Story by Sergio Ascencio
It was the Santa Fe League opener for both the St. Anthony Saints and the visiting St. Genevieve Valients, but it was played more like a championship. In the end the only difference was the most important: eight points, as St. Genevieve left Clark Field with a 44-36 win over the Saints.
St. Genevieve head coach Eric Harris knew it would be a battle prior to the game, when he said that both teams are eerily similar and skilled. He wasn’t kidding. Both teams displayed a potent two headed monster at quarterback and running back-- both operating out of the spread offense-- with playmaking receivers and less than stellar defense. There were no fireworks during the St. Anthony Saints' halftime homecoming ceremonies, where they honored 18 players from their 1948 CIF championship squad, but I don’t think the crowd noticed, because the game was explosive enough.
It got going with a bang when St. Anthony returner Greg Daniels fumbled the opening kickoff. Three plays later the Valients had a quick 7-0 lead. Then, before you knew it, 42 points were scored in the second quarter alone! I'll put it this way, the first punt in the game came with 4:27 left in the third. Senior Lamont Rowe ran the show for the Saints, completing six of 13 passes for 142 yard, two touchdowns and added 85 yards on the ground. When Rowe wasn’t creating on the roll-out he was handing off to classmate John Graves.
Graves was unstoppable, carrying the ball 19 times for 171 yards and three scores. The Saints had a total of 398 yard of offense in the loss. “Ah man, winning this game would have been too big,” said Rowe. “That would have set the tone for league—that we were the team to beat. Now we got to make up for it and hopefully we do that.”
To do that they must avoid going touchdown-for-touchdown with teams like they did in the second quarter. Here is a rundown of how it went down:
St. Genevieve got it started once again, when running back Rico Marmolejo took a toss sweep left for an 11 yard touchdown, on fourth down nonetheless. The Saints answered with a 35-yard touchdown from Graves. On the ensuing kickoff St. Genevieve returned it to the Saints 31 off a “throw across-the-field reverse” similar to the famous “Music City Miracle” play the Titans ran against the Bills in a 2000 wildcard game (google it). Marmolejo broke free for a 29-yard TD run on the very next play. St. Anthony decided to break the quick-scoring trend and work the clock, running a 10-play 80 yard drive that ended with a one-yard plunge from Graves. Then the Valients took advantage of a questionable pass interference call on an incomplete third down pass to score on a 32-yard touchdown pass. St. Anthony got the ball with 35 seconds remaining in the half and at their own 20, but they weren’t about to run the clock out. Rowe connected with tight end Mika Yandall for a 78 yard pass to the Valients' two. Where Rowe connected with Daniels (remember him from the opening kickoff?) for a touchdown.
Thankfully, the second half moved at a more relaxing pace, but the Saints still couldn’t stop Marmolejo and the efficient St. Genevieve passing attack. Valients quarterback Christopher Navarro finished 9 of 10 for 179 yards and three touchdown passes. Rowe showed his poise as well, connecting on passes where he had tucked the ball in to take off running, yet he kept looking up-field and connected with his receivers. His touchdown pass to Sunny Montoya in the fourth brought them to within one point of the Valients, but the point extra attempt was blocked. That was as close as they got, because on the next drive Marmolejo took a 75-yard swing for a touchdown putting the Valients up by eight with 7:52 left in the game.
“We expect to dominate from here on,” Rowe said. “Every team is a big match-up now. We can’t just a take a team lightly, we have to play every team like it’s the best team out there and get the win.”
With the loss the Saints record drops to 3-3 (0-1) on the season. They will go to Selestian High School next Friday before returning to Clark Field to take on St. Monica on Halloween.