Cardinal Spellman runs away from St. Mary’s

BROCKTON – The St. Mary’s High football team suffered a minor setback Friday, falling to Cardinal Spellman, 28-8, at Potvin Field.With the loss, St. Mary’s falls to 3-2 (1-2 in the Catholic Central League/Small) while the Cardinals improve to 4-1.”We have to give Spellman credit,” said St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin. “We played well defensively, and we were moving the ball on offense but their defense came up with some big stops down the stretch.”With the Spartans driving on their second possession of the game, the Cardinals forced a fumble on the St. Mary’s 37. The Cardinals took take full advantage of the short field as four plays later, Chris Toomey rushed the ball 12 yards into the end zone to give Spellman a 6-0 lead (conversion failed).St. Mary’s answered as Connor Sakowich took the kickoff 74 yards for a score. After a successful 2-point conversion St. Mary’s led 8-6.The defenses took over as the next five possessions resulted in either a punt or turnover. Spellman finally broke the stalemate with a 10-play drive that resulted in a 13 yard touchdown pass from Austin Joseph to Rory Donovan giving the Cardinals a 12-8 halftime lead (conversion failed).The beginning of the second half was much like the first as the defenses of both teams forced punts on the first three drives of the half. On St. Mary’s second possession, the Spartans put together their best drive of the game, going 79 yards on 10 plays. But Spellman picked off a pass and and ran it 96 yards for a score giving the Cardinals a 19-8 lead.The Cardinals’ defense stepped up big on the next drive, forcing a fumble on the third play of the drive. They wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover as on the fifth play of the drive Donovan ran the ball 33 yards for the final score of the game, giving the Cardinals a 26-8 lead.”I am very happy with how my defense played tonight,” said Cardinal Spellman coach Ron St. George. “St. Mary’s has an explosive offense so I was happy we were able to shut it down tonight.”Antonio Felix was 9-13 with 121 yards and an interception in the losing effort.