LYNN — It was an impressive start to the season for the St. Mary’s football team on Friday evening, as the Spartans came out firing and never looked back in a 42-8 win over Catholic Central League foe Cardinal Spellman at Manning Field.
“It’s always great to start the season off with a win, but it was even better to see how the guys came out and played with such intensity,” said St. Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll. “We played well in a lot of areas, but we also had plenty of sloppy plays that we’re going to need to clean up. Overall, I’m happy with the way things went out there.”
Quarterback Ali Barry led the offensive charge for the Spartans, completing 3-of-6 passes for 105 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 52 yards. Running back David Brown totaled more than 100 yards from scrimmage (98 rushing, 28 receiving) and caught a touchdown, while running back Derek Coulanges rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Jack Marks also had a big night, catching a 66-yard touchdown pass and also blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown. Wide receiver Nick Sacco caught a touchdown, while backup quarterback Alef Potter rushed for a touchdown.
“Ali, David and Derek really led the way for us,” said Driscoll. “Those guys are just such great competitors, they have a ton of talent and they’re a lot of fun to watch.”
On the other side of the ball, Driscoll was happy that his defense came out aggressive and didn’t let up the whole game.
“I really liked how our guys were getting to the ball, especially early in the game,” said Driscoll. “I thought we kind of let things get away from us a bit at the end of the game, but overall it was a good effort from our defense.”
The Spartans wasted no time in getting onto the scoreboard in this one. After receiving the opening kickoff and running it back to midfield, Brown opened the drive with a 26-yard run to get deep into Spellman territory. After a quick run from Coulanges, Barry dropped back and hit Brown for a 28-yard touchdown pass to make it a 7-0 game.
St. Mary’s then forced Spellman into a three-and-out to get the ball back, and the offense took over from there. The Spartans went on an 11-play, 68-yard drive that ate up nearly the entire first quarter, eventually getting into the end zone behind an 11-yard touchdown pass from Barry to Sacco.
The Spartans scored three times in the second quarter — twice on offense and once on special teams. Coulanges punched one in from eight yards out to make it a 22-0 game, then the Spartans forced a Spellman punt on the ensuing drive. On the punt, Marks broke through the line, blocked the punt, picked up the ball and raced 30 yards for a score to blow the game wide open.
To cap off the first half, Marks made another huge play when he took a screen pass from Barry, got behind some blockers and galloped 66 yards for a touchdown to make it 36-0.
The only other score for the Spartans came in the final seconds of the third quarter, when Potter escaped to the outside and ran for a 13-yard touchdown.
St. Mary’s (1-0) returns to action next Friday (6:30) on the road at Bellingham.
“We’ve never seen them in person, but we know that Bellingham has a great program and they’re coming off of a strong Fall 2 season,” said Driscoll. “We’re going to have to clean up our mistakes and keep working, but hopefully we can carry this momentum right into next week.”