St. Margaret’s Rally Comes Too Late, 27-23

Matt Kaplan passed for 126 yards and one touchdown and the Campbell Hall defense put the brakes on one of Orange County’s leading rushers as the Vikings defeated St. Margaret’s, 27-23, in a Academy League game Friday night at St. Margaret’s.

St. Margaret’s Ryan Birtcher, who came in averaging 9.5 yards per carry, was held to 68 yards in 22 carries by the Vikings (4-2, 1-1).

Meanwhile, Campbell Hall got its running game going with Blake Lichtig, who rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

Lichtig’s second touchdown, a five-yard run with two minutes left in the half, put Campbell Hall in the lead, 14-9.

The Vikings then pulled away--at least temporarily--when Derrick Williams intercepted a lateral and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown and Kaplan and Sean Jody hooked up for a seven-yard scoring pass play.

Jody’s touchdown came early in the fourth quarter and put Campbell Hall up, 27-9.

St. Margaret’s (4-2-1, 1-1) rallied but only made the score close.

A 50-yard pass from Cory Westrope to Mike Hallenbeck, and a two-point conversion run by Hallenback pulled St. Margaret’s to within 27-17 with 3:29 left in the game. Birtcher, who had moved to quarterback, connected with Brent Comerford for a 55-yard scoring play with 35 seconds left.