LYNN ? Heading into its clash with Cardinal Spellman Saturday night, St. Mary’s looked to finally defeat a team it had not beaten in over 25 years.When the smoke cleared after the contest, though, it seemed like the Spartans were the ones who dominated for over a quarter-century.St. Mary’s used its running game to control the clock while its defense limited Spellman to 23 yards of total offense and two first downs in a 22-0 whitewashing at Manning Field.St. Mary’s improved to 5-5 (2-3 Catholic Central League) while Spellman fell to 1-9 (0-4 CCL).”I thought the defense played well all night,” St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin said. “We were fired up, and we were ready.”From the outset, the Spartan offense dominated possession with its running game. St. Mary’s moved the ball 66 yards downfield on its first drive, the key play coming on a 27-yard pass by John LaMothe to Ryan Barrows, which Barrows caught over his shoulder on the right sideline.”Barrows made a great catch,” Durgin said. “And John put the ball right on the money.”After Todd Collier barreled 10 yards to the Spellman 2, Jordan Harvey took the next snap the rest of the way into the end zone. Barrows’ rush made it 8-0, Spartans.On St. Mary’s next possession, a fumble by Harvey on third-and-seven resulted in a 22-yard loss, and the Spartans were forced to punt.The Spartans made sure to make things count on their next trip. With just over 10 minutes left in the half, St. Mary’s embarked on a 13-play drive that consumed seven minutes. The sole passing completion on the possession, from LaMothe to Tim Morris, netted 23 yards to the Spellman 17. Six plays later, Harvey barreled into the end zone from three yards out, and Tim Ray’s rush put St. Mary’s up 16-0 at halftime.”All our backs and the offensive line did a nice job,” Durgin said. “It was a very good effort by the whole team.”The second half was more of the same for the Spartans. After a Spellman three-and-out, St. Mary’s drove 80 yards in another 13 plays (all rushes) for the game’s decisive score. The Spartans completed two fourth-down tries on the drive, and Barrows finished things off by breaking away for a 25-yard touchdown and a 22-0 edge.The St. Mary’s defense was especially suffocating in the second half. Spellman did not record a first down and mustered seven total yards after the break.”Plain and simple, they just beat us on both sides of the ball,” Spellman coach Ron St. George said. “They cut off the ball and were very aggressive.”St. Mary’s racked up 258 rushing yards, with Barrows leading the way at six carries for 59 yards. Collier (12-49), Harvey (12-46) and Nick Day (6-43) all made contributions.The victory gives St. Mary’s the opportunity to finish its season with a winning record when it matches up against Lynn Tech on Thanksgiving Eve.”Lynn Tech will be a huge challenge; it’s a great rivalry,” Durgin said. “But we’ve got to keep getting better. Even in week 10, we’ve got to get better.”