The St. Mary’s football team (3) defeated Archbishop Williams (14) on Friday night at Manning Field, 37-13, to advance to the Division 6 Elite 8.
Last week, St. Mary’s defeated the Bishops, 35-19, with David Brown registering five touchdowns. Friday night, Brown added four more en route to a St. Mary’s win in front of its hometown faithful.
After the Bishops’ opening kickoff went out of bounds, the Spartans got to work with Derick Coulanges taking a handoff and exploding for a 60-yard pickup on the first play from scrimmage.
Brown scored his first touchdown on an end-around play to put St. Mary’s ahead, 7-0, after the extra point.
On St. Mary’s first defensive play, three Spartans swarmed a Bishop ball-carrier behind the line of scrimmage – led by a ferocious Tommy Falasca. Plays later, Falasca sacked Archbishop Williams quarterback Joe Schwartz from behind – forcing the Bishops to punt.
St. Mary’s took over from its own 1-yard line. Spartans’ quarterback Tyler Guy completed a pass for nine yards before taking it himself for four more, but St. Mary’s run game was stopped – leading to another punt.
In response, the Bishops’ Marcus Thurston bolted left for a 25-yard gain into the redzone. Like clockwork, however, Falasca shined on the defensive end – tripping up Thurston to force a fourth down situation for Archbishop Williams. On fourth down, Joel Miggs leaped to make a tackle – exciting the crowd and giving the Spartans possession back.
The first quarter ended with the Spartans out front, 7-0.
Coulanges began the second quarter where he left off in the first, zooming downfield for 37 yards on the ground – sending three Bishops to the turf in the process.
Brown then took a handoff to the left and reversed field before heading right for a 28-yard touchdown – his second of the game. The Spartans took a 14-0 lead.
Later in the game, and this time tasked with a punt, Brown pinned the Bishops beautifully on their own 1-yard line. A three-and-out later on defense, and the Spartans took over from the Bishops’ 21-yard line after a short punt.
St. Mary’s couldn’t capitalize on its strong field position and Guy was sacked hard by Archbishop Williams’ Lorenzo Jackson.
The halftime score favored the Spartans, 14-0. Coulanges eclipsed 100 rushing yards in the first half.
St. Mary’s established its second half run game early in the third with Ernie Panias rushing for pickups of 17 and 16 yards, followed by Coulanges taking a handoff for 28 yards.
Brown collected his third touchdown of the game on a 14-yard handoff towards the left sideline, and St. Mary’s took a commanding 21-0 lead with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter. On the extra point, Spartan kicker Michael Anderson picked up the 100th of his career.
After an 86-yard punt return from the Bishops’ Andre Espaillat, Archbishop Williams had a chance to cut into the deficit. Plays later, they did just that with Charlie Conners taking a handoff and diving into the endzone. After the kick, the Spartans’ lead was cut to 21-7.
After the Spartans went three-and-out, Brown impressed on another punt – once again, pinning the Bishops at their own 1-yard line. The third quarter ended with St. Mary’s holding its two-touchdown advantage.
St. Mary’s Nick Sacco exploded through the line and blocked an Archbishop Williams punt out of the endzone – resulting in a safety that put the Spartans up, 23-7.
On the redo punt, Brown took it 71 yards to the house, racing through the secondary with no one coming close to tackling him. With the point after, St. Mary’s extended its lead to 30-7 in the fourth quarter.
In desperation mode, Thurston trucked a Spartan before racing 16 yards to the endzone on the ground for Archbishop Williams. After a failed trick play on the two-point conversion attempt, the touchdown cut the lead to 30-13 with 10:10 remaining in the fourth quarter.
St. Mary’s continued its run presence on the ensuing drive, picking up gains of 11, 10, and 19 yards on rushes.
After Guy rushed his way to the 1-yard line after consecutive spin moves, Coulanges rushed for a touchdown to put St. Mary’s ahead, 37-13, after another Anderson extra point.
Time ran out on Archbishop Williams, and the Spartans beat the Bishops twice in seven days – this time, 37-13. The Spartans will take on Lynnfield in the Elite 8.
