Tradition, faith and six state championships between the two of them in the past five years.

It took more than half a century to make happen but Friday the two private schools known for giving public teams fits; two programs that practically mirror each other in the upper and lower halves of the state, finally collided on the football field.

Bishop England traveled nearly four hours to upend Christ Church, 35-28, at Carson Stadium where the Cavaliers boasted a 38-game regular-season win streak.

The Bishops’ first season-opening win in four years comes against a Cavaliers team that hadn’t lost an opener since 2005.

“It was a great environment against a traditionally strong team, three-and-a-half hours away, it could’ve been a lot to handle,” Bishop England head coach John Cantey said. “I think our players managed all the craziness well.”

Bishop England rushed for 451 yards, averaging 9 per carry as a team, with four players tallying 80 or more. Junior quarterback Leo Albano ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns himself, and passed for 80 yards and another score.

Bishops senior Ian Butler ran for 97 yards on just five carries, collecting the bulk of them on a 77-yard sprint to the end zone off a misdirection handoff on the fifth play of the game.

Albano later hit Andrew Pizzo with a 9-yard touchdown on a rollout pass to open a 14-0 Bishops advantage.

“It was important for us to jump on them early,” Cantey said. “I just wish we didn’t let them stay in the game.”

Christ Church senior quarterback Jeffrey Johnsen threw for 223 yards on 22-of-37 passing. Johnsen hit Lee Hudson on a 54-yard pass that set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Roscoe Cox to cut the Bishops’ lead in half midway through the second quarter.

The Cavaliers tied the game with four seconds to play in the half as Cox broke free for a 49-yard punt return touchdown.

Christ Church then opened the third quarter with a six-play, 69-yard drive that Radford Swent finished with a 31-yard touchdown run to claim the Cavaliers’ first lead of the game.

“The whole game was up and down,” Cantey said. “The third quarter they took it to us. It was looking bad for a little while then Leo kind of bailed us out.”

Albano broke loose for a 51-yard touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter. A 55-yard run from fullback Carter Kilgore set up a 3-yard Albano touchdown on the Bishops’ next possession.

Adam Mikulski trickled the ensuing kickoff into a gap in the middle of the field and recovered the ball himself. Eight plays later, Albano was in the end zone again from 3 yards out to reclaim a two-score Bishops advantage.

“We work on stuff like (the onside kick) all the time for situations like that,” Cantey said. “I thought our option wore them down by the fourth quarter and allowed us to finish the game.”

For the past three years, Bishop England has opened the season with a loss to now-AAAAA West Ashley. The Bishops return home next Friday to host the Wildcats with a chance to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2007. West Ashley (1-0) beat Colleton County, 46-14, in its season opener on Friday.

“It’s interesting being 1-0 now,” Cantey said. “We haven’t had that the past few years. It’s a good start and hopefully we can use this momentum, stay humble, and prepare for a really solid football team in West Ashley.”