By Sherry Houben

On a perfect evening under the Friday night lights at Goerke Field, Pacelli played with lots of heart and never gave up in the loss to top-ranked Amherst.

Amherst scored first, then #22 Richard Zupan answered as he intercepted Amherst in the end zone to stop the Falcons. A Pacelli fumble resulted in an immediate Amherst touchdown. The first quarter ended with Amherst up 20-0.

Pacelli’s defense held Amherst to 15 more points in the second quarter. Midway though the second quarter the crowd cheered as QB Dan Mitch connected with Andy Tepp for a huge first down, and a glimmer of hope. Amherst stopped the drive and left for half time up 35-0.

The third quarter left Pacelli scoreless, however there were several exciting runs by Xander Schmitz as the go to ball carrier. Amherst up 42-0 end of third quarter.

The fourth quarter was eventful for Pacelli as they gained some first downs, only to lose several yards due to penalties in the hard fought game. With 6:01 left in game, Andy Tepp puts six points on the board when he ran in for a TD.

Pacelli ended the game with a 6-42 loss this year, an improvement over last year against the Falcons, who became Division 6 State Champions.

“We played with more fight this year, we hung in there” said junior Alex Larson, #72 of Pacelli.