Carl Albert lost 42-32 in a close contest Friday against an explosive Bishop McGuinness team.
McGuinness senior receiver Cody Chancellor turned in the performance of the week when he caught six passes for 359 yards and four touchdowns. When the game was over, Chancellor had an average of 59.83 yards per reception and player of the week honors, all with a cast on his broken left hand.
It was a routine first quarter with the Titans and Irish feeling each other out, trading a touchdown apiece like two boxers trade punches in the first round of a long bout.
After a long drive by the Titans ending in an Irish stop and Carl Albert field goal, Chancellor caught fire. With four minutes left in the half, he pulled in a pass from junior quarterback Jacob Lewis for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Then with three minutes left, Chancellor and Lewis connected again, this time for 86 yards and a touchdown. The explosive combination resumed their assault after halftime with a 57-yard strike at five minutes to go in the third quarter.
Lesser teams may have been demoralized by such a battery, but as Irish coach Justin Jones said following the game, "The Titans don’t have 10 state championships for no reason."
The Titans answered with their come back.
No great game would be complete without controversy. With over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, Carl Albert stripped the ball at the Bishop McGuinness 22-yard line. The runner was called down and the Irish were able to punt the ball away.
With 5:20 left on the clock, Carl Albert quarterback Steven Thompson ran in a 15-yard score. When Thompson threw a 2-point conversion pass to receiver Caleb Toney, the Titans were three points behind.
After a Bishop McGuinness touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Carl Albert ran out of time for any more heroics.
Following the game, coach Gary Rose spoke to his players, expressing frustration with the loss and assuring the boys of his pride in their perseverance.
"We are proud of that… they fought hard the whole game," Rose said of the team’s effort of coming back from a large deficit to just three points down.
But Rose also was clear he was not satisfied with the loss or certain aspects of his team’s performance.
"We definitely have some problems with coverage. We need to get that taken care of," he said.
The Titans face another tough challenge this Friday when they travel to face the unbeaten Bluejays of Guthrie High School. The Bluejays are the reigning 5A state champions and are the division 2 leaders.
