Ever since its season-opening scare at Canastota, the Bishop Ludden football team have spent the next three weeks making every subsequent opponent pay for that initial false step. The Gaelic Knights’ third straight romp came at home Friday against Jordan-Elbridge, a 48-0 decision that was over long before halftime as the Eagles stayed winless. In those last three weeks (Onondaga, Tully, J-E), Ludden has outscored the opposition 149-15, but against the Eagles, it found another way to be spectacular. Ludden’s defense hit first, as E.J. Beauford stepped in front of a Zach Frost pass and returned the interception 35 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter. That margin grew to 13-0 late in the period when quarterback John Rooney threw deep and found Mark DeAngelis for a 36-yard scoring strike. All that was just warm-up, though, for the Gaelic Knights’ second-quarter blitz.
Beauford got the show started, twice catching TD passes from Rooney, one of them a 24-yard play where Beauford ran from one sideline to the other, plus an 18-yard play a few minutes later. Omar Osbourne joined in by scoring on runs of one and 28 yards on his way to 108 yards on the night, all in the first half. With Rooney scoring on his own 28-yard run in between Osbourne’s TDs, and Chris Davis converting all five extra points, Ludden had all its points by halftime, allowing the starters another early exit. Despite having reserves on the field most of the second half, Ludden maintained the shutout, its defense keeping J-E from getting near the end zone. Ludden goes for five wins in a row next Saturday when it pays a visit to Hannibal, just after J-E plays at home against Weedsport – who is 4-0 and the leaders in the Class D West division.