Spartans sprint past Royals

LYNN – A brief fireworks display in a nearby neighborhood provided the perfect backdrop for the explosive first-half performance of the St. Mary’s football team in its 42-7 season-opening rout of Cape Ann League Small foe Georgetown Saturday night at Manning Field.The fact St. Mary’s possessed the ball for only 6:08 and ran just 12 first-half plays would normally signal trouble. However, what the Spartans did with those 368 seconds will long be remembered as they rushed for 328 yards, scored five touchdowns on runs ranging from 36 to 80 yards and averaged 27.3 yards per rushing attempt.St. Mary’s42Georgetown7 “It’s a good start. We were ready to go,” said Spartans head coach Matt Durgin. “We’re fortunate to have a lot of speed and we have backs who don’t need a lot of room to operate. Our line really did a nice job sealing things.”The Spartans’ superior speed was evident on the opening kickoff when all that prevented senior Ryan Barrows from taking it to the house was the fact he lost his balance after hurdling the final Royals defender, settling for a 36-yard return to the Royals’ 47. Two plays later, junior Todd Collier bounced a designed interior run outside and raced 43 unchallenged yards for the touchdown. Junior Nick Day’s two-point conversion made it 8-0 just 1:01 into the new season.Day (7 carries, 163 yards, 3 TDs), Collier (4 carries, 136 yards, 2 TDs) and junior fullback Xavier Gonzales (5 carries, 91 yards, TD) provided the offensive thunder.Meanwhile, the defense twice blunted Georgetown forays into the red zone, taking over on downs at the 17-yard line in the first period – curtailing an 8-play response to Collier’s opening score – and at the seven in the third. St. Mary’s sacked Georgetown quarterback Tyler Wade three times for minus-28 yards (Jonathan Kazadi, Sam Scranton, Guychard Sampson) while Collier and Joe Chau recovered fumbles. The safety Day saved a touchdown on the first play of the second half, running down Wade after a 52-yard gain to the St. Mary’s 30.If there was a dent in the armor, it came in the passing game as Georgetown receivers found substantial creases in the Spartans’ secondary. Wade completed 8-of-12 passes for 112 yards and the Royals’ lone score, a 31-yard strike to Niko Edwards late in the second period, bringing Georgetown to within 30-7.”I thought the defense did a nice job running to the ball all night and we made some really nice plays in goal-line situations. But, they did have some receivers who were open and we have to work on that,” Durgin said.Two plays after St. Mary’s halted Georgetown’s initial drive to the Spartans’ 17, Day popped through the right side, broke one tackle and sprinted 67 yards for a 14-0 lead with 4:31 left in the first period. After Chau recovered Wade’s fumble forced by Kazadi’s 13-yard sack, the fullback Gonzales burst through the middle for a 36-yard touchdown and Collier’s two-point conversion stretched the lead to 22-0 with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.Second-quarter scoring dashes of 59 yards by Day and 80 yards by Collier – one play after Georgetown’s lone touchdown – staked the Spartans to a 36-7 halftime lead. Day capped the scoring with 9:10 to play, strolling in from nine yards.Durgin seemed unconcerned the Spartans’ starting offense saw such limited action.”We had quality snaps over quantity. We’ll take that and continue to work at it this week in practice,” he said. St. Mary’s takes on Pope John of Everett Saturday night at Manning Field (7).