In their 22-14 victory over Palisades last week quarterback Aiden Reilly and wide receiver Manny Bolmer both further learned how to overcome adversity. The duo has played major role in the team’s success this season.

The Rough Riders fell behind 14-10 before they rallied for 12 unanswered points for 22-14 victory, their third consecutive one for the season. Catty last began the season with a 3-0 mark in 2021 when they won their first four games.

In fact, Reilly connected with Bolmer on a 14-yard touchdown pass before Jordan Bradshaw returned a blocked field goal attempt 71 yards for a score to cap the night - Bolmer blocked the attempt that Bradshaw returned.

Reilly, who finished the game completing 10 of 22 passes for 158 with a pair of scores, realized that he and his teammates had to overcome some early errors.

“We started very slowly and shot ourselves in the foot with penalties, mental mistakes, and missing open receivers for big gains,” Reilly said. “But we didn’t let any of that get in our head because we knew we could win the game. We had a big drive with three minutes to go to go up by two, and we just never gave up.”

Bolmer, who had three catches for 47 yards with a score, also knew he had to stay the course despite some setbacks.

“I was super nervous when the game got really close, but my team and I just let the mistakes go and we stepped it up,” he stressed. “We worked as a team and got the job done. We really got motivated to keep pushing after we lost the lead. But Aiden (Reilly) threw a great ball to me in the end zone to give us the lead back.”

Bolmer asked for some divine help on the late Palisades’ field goal attempt, and received some, especially after he missed a potential game-winning catch.

“After my mistake I made to get them into that position, I said a prayer to God,” he gushed. “By the grace of God, I laid out for the kick and blocked it. I couldn’t have done it without the motivation from my coaches and my teammates.”

Friday night, the Roughies will host Salisbury, which is 2-1 on the season. Despite their fast start, Reilly wants to remain cautiously optimistic.

“We have a lot of confidence going into this game, but we have some tough teams coming up,” stated Reilly. “We have a lot to improve on. We just want to focus on one week at a time, and it’s time to focus on Salisbury.”