In their first game of the year, St. Louis U. High’s football team lost 40-24 to St. Mary’s in a game where personal fouls and flags flew like 747’s, and a significant injury to SLUH’s new transfer Derrick Baker really hurt the team’s versatility. 

“We hadn't played since last November, we couldn’t use pads until two weeks ago, so for where we are we want to improve, but I think we did okay,” said head coach Mike Jones. “We haven't played football for a very long time and we are going to be rusty because of it.”

SLUH opted to receive, and the special teams managed to push the ball to the 30-yard line on the return. On second down, a pass to freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo brought the ball to the 50-yard line. Junior quarterback Luke Johnston scrambled for 20 yards, but was unfortunately sacked on the opponent’s 33 yard line and lost 17 yards. The Jr. Bills continued to drive the ball up the field to the seven yard line, but after an incomplete pass on third down,  senior kicker Tyler Ridgway put one through the uprights. With 7:29 left in the first quarter, SLUH had a 3-0 lead.

In their first drive, St. Mary’s carried the ball to the 47-yard line, but their momentum was halted by a holding penalty. SLUH’s defense managed to force a fourth down, but St. Mary’s passed the ball for 14 yards and scored a touchdown with just under six minutes left in the half, giving St. Mary’s a 6-3 lead.

After fielding a kick from St. Mary's senior Kyle Dulick ran 23 yards downfield. Before SLUH’s drive could start, a false start call pushed the ball back 5 yards from Dulick’s return. Junior Derrick Baker found a hole and gained four yards on first and 15, but another penalty against the offense put the ball on the 17-yard line, and presented SLUH with a tough 16 yards for a first down. 

After a Luke Johnston scramble and a dropped pass that could have been a touchdown, the Jr. Bills faced a 4th and 17. SLUH punted the ball from their 22, and  St. Mary’s called for a fair catch at the 49. 

St. Mary’s next drive started with a pass and a handoff, which left SLUH’s defense with an essential stop to make on second and 1. They managed to force an incompletion, and SLUH stopped St. Mary’s momentum with a tackle in the backfield on the 29-yard line forcing a turnover on downs.

Junior Chris Brooks was held onto a pass for a 19 yard gain. Baker was then stopped in the backfield making it second and goal. A quarterback run by SLUH put them 10 yards away from a touchdown. With a touchdown within reach, SLUH took a personal foul to make it second and goal on the 25 yard-line. The offense managed to complete another pass to Brooks, but Johnston was sacked, and both SLUH’s drive and the first quarter came to an end. 

“We came out a little flat and shell shocked,” said varsity associate head coach Adam Cruz. “We adjusted quickly: offensively we put together a few nice drives and defensively, after a few early hiccups, we found our footing.”

SLUH entered the second quarter with a punt, which St. Mary’s returned to the 31-yard line. A handoff brought the ball up nine yards, putting SLUH’s defense in another tough spot on second and 1. After St. Mary’s was flagged for holding, SLUH’s defense had more breathing room, and St. Mary’s had 11 yards between the line of scrimmage and the chains. St. Mary’s was unfortunately secured a first down. After driving 44 yards downfield, St. Mary’s called timeout.

St. Marys came out of the timeout with a 3-yard gain, leaving them with a second down and seven yards to a first. A big play by junior Dontavion Sullivan held St. Mary’s to a 2-yard gain on the following play, the down was now third and five. St. Mary’s threw an incomplete pass and SLUH seemed to have momentum. However, another personal foul was called against SLUH, gifting St. Mary’s a first down on SLUH’s 36-yard line. St. Mary’s picked up three yards, but SLUH’s defense held strong and forced a fourth and 6. St. Mary’s decided to go for it. SLUH’s defense was tired, and the momentum of the game rested on this play. Unfortunately, St. Mary’s managed to run the ball into the corner of the end zone. After a St. Mary’s extra point, the game was 13-3 with 7:33 left in the half. 

SLUH’s offense returned the ball 32 yards. On first down, Johnston was sacked on the 24-yard line. Senior John McClelland caught a pass for a 14-yard gain, giving SLUH a fresh set of downs.  Senior Luke Ratterman, who had an opportunity for a game changing pass, could not secure the football putting SLUH back in St. Mary’s territory.. SLUH had the ball on St. Mary’s 38-yard line, and it looked as if the momentum might finally be on SLUH’s side. 

