Bishop Ireton High School came up bigagainst cross-town rival St. Stephens/St. Agnes after a disappointingstart to their football season.

The 1-3 Cardinals went into the gamewinless as did the now 0-3 Saints but arrived with the kindof high-octane offense they were looking for in the pre-season.Sophomore quarterback PJ Zingler spread the ball around in the endzone, connecting with junior wide-out Malcolm Westbrook, juniorrunning back Moses Webb early on for a 14-0 lead.

While the Saints threatened to keepthe game close throughout the first half, they couldn’t keep up withthe Cardinals. The fourth quarter ended in a myriad of sacks andmiscues in a stomach-punch loss for the Saints.

Cardinals head coach Tony Verduccimade time to praise Alexandria’s other high school football coachesas first class gentleman, but said it’s really nice to have awin against one of them.

This is a 365-day game, becausethis is one you live with for the rest of the year, he said.You’re bumping into these people, your foes, at the grocery storeand post office all year. It’s nice to have it in your hip pocket.

Webb agreed, saying he looked forwardto any chance at beating former teammates on the high school footballfield.

You always want to beat yourteammates from across the street, he said. It’s for braggingrights. We beat our neighbors.