Statistically speaking: 49 points in 5:24? Holy cow Holy Cross!
There are good starts, and then there's the first quarter put up by Louisville (Ky.) Holy Cross High. In the first 5:24 of the Cougars' game against Bardstown (Ky.) Bethlehem High, Holy Cross jumped out to a 49-0 lead.
Yes, you read that correctly: 49 points in less than five-and-a-half minutes. Starting with the opening kickoff, Holy Cross unleashed an efficient offense on two plays and combined it with explosive special teams and defense en route to a 69-3 victory on the team's senior night.
In fact, given that the Cougars scored 49 points in less than a quarter, it's a feat of modesty that they didn't top 69 total points in the victory.
According to Catholic Sports Net, Holy Cross scored its first two touchdowns on kick and punt returns. The next two touchdowns both came one play after Bethlehem fumbles, meaning that the Cougars scored four touchdowns in the span of their first two official offensive plays.
In fact, the fifth score came directly off a turnover, with Cody Couch -- who scored the second touchdown on a punt return -- returning an interception 43 yards for a fifth touchdown. On the next play from scrimmage, fellow Holy Cross defensive back Robbie Valdez picked off Bethlehem again … and again returned it for a touchdown, his team's sixth.
That made the score 42-0 at the 5:15 mark, breaking through the touchdown-a-minute threshold. Incredibly, Holy Cross would score on another turnover before the clock hit the 6:00 mark, with senior Henry Vicent returning a fumble from 8 yards out to push the score to the near-ludicrous single-quarter total of 49-0.
Seven touchdowns, 5:24, only two offensive plays. You can see highlights of a handful of those scores directly above. Clearly, there isn't much left to say except "Wow."
It's unknown where the 49-point, single-quarter explosion ranks among the highest-scoring periods of all time, but it has to be up on the list. According to Catholic Sports Net, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association doesn't keep track of how quickly a team has scored any given number of points, making it equally hard to quantify just how impressive Holy Cross' early game touchdown eruption was.
No matter where it ranks, the blowout's first quarter won't fade from the mind of those who were in attendance anytime soon, as Catholic Sports Net made clear.
It was a night many fans just simply said, "crazy," and, "I've never seen anything like it."
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