Spartans pick up steam

LYNN – The St. Mary?s football team overcame fumbles on its first two drives en route to a 45-16 rout of St. Clement Saturday night at Manning Field. The Spartans improved to 2-0.St. Mary?s Head Coach Matt Durgin had praise for his team after the game, but also was aware of where his team fell short.?It was good to get a win for our home opener,” said Durgin. “There were a lot of good things, such as all of our running backs playing real well, but we still have to work on a few things, such as turnovers. “Following the two turnovers to start the game, the Spartans got on the board first midway through the first quarter when Connor Sakowich finished off a four-play drive with a 29-yard touchdown rush. After a successful two-point conversion, the Spartans led 8-0.Following a four-and-out for the Anchormen, the Spartans struck again when Abraham Toe took the first play of the drive 69 yards for the score, which put the Spartans up 16-0.The Spartans? defense got the offense back on the field as it held the Anchormen to another four-and-out on their next drive. The Spartan offense wasted no time to score again as quarterback Antonio Felix hit Toe with a 44-yard pass to give St. Mary?s a 24-0 lead.The Spartans added to their lead on their next drive as Toe struck again with a 50-yard rush on the first play of the drive to give the Spartans a 32-0 lead at halftime.The Spartans added to their lead on the second play of their first drive in the second half when Sakowich rushed 24 yards into the right side of the end zone to give the Spartans a 39-0 lead (Toe kick).Alex Maghsoudi capped off the scoring for the Spartans on the next drive when he rushed 44 yards on the first play of the drive to give St. Mary?s a 45-0 lead (Toe kick).The Anchormen struck back, though, as they put together a seven-play drive that was capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Ivan Mertilus. The Anchormen added another touchdown on the last drive of the game when quarterback Michael Gonzales hit his brother Joseph Gonzales on a 59-yard touchdown pass.The Spartans return to action next week as they travel to Austin Prep on Saturday morning to take on the Cougars. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.