Fortifying its defensive efforts and limiting penalties down the stretch, Bishop Reding’s senior football team broke into the win column Friday — blanking the Abbey Park Eagles 12-0.

The rebuilding Royals scored their lone touchdown late in the second quarter, and from there delivered a fundamentally-sound performance to improve to 1-4 and keep playoff hopes alive in Halton’s 1/2 ranks.

“We finally got the monkey off our backs,” said a jubilant Tyler Lafontaine, who at the outside linebacker post was instrumental in a number of key stops to stone the visitors. “It took a lot of work, but we finally got it done. We finally had a full turnout for practice this week and that was the key. Plus our Oline and D-line really played great. They were the foundation.”

With standout efforts from Lafontaine and defensive end Jake Hetherington, Reding kept the Eagles’ running game in check for most of the afternoon and was the more disciplined team in the second half — after taking some costly infractions early on.

Now back at peak efficiency — after minor injuries cut into his reps the previous week — chief ball carrier Sanjay Moodie delivered numerous big gains and weaved his way through traffic for a 33-yard major a little under three minutes before half time.

Leonard Modestino kicked the extra point and made good on a 20-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, enjoying some redemption after having a couple of late attempts blocked the week before in a narrow loss to Robert Bateman.

Abbey Park conceded a safety inside the final three minutes for the other two points.

Brennan Leslie nearly broke for an insurance touchdown as time expired in the first half — getting hauled down at the two yard line on a lengthy scramble — and intercepted a bomb in the final two minutes of play to effectively squash any lingering comeback hopes.

Unless the Royals can pull off a major upset this Friday at Nelson, they’ll need a season-ending victory over Oakville-Trafalgar October 30 to make the playoffs.