Several individual players had good games for the Aquinas Fightin’ Irish in their 28-14 win over Washington-Wilkes Aug. 28.
But it wasn’t a single person who stood out the most to Aquinas Head Coach James Leonard
“The offensive line is the player of the game…I’m just really proud of the offensive line. They really dug in and played hard,” he said.
The teams slugged it out early in the game.
Aquinas missed an opportunity in the first half by failing to cross the goal line as the Tigers’ defense dug in. The drive ended on downs on the Tigers’ half-yard line.
An illegal shift by the Aquinas offense negated an Eli Hutchinson rushing touchdown late in the second quarter, but Joseph Lambert had a four-leaf clover in his pocket as he made a catch in the corner of the endzone to put points on the board for the Irish.
The Tigers would even the score with 1:43 left on the clock in the first half.
Defensive end Xavier Gartrell picked off a pass, and Daylen Davis later scored on a two-yard run.
After the half, the Irish came out fighting.
Although Hutchinson had his first TD called back, he would go on to score two more in the second half – one on a 26-yard rush and the other in the waning seconds of the game on a 20-yard run.
Lambert also evened out his TD total with two on the night.
The Tigers’ other TD came on a pass reception by KJ Wylie.
It’s early in the season and despite winning their first two games, Leonard said there’s work to be done in practice Monday.
“We’re not quite there yet where we want to be; we’re going to get there,” he said.
Aquinas plays at Lincoln County on Sept. 4 and Washington-Wilkes travels to Oglethorpe County.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here