St. Mary’s and SLUH had possessions before half expired, but neither team took a definitive lead.

SLUH kicked off to start the second half, and was in need of a defensive stop. St. Mary’s completed two big passes, putting the ball on the 45-yard line. Senior Dan O’Keefe delivered a much-needed sack on the 39-yard line, which forced a punt. 

SLUH returned the punt, but was called for a block in the back, putting the ball on the 20-yard line to start their drive. Another big pass to Brooks gave SLUH a short gain, but SLUH lost the upper hand with a tackle in the backfield putting SLUH on the 18-yard line on third and 13 yards away from a first down. After another incompletion, Ridgway punted a rocket 64 yards downfield and St. Mary’s called a timeout.

Just a few moments into the second half, SLUH’s defense forced St. Mary’s to punt. But SLUH fumbled the punt, and St. Mary’s had an opportunity at the end of the third quarter on SLUH’s 23-yard line. SLUH had hope after St. Mary’s was called for delay of game, but the opponent found a running lane and scored another touchdown to go up 20-10.

“I think everybody out here knows they can do better than we did last week,” said Ridgway. “It’s important that we do our job on all three phases of the ball in order to be successful.”

The kickoff after the score landed in the end zone, giving SLUH the ball at the 20-yard line. A pass interference against St. Mary’s advanced the team 10 yards downfield, but St. Mary’s defense held strong, and forced SLUH to punt again. 

After receiving SLUH’s punt at the 22-yard line, St. Marys ran the ball, but was stopped putting them in first down on the 35. St. Marys was called for holding, leaving them with a first and 23. They then threw the ball, but junior Philip Bone made a big tackle that prevented any significant gain. St. Mary’s pounded the ball to SLUH’s 39-yard line. SLUH’s defense, extremely tired at that point, was unable to stop a 39-yard pass into the back of the end zone,  and SLUH was down by 17 with 1:30 left in the third quarter, 27-10. 

St Mary’s kept their foot on the gas, and secured another touchdown a mere 16 seconds into the fourth quarter to make the game 34-10. 

SLUH, trailing by a lot, returned the ball to the 31-yard line. Ratterman secured SLUH a big first down, but yet another personal foul was called against SLUH. After the personal foul, two SLUH passes fell incomplete.

St. Marys took advantage of a flustered offence and recover a fumbled football for another touchdown to make the game 34-16. 

Within a few plays of SLUH’s next drive, St. Mary’s made an interception that served as the true nail in the coffin, though there was still some time on the clock and the Jr. Bills didn’t give up. On the 16-yard line, Brooks snagged a pass between two St. Mary’s players for a 16-yard touchdown, making the score 34-16 with just 8:00 left in the fourth quarter. O’Keefe secured a two-point conversion to make the game 34-18.

After two more personal fouls and incomplete passes, Kyle Dulick was found the endzone on a [insert play description]. With just over five minutes left in the game, SLUH found themselves down 34-24. 

But the Jr. Bills couldn’t keep the momentum going, and after two runs by St. Mary’s, SLUH called a timeout. SLUH’s defense forced a stop, but the return team coughed up the ball, and St. Mary’s special teams took the ball to the end zone, making the final score 40-24.

“I think the game went well. Obviously it didn’t turn out how we wanted but I felt it was a good opportunity for us to knock some of the rust off,” said Brooks. “I think the biggest thing the offense needs to do is execute. Everyone knows their jobs, it's just a matter of going out and doing it.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the new playbook is still working out a few kinks. 

“ I really believe this could be the strongest part of our team if we just keep working at it,” said Brooks.

“Derrick Baker getting hurt made us a one-dimensional team so we need to be able to adjust and make short passes so I can get the ball out quick,” said Johnston.

In addition to the passing side the team also had an issue with penalties last Friday, with several personal fouls and other penalties that put SLUH in a corner that they were not prepared to fight out of.

“ I think the primary focus this week is limiting the amount of penalties we commit,” said Brooks ”We had way too many last week and it put us in bad positions throughout the entire game.

photo | Vic Lewchenko