Saint Stephen’s run past Keswick Christian with backup quarterback
BRADENTON Quarterback Fred Billy was in streetclothes because of a hand injury, but Saint Stephens didn’t miss a beat with freshman Cam Vining under center.
The Falcons produced all 336 yards of offense and seven touchdowns on the ground en route to a 48-0 romp.
Saint Stephen’s running backs Chase Brown, Ace Murrell, and Demetrius Davis accounted for 173 yards and four touchdowns. Vining, Ryan Thompson, and Sydney Brown accounted for the other rushing scores.
The Falcons’ running totals could have been bigger, but they often worked with a short field because of punt returner Sydney Brown, who produced 81 punt return yards that repeatedly allowed the Falcons to start six of their nine possessions on the Crusaders’ side of the 50.
“When you have a guy who is a weapon returning punts that makes you better because that is another phase that you feel like you can utilize to score points or at least make it easier to score points,” Saint Stephen’s head coach Tod Creneti said.
Not to be outdone by the running game and Brown, the Falcons’ defense held the Crusaders to less than 100 yards of offense. Senior linebacker Alex Virgilio led the defense with seven tackles. Ty Barker had two interceptions.
The Falcons (4-1, 2-0 Sunshine State Athletic Conference Coral Bay) will make the crosstown trip next Friday to face rival ODA in a battle for the Headmasters Cup.
Southeast 35, Arcadia DeSoto County 6: The Seminoles continued their perfect start to Class 5A-District 11 play with a blowout of DeSoto County in Arcadia.
After a two-hour weather delay, DeSoto jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Noles (2-2, 2-0) quickly answered. Junior Alex Taylor connected on a deep ball to wide receiver Bradley Tresalus to give Southeast a 7-6 lead and then hit wide receiver Terrance Pryor later during the half for a touchdown to take a 14-6 lead at the break.
Taylor added another touchdown pass during the final minutes plus a 22-yard touchdown run during the second half to lead the rout.
The Seminoles’ defense clamped down after conceding the early touchdown and also added a defensive touchdown during the second half. Junior edge rusher Teriq Houston hauled in an interception and ran it back for the Noles’ fourth touchdown during the second half.
The Noles travel to Sarasota next Friday for a meeting with Cardinal Mooney and former Southeast head coach Paul Maechtle, who is associate head coach for the Cougars.
Cardinal Mooney 42, Clearwater Calvary Christian 35: Quarterback Tristan Hillerich and running back Bryce Johnson combined for 314 rushing yards and four touchdowns during the second half for the Cougars, and Mooney opened its Class 3A-District 5 slate with a comeback win against Calvary Christian in Clearwater.
Cardinal Mooney (4-1, 1-0) traded touchdowns with Calvary early, trailing both 14-13 and 21-20 before pulling back ahead during the second half. Williams finished the game with 228 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries and Hillerich finished with 160 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cougars move out of district play next Friday to host Southeast in Sarasota.
This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 12:35 AM with the headline "Saint Stephen’s run past Keswick Christian with backup quarterback."