Sixth time the charm for the Irish
Knoxville – The sixth time was the charm for the Knoxville Catholic High School Football team last week.
The Irish kept their perfect record intact with a 42-14 victory over Lipscomb Academy Friday night at Blaine Stadium. It was KCHS’s first win over the Mustangs in six tries in the recent long-running series.
Catholic (3-0) wasted little time seizing control of the contest as it scored on its first five possessions of the first half of its 2025 home opener.
The Irish took the lead midway through the first quarter when Matthew Rogers scored on a 4-yard run. Caleb King added the extra point, making the score 7-0 with six minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The touchdown on the Irish’s opening drive was the lone scoring in the opening frame.
But, Catholic blew things open with four touchdowns in the second stanza.
Quarterback Mack Bartolomew opened the frame with a pair of scoring runs. He had a 2-yard plunge and a 31-yard scamper to extend the Irish’s advantage to 21-0 midway through the frame.
And, Catholic was far from finished scoring.
Rogers’ second TD run covered 29 yards with 1:53 remaining, and Bartholomew had a 41-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek King just before halftime, giving the Irish the 35-0 lead it enjoyed at the break.
Catholic coach Philip Shadowens was pleased with his squad’s performance against the Mustangs (0-3).
“It was a great overall performance, a dominant performance for us,” Shadowens said. “We dominated in all phases of the game and had a great performance.
“We dominated on offense, played well on defense and did well on special teams.”
Just after halftime, the Irish came up with their most explosive play of the contest as King returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter for an 89-yard touchdown, making the score 42-0.
The Mustangs scored two second-half touchdowns after the game’s outcome was decided; and while Shadowens was pleased with his squad’s effort against Lipscomb Academy, he’s not taking anything for granted moving forward.
“It was a great game for us but it’s just one game,” he said.
Catholic has an open date this week.
