost for the fourth straight time to fall to 2-4 on the season.
The first half was a shootout to say the least.
The Eagles led 14-6 after the first 12 minutes of action and enjoyed a 28-14 cushion at the break.
However, the Kougars shut CMA out in the third quarter to get within a touchdown and knotted the game at 28 three minutes into the fourth frame to set up the exciting finish.
Arroyo, whose 12-yard touchdown run tied the game at 28 with 9:57 left in the fourth quarter, ended with nine rushes for 61 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns. He also threw for 98 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice.
KV senior running back Marco Castro, who entering the game had rushed for over 1,000 yards rushing this season, averaged nearly seven yards per carry in the first half and finished the contest with 26 carries for 142 yards and a touchdown.
As good as Castro was in the first half, CMA senior quarterback Michael McColgan was better. The Harvard-bound lacrosse player threw for 126 of his 182 yards passing in the opening 24 minutes, and had two aerial tosses. He also rushed four times for 90 yards and a score in the first two frames.
In the second quarter, a 10-play, 71-yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock made it a one-possession game. Arroyo’s 5-yard plunge and two-point conversion cut the deficit to 21-14.
McColgan’s teammate, junior Ainsley Ritchie, ran for a 59-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to give CMA a 21-6 advantage.
On the game’s first drive, McColgan scored on a 2-yard keeper. Later he connected with senior wide receiver Trey Schumaker for a 49-yard touchdown strike on CMA’s second drive of the game. That score gave the hosts a 14-6.
Kankakee Valley also scored on its first drive of the game when Arroyo hooked up with senior wide receiver Adrian Uchman for a 42-yard touchdown. Following a penalty against CMA, the Kougars opted to go for two, but were denied so they trailed 21-6 with just over half of the first quarter gone.
Next up for CMA is a home game tonight against 3-3. Kankakee Valley will travel to 2-4 Lowell tonight.
MAX’S CULVER ACADEMY PLAYER OF THE GAME: McColgan had 277 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns
MAX’S KANKAKEE VALLEY PLAYER OF THE GAME: Castro ran the ball 26 times for 142 yards and a score
Special thanks to Woodlawn Health in Rochester for being one of MAX 98.3 FM WYMR’S loyal sponsors. For more than 100 years, Woodlawn Health has provided quality, first-class healthcare to the residents of Fulton County and the surrounding areas. Please give their website a visit by going to https://woodlawnhospital.org/
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