Austin Prep holds off St. Mary’s

LYNN – The fourth-quarter surge from St. Mary’s fell just short against Catholic Central League/Large rival Austin Prep Saturday night at Manning Field, as the Cougars held on for a 22-14 win.”It is disappointing to lose, but we have to give Austin credit,” said St. Mary’s head coach Matt Durgin. ” They (Austin)came in with great game plan and were able to shut down the plays that we like to run.”Austin always plays us tough but I am proud of guys. They never gave up. We will take the good things and then get better on Monday.”Austin Prep (1-0, 3-0) got the scoring started in the first quarter when, on St. Mary’s first possession, the Cougars tackled punter Connor Sakowich in the end zone for a safety to take a 2-0 lead.Following the safety punt, Austin Prep took advantage of a short field and drove 36 yards, the last six coming via Nick Mulcahy for an 8-0 lead.The Cougars made it 14-0 early in the second quarter on Jonathan Saurman’s 1-yard plunge.They finished their scoring on their first drive of the second half, this time on a 2-yard rush by Mulcahy. The 2-point conversion made it 22-0.Trailing by 22 heading into the fourth quarter, the St. Mary’s got going. The Spartans drove 82 yards on their first drive in the fourth quarter and finally put points on the board when Antonio Felix hit Jordan Manthorne with a 28-yard pass for a touchdown, cutting the lead 22-6.After the Spartans’ defense held for the next two Austin Prep possessions, St. Mary’s scored again when Felix hooked up with Manthorne once more for a 76-yard touchdown pass.Following an Abraham Toe’s conversion, St. Mary’s was only down by eight, 22-14.Things got even tighter when Paul Halas recovered the onside kick with 1:16 to go and the Spartans 50 yards away.John Gaeta took the first play 30 yards to the Austin 20 yard line with a little under a minute left.But on the next play Austin Prep picked one off in the end zone to preserve the victory.Gaeta was the leading rusher for the Spartans as he had seven carries for 75 yards.Felix, in just his third game as a quarterback threw for 118 yards and two touchdowns.Mulcahy was the leading rusher for the Cougars as he had two touchdowns on 18 carries for 124 yards.”I thought that our team did great job, “said Austin Prep coach Bill Maradei.”They (St. Mary’s) are such a good football team, and it proves that champions die hard. I told my players that if we played them 10 times both teams would win five times.”