Saint Stephen's jumps ahead early, holds off Zephyrhills Christian for district win

Alex Virgilio ran for three touchdowns in the first half and the Falcons held on to beat the Warriors 21-10 despite not scoring after halftime.

Virgilio ran for 60 yards on nine carries and quarterback Fred Billy added 58 yards on seven carries to pace SSES' 215-yard effort against Zephyrhills Christian. Saint Stephen's, however, only totaled 48 yards in the second half as the Warriors possessed the ball for a pair of long fourth-quarter drives.

Led by its defensive line, the Falcons (6-1, 6-1 Sunshine State Athletic Conference Coral Bay) shut Zephyrhills Christian (5-2, 5-2) out for three quarters.

Saint Stephen's had already locked up a playoff berth coming into the game despite a loss to first-place Santa Fe Catholic in Lakeland last Friday.

But Billy is 4-for-21 in his past two games and the Falcons have been limited to their two lowest scoring outputs of the season.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Saint Stephen's jumps ahead early, holds off Zephyrhills Christian for district win ."