Coming off last week’s tough loss against CBC, the Jr. Bills rebounded significantly against the Lift for Life Academy Hawks while also celebrating the contributions of the many seniors on the football team. SLUH controlled the flow of the game in a dominant fashion, winning 48-20 on their final home game of the season.

“We had a great week of preparation, so when game time came we knew our assignments and we executed them. The score was a by-product of that great preparation and us doing our jobs,” senior wide receiver Chris Brooks remarked. 

The Jr. Billikens received the opening kickoff and immediately made a statement on the opening drive, marching down the field and lighting up the scoreboard in less than two minutes. 

Senior Andre Tucker punched it into the end zone from 5 yards out for his first rushing touchdown of the season and the second of his career, making it 7-0 Jr. Bills with 10:07 left in the first quarter. 

The defense came out sharp as well. With some help from the Hawk penalties, they were able to force a punt and hand the ball right back to the offense. 

Starting their drive at midfield, SLUH manufactured a seven play scoring drive, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown rush from senior running back Derrick Baker. With 4:36 still left in the game, the Jr. Bills found themselves up by two touchdowns. 

The defense remained sturdy on the Hawks’ second drive of the game, forcing another punt formation. After Lift for Life fumbled on an errant snap, they turned the ball over on downs and the Jr. Bills were set up with prime field position at the 20-yard line. 

They were quick to capitalize as Baker scored his second touchdown of the day, a 5-yard rushing touchdown. The Jr. Bills mishandled the PAT snap, though, and for the first time this season they couldn’t convert the extra point, making the score 20-0 with 11:36 remaining in the second quarter. 

After another Hawks punt, it seemed as if Lift for Life might finally record a stop on defense. However, senior quarterback Luke Johnston connected with Brooks for a huge third down gain to set them up in the red zone. SLUH punched in their fourth score of the night with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Johnston to star sophomore receiver Ryan Wingo which widened the margin to 27-0 with 6:01 remaining in the second quarter. 

It seemed SLUH was on its way to a landslide victory, but the Hawks finally gained some momentum and responded to the Jr. Bills’ first half onslaught. 

In the final minutes of the first half, the Hawks drove down the field and put six points on the board after scoring a passing touchdown on a jump ball to the back right corner of the end zone. Lift for Life was unable to convert the two point conversion, narrowing the score to 27-6. 

SLUH was looking to answer the Hawks’ counterpunch, but Johnston threw an interception over the middle of the field which gave the Hawks the most momentum they had felt all night. 

Lift for Life took a shot to the end zone and got incredibly lucky. The SLUH defensive backs who were covering the play batted the ball backwards, directly into the hands of a Hawks’ receiver who was able to dive into the end zone for a touchdown. The Hawks converted the two-point conversion and narrowed their deficit to 13 points. 

The bad luck didn’t end there. On SLUH’s next drive, Johnston overthrew his receiver and the Hawks had their second interception in as many drives. 

The Jr. Bills’ defense stood up the Lift for Life offense inside their own 20, though, and get into the locker room with a 27-13 lead. 

“I think we could’ve had better ball security during the game. We took the ball out of our hands way too many times,” said Brooks, “The only times Lift for Life scored were after we turned the ball over and gave them great field positioning.”

After honoring the 22 seniors on the varsity team at the half, the Jr. Billikens returned from the locker room and were faced with the task of responding to adversity, something they weren’t able to do consistently last week in their loss to CBC.

They did just that. SLUH held Lift for Life to just one touchdown in the second half, while adding three more of their own. Baker, Brooks, and Wingo all carried the ball into the end zone in the second half, bringing the final score to 48-20.

Johnston finished the game 16 of 20 passing for 262 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.His receiving corps was anchored by Brooks with 6 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown, Wingo with 4 catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns, and junior Zach Ortwerth adding 3 catches for 30 yards. 

On the ground, Baker continued his standout season, adding 116 yards and a 6.4 yards per carry average. Brooks added two carries for 36 yards and Tucker put the Bills on the board first with his loan carry of five yards. 

The Jr. Billikens will travel to South Kirkwood Road for their first away game of the season, against the Vianney Griffins (0-6) tonight at 6 p.m. Vianney surrenders an average of 53.5 points against per game, so the SLUH offense will look to pounce on them early. 

“In order to prepare for Vianney we’ve been taking the same approach as we have during other weeks,” Brooks said, “We’ve been pushing each other extremely hard during practice in order to make the game on Friday easier.”