Cardinals try to bounce back against Knights

The Bishop Guertin High School football team has been forced, because of injuries, to play a lot of younger players this season.

That doesn’t change the expectations, by fans, parents, critics and the coach.

“The expectations continue to be high,” Cardinals coach Tony Johnson said. “Unfortunately, these kids need a couple of games under their belt to get used to it.”

Two weeks ago against Catholic Memorial of West Roxbury, Mass., the Cardinals had 18 players out with injuries; Bishop Guertin lost 26-14. Last week, against Dover, the Cardinals were down 14 players and receiver Peter Fucci didn’t return after a first-half injury; Bishop Guertin lost 7-0.

None of those players are returning this week, when Bishop Guertin hosts Manchester West at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Stellos Stadium.

“We’re young and every week, we get younger,” Johnson said. “It makes it tough to game plan on a weekly basis. Usually you get nicked up during the year, and for a few years, we had a lot of depth. This year, we don’t.”

While the Cardinals’ offense struggled with false start penalties and the Green Wave defense, especially once it got on Dover’s side of the field, it was the BG defense that was the bigger problem.

“Defensively, we didn’t play well,” Johnson said. “We gave up yards we shouldn’t have. But again, we’re playing with young kids. We need to get healthy, but that’s completely out of control.”

The Cardinals (3-1 in Division II, 4-2 overall) could look a lot healthier against West (1-3, 1-5).

The Blue Knights got their first win of the season last week, beating Spaulding 34-16. While West has averaged 20 points in its four division games in its first season in Division II, the Blue Knights have allowed more than 34 points per game.

“Their quarterback is very versatile,” Johnson said. “They run a good option attack. (Coach) Travis Cote does a good job over there. Yes, they were devastated by the exodus to Bedford, and it’s going to take time.”