St. Mary’s finds both pluses and minuses in win over Pope John

LYNN – When your team scores 17 seconds into the game, adds another touchdown two minutes later, has three players rush for more than 100 yards (and the team gains over 400 on the ground), and scores 48 points in victory, you should feel ecstatic.Yet that same team also piled up eight penalties (for 55 yards) and lost a pair of fumbles at inopportune times, costing it valuable field position along the way.All that happened to the St. Mary’s football squad Saturday evening on its way to a 48-28 win over Pope John (coached by former English running back Brian Vaughan) at Manning Field.Pope John28St. Mary’s48 “This was the first time that we’ve faced adversity all season,” said St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin. “The kids responded, but we kept hurting ourselves with way too many penalties and turnovers.”The Spartans recovered an onside kick, as the Tigers tried to fool St. Mary’s. Yet the Spartans collected the ball at Pope John’s 48. Todd Collier (8-117) took a feed from quarterback Jonathan Capano, rambling down the right sidelines for the game’s first points just 17 seconds in.St. Mary’s (2-0) then recovered a squib kick, which bounced off a Tigers lineman, and the team took over at Pope John’s 41. Three running plays gave the team a first down at the 30. Capano then hooked up with teammate Ryan Barrows coming out of the backfield for a 30-yard reception that extended the lead to 12-0 only 2:16 into the contest.Yet the Tigers (1-1) bounced back to cut the deficit in half. Quarterback Malcolm Brown-Simpson picked up a first down to the Spartans’ 48 on a seven-yard gain. He then hit receiver Malcolm Brown down the near sidelines to the 5. After a penalty moved the ball to the 2, Brown-Simpson called his own number to put the Tigers on the board.St. Mary’s got the touchdown back promptly. The team took over at midfield, with Barrows (11-100) gaining 17 yards to the Pope John 33. Nick Day (8-106) then took a pitch from Capano, carrying it down the right sidelines and into the end zone for a 20-6 Spartans advantage.Both teams traded lengthy possessions, yet the Tigers scored the only points of the second quarter, when Robert McMaster hit Brown for 21 yards off the option. Brown netted the two-point conversion on a pass from Brown-Simpson, and the Tigers were within 20-14 at the half.However, St. Mary’s put the game away with three touchdowns in the third stanza. The team took over at the Tigers’ 27 after a stalled Pope John drive, and it only took three plays for the Spartans to add to the lead. With the ball at the 13, Collier ran through a huge hole and into the end zone for the score. Day added the two-point conversion for a 28-14 edge.Pope John was able to drive to the St. Mary’s 36 on the following drive, but couldn’t advance any further. One play was all that it took for the Spartans to add to the lead. Day took a handoff from Capano, and found nothing but daylight on his 64-yard score. Sam Scranton’s two-point conversion gave the team a 36-14 advantage.”We competed for a half,” stated Vaughan. “We didn’t mind giving up a long play, as we’d be able to get the ball back and have another opportunity to score. We just didn’t want to give up the long drives.”Scranton added a 25-yard score late in the period, and Cory Donahue added a 55-yard run in the final period to close out St. Mary’s scoring. The Tigers scored twice in the last three minutes of the contest to round out the scoring.