West Football's Comeback Bid Falls Short [Photos]

In its second game without star two-way player Rodney Williams, Cherry Hill West found its offensive spark plug against Bishop Eustace Friday night.

The only problem was the spark came too late.

Jaquan Gonzalez-Pratt broke loose on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to bring the Lions within a score of beating the Crusaders, but Bishop Eustace held on for the win, 24-18.

After converting a fourth down on their first possession and kicking off the night's scoring with a Joey Argentina-to-Chris Pascall 20-yard touchdown pass, the Lions' offense got jammed in neutral—they turned the ball over on a fumbled snap deep in Eustace territory and went three-and-out after almost holding a goal-line stand four times.

West found itself in a 21-6 hole at halftime, and it didn't get much easier in the second half—after another three-and-out and another turnover, the Lions gave up a field goal to go down by at least three scoring drives.

That's when Gonzalez-Pratt got it going.

In one of the most efficient drives on the night, Gonzalez-Pratt jammed an 11-yard score down the throat of the Eustace defense, diving forward after being hit just short of the goal line to give the Lions new life.

But a missed two-point conversion—Argentina caught his own batted pass, but was tackled before he could reach the end zone—West was left with 7:25 to score at least two more touchdowns.

The Lions got it back quickly after Bishop Eustace couldn't manage a first down on its next possession, and Gonzalez-Pratt busted loose on a pair of long runs before hammering home a six-yard score with exactly four minutes left in the game that brought the Lions within six.

But the Crusaders were able to convert on fourth-and-one on the following drive, pulling the West defense offside to seal the game.

The loss drops West to 4-3 on the season, though it's not likely to have much effect on the power points standings, where the Lions sit eighth in South Jersey, Group 4, thanks to several other teams being on a bye either this week or next.

West wraps up its regular season next week at home against Camden Catholic.