Jennings Plays Well For Emory & Henry, But Wasps Fall To Catholic

EMORY, Va. – It seemed fitting that Caleb Jennings was the last Emory & Henry player to walk off the field at Fred Selfe Stadium Saturday.
For the second straight week, the 5-foot-7, 168-pound sophomore from Cedar Bluff was a one-man gang for the Wasps.

With a mix of creativity, speed and toughness, Jennings accumulated 357 total yards against the Catholic Cardinals.

It still wasn’t enough.

Catholic relied on a fast-break passing game to hold off E&H by a 38-23 margin. E&H (4-4, 2-2), Catholic (7-1, 3-1) and defending titlist Hampden-Sydney (7-1, 4-1) all entered the day with one ODAC loss.

While the Wasps failed to post a breakthrough victory, Jennings remained optimistic.

“We’re getting closer each week,” Jennings said. “We clicked on some things today, but we just had some costly turnovers and Catholic made some big plays.”

Those big plays for Catholic came from a big playmaker. Senior quarterback Keith Ricca, battling Jennings for ODAC MVP honors, completed 27 of 37 passes for 345 yards, five touchdown and no interceptions.

That was enough to overcome the efforts of Jennings, receiver Jonathan Hawkins (68 yards) and improving freshman quarterback Brent McDonald.

“I don’t think there is anything I can say about my team that could be critical,” E&H coach Don Montgomery said. “Our guys played really hard.
“Catholic is just a very talented team, and they proved that last week by beating Hampden-Sydney.”

There were bright spots for E&H, which lost three fumbles. The Wasps held Catholic to 37 yards rushing while McDonald executed the bootleg to perfection in completing 18 of 27 passes for 189 yards.

The difference was Ricca and his tall cast of receivers, who often simply jumped over the E&H defensive backs. Senior Miles Sabrick caught nine passes for 184 yards.

“I can’t begin to tell you how good our receivers are,” Ricca said. “Most teams have one big-play guy and a bunch of possession receivers.
We’ve got six weapons, and any of those guys can have a big game. It’s hard for a defense to stop that.”

The E&H linebacker tandem of Cameron Chaney and Bristol’s Kevin Worley combined for 21 stops, but they had no answer for Ricca.

“I give credit to Catholic for being able to take advantage of what seems to be a weakness in our defense, but we’ve been playing pretty good against everybody else,” Montgomery said.

Third-year Catholic coach Dave Dunn wasn’t surprised by the output of Ricca.

“He’s been knocked around a lot and pretty much seen it all the past four years,” Dunn said. “Nothing really fazes him.”

The performance of Jennings put a big scare into the Cardinals. Jennings set up the first E&H touchdown with an 88-yard punt return, then scored on an 88-yard kickoff return to open the second half.

“I told [Jennings] after the game that I hope he transfers so I won’t have to defend him the next two years,” Dunn said. “He’s as tough, quick and productive as any player in this league.
“If [Jennings] was taller, he wouldn’t be playing at this level, No question about that.”

While he appreciates the praise, Jennings said he doesn’t dream of playing at a higher level.

“It really doesn’t matter,” Jennings said. “I love this program, school and community. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

E&H athletic director Bob Johnson and senior co-captain Matt Baldwin are members of the Jennings fan club. Johnson even said that Jennings is growing into a folk hero.

“Caleb is insanely good,” Baldwin said. “He looked like Barry Sanders on those kick returns.”

The inspirational performance of Jennings was just one reason why Montgomery is encouraged.

“You have to look at the little victories, and those end up being big victories,” Montgomery said. “We’re a football team that is turning the corner.
“I don’t know who many people are aware of it, but both us and Catholic were picked to finish last in the league. I thought both teams were pretty good out there today.”

Catholic 7 17 7 7-38
Emory & Henry 7 10 6 0-23
Scoring Summary
E&H-Jennings 4 run (Hawk kick)
C-Brown 12 pass from Ricca (Deluca kick)
C-McManus 22 pass from Ricca (Deluca kick)
C-Deluca 23 FG
E&H-Ringstaff 2 run (Hawk kick)
C-Mercatanti 2 pass from Ricca (Deluca kick)
E&H-Hawk 37 FG
E&H-Jennings 88 kickoff return (run failed)
C-Sabrick 27 pass from Ricca (Deluca kick)
C-McManus 34 pass from Ricca (Deluca kick)
Att-4,623.

Team Stats

First Downs: C 16, E&H 17; Rushes-Yards: C 27-37, E&H 40-124; Passing Yards: C 345, E&H 189; Comp-Att-Int: C 27-37-0, E&H 18-27-0; Fumbles: C 0-0, E&H 5-3; Penalties: C 4-35, E&H 8-64; Punts: C 7-49, E&H 6-37.

Individual Stats
RUSHING – Catholic: Brown 17-39, Hendley 1-13, Mercatanti 1-5, Smith 1(-3). E&H: Jennings 23-121, Ringstaff 4-6, Richardson 1-3, McDonald 12(-6).

PASSING – Catholic: Ricca 27-37-0-345. E &H: McDonald 18-27-0-189.

RECEIVING – Catholic: Sabrick 9-184, Brown 6-29, Buis 4-21, McManus 3-73. E&H: Castle 4-20, Hawkins 3-68, Ringstaff 3-58, Jennings 3-9.

agregory@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2544