LYNN — The St. Mary’s football team went back and forth with Catholic Central League foe Archbishop Williams all game long Friday evening, but in the end the Spartans came up one score short in a 29-22 loss at Manning Field. St. Mary’s, missing four key players who were forced into quarantine early in the week, just couldn’t make that one key stop at the end of the game after holding a one-point lead.
“It’s tough because it was certainly a winnable game at multiple points for us, but we just came up short,” said St. Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll. “We fought hard the whole game and put forth a really strong effort, but we just couldn’t make that stop at the end.”
Sophomore running back Derick Coulanges led the offensive attack for St. Mary’s, rushing for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Sophomore tight end Jack Marks had three receptions for 42 yards.
Sophomore running back David Brown Jr. — who started at quarterback after normal starter Ali Barry was forced to quarantine — rushed for 62 yards and one touchdown, but also threw three interceptions. Brown also had an interception on the defensive side of the ball.
The game got off to a slow start, with the two teams exchanging three-and-outs on the first two possessions of the game before Williams turned the ball over on downs on its second drive. But when St. Mary’s got the ball for the second time, the Spartans put together an 8-play, 47-yard drive that was highlighted by a 33-yard connection from Brown to Marks. After Brown took a quarterback keeper 11 yards for a touchdown, the Spartans took a 7-0 lead.
But after Williams took the ensuing kick back for a big return deep in St. Mary’s territory, the Bishops orchestrated an eight-play drive that ended with a touchdown to tie the score at 7-7. St. Mary’s went on to lose a fumble on the next possession, once again setting up Williams deep in Spartans territory. It only took one play for the Bishops to strike, connecting on an 18-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
“I thought that was the defining moment of the game,” said Driscoll. “If we don’t fumble there, or even if we get a hand on that pass that ended up as a touchdown, maybe things are different.”
But the Spartans came out with a ton of fight in the second half, with Brown returning the opening kickoff 63 yards to set up a two-play drive for a touchdown. Coulanges touched the ball on both plays, rushing for 11 yards before breaking off a 19-yard touchdown run. After Brown punched in the two-point conversion, St. Mary’s led 15-14.
Williams responded with another long drive, going 65 yards in 11 plays and capping it off with a touchdown to go ahead 21-15.
After getting the ball back at the start of the fourth quarter, St. Mary’s made another push toward the end zone. After nine plays, mainly on the back of Coulanges, the Spartans finally broke through when Coulanges scored on a four-yard run to make it 22-21.
All St. Mary’s needed was a stop, but Williams proved to be a little too tough. Behind another nine-play drive, this one taking up more than five minutes of game clock, the Bishops punched in one more touchdown and two-point conversion to take a 29-22 lead.
The Spartans made one last push for the end zone, but Williams pulled down an interception to seal the win in the final seconds.
St. Mary’s (0-2) now gets one extra day to prepare for its game next week, as it hosts Cardinal Spellman Saturday afternoon (2) back at Manning Field.
“It’s never as bad as you think and it’s never as good as you think, so we’ll break down the film and get back to work Monday,” said Driscoll. “Obviously it’ll be nice having an extra day to work on things, so we’re going to try to take advantage and put in another good week of practice to prepare.”
