IMG Academy Rallies Past Bishop Sullivan 16-6

Playing a team ranked as high as #1 in the nation, the Bishop Sullivan Crusaders out of Virginia Beach led Florida-based powerhouse IMG Academy 6-0 early in the fourth quarter and were on track to pull off a colossal upset at the Brothers-In-Arms Classic.

However, the Ascenders scored 16 unanswered points over the game's final 11 minutes to notch a 16-6 victory in front of more than 4000 fans on a windy Saturday night at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.

Bishop Sullivan, which saw its season end at 7-3 overall in their first year under Head Coach Chris Scott, out-gained IMG Academy 273-176 on the evening. But the Crusaders were unable to protect their lead, failing on six of 11 fourth down tries, the most damaging coming from their own 19-yard line.

Four plays later, IMG Academy tied the game on a 2-yard TD run by QB Kellen Mond, a Texas A&M commit, and the extra point from Cooper Graham put them in front.

A 91-yard touchdown pass from Mond to Oregon commit Tre' McKitty, hauling it in one-handed, extended the advantage, and then Maryland commit Joshua Kaindoh's sack in the end zone for a safety with 25 seconds remaining sealed an undefeated 11-0 season for IMG Academy.

Class of 2019 running back Jake Low helped set the tone for Bishop Sullivan by putting them on the board first on a three-yard touchdown run with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter. That capped a 15-play, 80-yard opening drive for the Crusaders, who saw their extra point try fail.

But despite being smaller than pretty much everyone else on the field, Low's tough running between the tackles and determination often extended possessions for Bishop Sullivan. He ended up with 62 yards on 14 attempts, only one of which saw him lose yardage, plus hauled in a 21-yard pass and made six tackles on the defensive side of the ball.

His presence also proved to be the ideal complement to the speed and outside running of five-star prospect and Florida State commit Khalan Laborn. Going airborne on a few occasions with a couple of breath-taking hurdling moves, Laborn rushed for a game-best 86 yards on 29 attempts. After gaining 73 yards before intermission, he was held to just 13 yards after half-time.

Above all else, the Bishop Sullivan offensive line held up better than most expected as Army commit Noah Knapp, Archie Callahan and crew enabled the Crusaders as a team to run the ball 65 times for 179 yards. Just under 2.8 yards per carry may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough to keep IMG's offense off the field while the Ascenders settled for only 18 yards on 24 rushes.

There's not a team in the land with more college prospects than IMG Academy and they are littered with talent across their defensive front. Several of those high-profile names delivered when the game was on the line.

Four-star junior defensive tackle Taron Vincent, who's ranked #59 overall in the Class of 2018 by Rivals.com and the son of former NFL All-Pro Troy Vincent, was most disruptive in the early going. Vincent had seven of his game-high 12 total tackles through the first ten minutes of the contest. That included nine solo stops and two sacks.

Vincent wasn't alone either. Kaindoh and mammoth 6-foot-4, 270-pound junior defensive lineman Kingston Harris were in on nine tackles apiece, combining to make four stops behind the line of scrimmage. Bishop Sullivan junior QB Tyler DeSue had some key third and fourth down conversions on run plays, but they limited him to 94 yards on eight completions and IMG came through with four sacks.

LSU commit Grant Delpit, four-star linebacker Jordan Anthony and Ohio State commit Marcus Williamson all amassed double-digit tackles. With the usually potent IMG offense being held out of the end zone for three quarters, it was up to their defense to keep them afloat and the answered the call.

- By night's end Bishop Sullivan held a whopping 36:39 to 11:21 advantage in Time of Possession. In the first quarter alone, the Crusaders held the ball 10:20 compared to 1:40 for IMG Academy, which went three-and-out on its first series.

- Bishop Sullivan didn't punt once the whole night. Granted, they were 5 of 11 on fourth down and opted to go for it when facing those situations, even on 4th & 4 from their own 19-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter with a 6-0 lead to the surprise of many, but IMG ended up punting it away four times for an average of 39.5 yards.

- IMG Academy reached the red zone only once and scored a touchdown. Bishop Sullivan got in the red zone on three occasions, scoring just once, their opening series. They opted not to kick field goals on two occasions, getting stopped on 4th & 3 from the IMG 9-yard line with 2:56 to play in the contest. A roughing the passer penalty called on the Ascenders on a 4th & 9 from the 30-yard line earlier in the possession helped give Bishop Sullivan that opportunity.

- It was a clean game from both squads. Neither team committed a single turnover as IMG Academy recovered its lone fumble of the night. Penalty-wise, the Ascenders were flagged eight times for 70 yards, while Bishop Sullivan got called for five infractions totaling just 19 yards.

- Entering the game, IMG Academy was averaging 38.5 points per game. Their previous season-low in points scored was 26 in a season-opening win over Grayson out of Georgia.

IMG Academy (FL) 16:
Kellen Mond - 3-4 for 133Yds. 1-0TD/Int. ratio; TD run
Zack Annexstad - 4-7 for 25Yds.
Trey Sanders - 11Car. 40Yds.
Tre' McKitty - 1Rec. 91Yds. TD
Jalen Jordan - 1Rec. 37Yds.
Taron Vincent - 12 Tackles (9 Solo), 2 Sacks
Gran Delpit - 11 Tackles (7 Solo), 3TFL
Jordan Anthony - 11 Tackles (6 Solo)
Marc Williamson - 10 Tackles (6 Solo)

Bishop Sullivan (VA) 6:
Khalan Laborn - 29Car. 86Yds; 2Rec. 17Yds.
Tyler DeSue - 8-17 for 94Yds.
Jake Low - 14Car. 62Yds. TD; 1Rec. 21Yds; 6 Tackles (3 Solo), TFL
Tahj Capehart - 2Rec. 32Yds; 4 Tackles (all solos)
Tank Land - 2Rec. 17Yds.
Teradja Mitchell - 6 Tackles (4 Solo), TFL
Breyon Gaddy - 5 Tackles, 3TFL, Sack

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and serves as a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10 AM-Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1.