Six points would not do much for Providence Catholic's Pat Wright if he were to score that total when he took the ACT on Sept. 13.
But on Sept. 12, it meant a perfect score in the eyes of Celtics nation as the senior place-kicker nailed a pair of field goals to upset Mount Carmel 6-3 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue opener at mud-slung Bishop Kaffer Stadium.
Wright delivered his first field goal from 33 yards out with just 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter before converting from 40 yards out in the middle of mud-caked Matt Senffner Field with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
"I went out there thinking 'just make the kick,'" said Wright, who also did a tremendous job in the punting game. "This is the No. 1 team in the state (according to the Chicago Sun-Times rankings). This is unbelievable."
More unbelievable might have been how the Celtics got to the Mount Carmel 33-yard line to set up Wright's heroics.
After both teams failed to put together anything more than nine-play drives in the opening half, Providence (2-1, 1-0 CCLB) came out of its first huddle of the second half greeted by the heaviest rains of the night.
But rather than slog through the mud like it did in the first half to the tune of just 61 yards of offense, Celtics offensive coordinator Marty Balle mixed things up between the running game of Tim Hanrahan and the passing arm of Mike Hoffmeister after the Caravan's initial series went three and out.
Hoffmeister completed five of six passes, most coming on rollouts to his backs out of the backfield for 40 yards, with Hanrahan running for another 17.
By the time the drive had ended, the Celtics had used up 8:29 of the third-quarter clock, driving 50 yards in 15 plays to set up Wright's big kick.
"Give credit to offensive coordinator Marty Balle on that drive," Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. "I give him the reins and he did a good job of mixing it up."
Balle's play calling also put the reins on a vaunted Mount Carmel attack, one that had scored 104 points in its first two games combined, leaving the Caravan offense on the sideline for nearly the entire third quarter.
That might not have mattered on this night with Providence's defense controlling Mount Carmel's option attack, weather conditions aside. The Caravan finished with just 79 yards on the ground on 34 plays and 145 yards of offense.
"I don't know if we have ever contained Mount Carmel's option game like we did tonight," Coglianese said.
"We haven't won the close, big games lately. This was a big hurdle for us to get over as a team."
And a big hurdle for the first-year starting quarterback Hoffmeister as well as his stomach to overcome, especially in Friday's pressure-packed night with every snap being so precious.
"I really wasn't looking at it," Hoffmeister said in reference to Wright's kick. "I was just holding my stomach."
"But now, it's just an awesome feeling."
And a perfect score, 6-3 - in football terms, anyway.
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