Manthorne (3 TDs) powers St. Mary’s past Eastie

EAST BOSTON – Junior Jordan Manthorne proved to be a model of efficiency Friday night, rattling off scoring runs of three, 87 and 49 yards while rushing for 188 yards on nine carries as St. Mary’s rolled over East Boston, 36-6, at East Boston Stadium.Manthorne filled the void left by the absence of junior Jordan Collier (ankle) as the Spartans rebounded emphatically from last week’s tough loss to Marblehead. His numbers would have been altogether off the charts had not a 56-yard scoring scamper on the Spartans’ second play been negated by a holding penalty.”Jordan really stepped up and I thought all of our running backs really ran well. It was a good overall effort. The kids came out and played hard. The offensive line really had a good night, which was good to see,” said Coach Matt Durgin. The Spartans rushed for 297 yards (13.6 avg.).Meanwhile, St. Mary’s defense anchored by junior Rodolfo Jiminez held fast when called upon. Trailing 22-0, Eastie moved to the Spartans’ one-yard line late in the first half and to the nine on its first possession of the second half after recovering an onside kick. A 14-yard fourth-down sack of EB quarterback Vincent Lepore by a trio of Spartans squashed the first drive while Jiminez wrestled down Leroy McPherson for a three-yard loss on fourth-and-two from the 10 to end the second.”The entire defense played well and Rodolfo really had a strong game. It was good to see them respond to those situations,” Durgin said.St. Mary’s took a 6-0 lead on its second possession when senior Charlie Beaton took a toss to the right side, found a seam in the middle and scampered 41 yards, capping a quick three-play, 74-yard march that included runs of 18 yards by Manthorne and 15 yards by Connor Sakowich.The lead grew to 14-0 early in the second quarter with Sakowich’s backpedalling 39-yard catch of quarterback Jake Cassidy’s pass at the three preceded Manthorne’s three-yard scoring run. Sakowich added the two-point conversion.Luc Zikianda’s partial punt block gave the Spartans a short field to work with at the EB 28 and they converted in five plays with junior Paul Halas sweeping in from five yards and Beaton adding the conversion rush for a 22-0 lead at the break.The Spartans left no doubt, scoring on consecutive possessions in the third period. On the first play after the defense denied Eastie at the 13, Manthorne burst through a gap in the EB defense, sprinting 87 untouched yards. Halas’s conversion rush made it 30-0. Manthorne completed his hat trick later in the period with a 49-yard dash for a 36-0 lead.Eastie avoided the shutout late in the fourth quarter when Matt Robinson pounded in from a yard out against the Spartans’ second defense.