By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Sacred Heart has a thoroughbred it plans to ride to what it hopes is a successful turnaround season.
Senior tailback D.J. Booth rambled for 139 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns, powering the Crusaders to a 28-13 victory over St. Patrick Friday night in the annual Battle for the Bishop’s Bell.
Sacred Heart (1-0) is looking to turn around last year’s 2-8 season; the Fighting Irish (6-2 last season) are 0-1 under new coach Oscar Glasscock.
“We played a good game,” said Sacred Heart coach Ed Smith. “We weren’t great, but we were good. We’ve got to learn a little more killer instinct, but we didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Sacred Heart jumped ahead after the Irish were stopped following one first down on the opening possession of the game.
The Crusaders drove 53 yards on eight plays, getting the score on a 1-yard run by Booth.
“This was the best effort we could have possibly asked for,” said Booth. “Effort was the one thing we worked hardest on in the offseason. It’s a blessing to be out here with this team and prove what we could do.”
St. Pat answered right back emphatically, gobbling up 75 yards on just four plays.
Following runs of 11 and 3 yards from junior Sutton Harvey, junior quarterback Jonathan D’Angelo hit junior Chaz Byers on swing pass to the left side, and Byers tiptoed down the sideline for a 23-yard pickup.
On the next play, sophomore Alden Williams burst off left tackle, into the clear and dashed untouched to the end zone for a 38-yard scoring play.
“We basically started from scratch July 31,” said Glasscock, who comes to the Gulf Coast after a successful stint at Cullman, Alabama. “We’re in our fourth week; we installed a whole new offense, a whole defense, special teams, we had new coaches starting.
“Everything is new, and I’m super-proud of these coaches and the players. I felt like, especially the second half, some things came together for us.”
Williams was a bright spot for the Irish on both sides of the ball, rushing for 72 yards on eight carries.
“I thought Alden Williams had a fantastic game for us tonight,” said Glasscock. “He’s a playmaker, and we’re going to get him the ball.”
However, Sacred Heart needed little time to regain the lead for good, with a 70-yard lightning strike from junior quarterback Kyron Murphy to junior Brad Marrero, who was wide open over the middle.
The Crusaders got the ball right back on the game’s only turnover, a fumble at the Irish 32-yard-line, but the Irish stiffened on defense, then partially blocked Austin Nguyen’s 30-yard field goal attempt.
Still, Sacred Heart wasn’t to be denied, at least not in the first half. The Crusaders took over at their own 43 after a St. Patrick punt and needed eight plays to cover the 57 yards to paydirt.
“We had some crucial penalties called on us that hurt us at times,” said Smith. “They were more effort penalties and not mental penalties. So we can correct those.”
Booth opened the drive with an 11-yard run over left tackle. Murphy then converted a third-and-9 with a 20-yard strike to junior Gary Duckworth, and Booth rambled 16 yards for a first-and-goal at the Irish 9.
On second down, Murphy connected with sophomore Ethan Riddick for a 6-yard scoring pass. Murphy completed 10 of 19 passes for 153 yards and two scores in his first action after missing almost all of last season after breaking his collarbone in the Crusaders’ season opener.
The Fighting Irish had a chance to cut into the lead midway through the third quarter. Driving from their own 23 to the Crusader 30 on a splendid sleight-of-hand fake from D’Angelo, who turned the play into a 47-yard gain.
“A lot of it was we were trying some stuff out early in the first quarter that was working too well,” said D’Angelo. “The second quarter, things started to get s little more together.”
But St. Pat was unable to get any closer, and sophomore Byron Theriot’s 50-yard field goal attempt came up just short.
Sacred Heart applied the coup de grace midway through the fourth quarter, and it was Booth who delivered the blow.
Booth ran for 7 yards to cash in a third-and-2 near midfield, then picked up 17 yards on a third-and-18 and crashed over the left side on fourth-and-1 for 20 yards to the Irish 2. Booth capped the drive with a dash around right end on the next play.
“He had a great year last year,” said Smith. “He’s tough, a tough runner and he’s got good hands. With our front five and D.J., we feel good about our offense. If we can keep defenses honest with the pass, we should be able to run the football.”
Although the game was out of reach, true to their name, the Fighting Irish answered with a six-play scoring drive, getting the touchdown on a 13-yard pass from D’Angelo to junior Andrew Lowery.
“That’s a very good football team over there,” Glasscock said of Sacred Heart. “They’re well-coached and they’re experienced. They showed a lot of poise, but I also liked our poise.
“That punching it in there on that last drive, that was huge for us. That’s something we can really build on. I think this can be a special group if they keep working hard.”
D’Angelo had a productive night for St. Patrick, completing 7 of 12 passes for 79 yards and rushing nine times for a net of 57 yards, including a 12-yard sack in the first half.
GAME SUMMARY
Friday at Crusader Field
Sacred Heart 28, St. Patrick 13
SP 7 0 0 6 – 13
SH 14 7 0 7 – 28
First Quarter
SH – D.J. Booth 1 run (Austin Nguyen kick), 4:00 (8 plays/53 yards/3:53 possession).
SP– Alden Williams 38 run (Byron Theriot kick), 2:28 (4/75/1:32).
SH– Murphy 70 pass to Brad Marrero (Nguyen kick), 0:56 (2/70/1:32).
Second Quarter
SH – Murphy 6 pass to Ethan Riddick (Nguyen kick), 3:11 (8/57/3:36).
Fourth Quarter
SH – Booth 2 run (Nguyen kick), 4:01 (9/60/3:49).
SP – Jonathan D’Angelo 13 pass to Andrew Lowery (Kick failed), 1:05 (6/63/2:56).
TEAM STATISTICS
SP SH
First downs 12 13
Total net yards 224 322
Rushes-yards 30-145 33-169
Passing yards 79 153
Comp-Att-Int 7-12-0 10-19-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-60
Punts-total (avg.) 3-107 (35.7) 2-63 (31.5)
Sacks 2-20 1-12
Third down 3-9 3-8
Fourth down 0-1 1-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
St. Patrick – Alden Williams 8-72, Jonathan D’Angelo 9-57, Sutton Harvey 2-14, Cooper Mercier 5-5, Richard Okoniewski 2-4, Colton Parelli 1-0, Chaz Byers 1-(-3); Ayden Le 2-(-4); Sacred Heart – D.J. Booth 21-139, Kyron Murphy 5-16, Brad Marrero 3-10, Adam Sneed 3-9, Team 1-(-5).
Passing
St. Patrick – Jonathan D’Angelo 7-12-0-79; Sacred Heart – Kyron Murphy 10-19-0-153.
Receiving
St. Patrick – Ian Berglund 3-23, Chaz Byers 1-23, Gage Anderson 1-15, Andrew Lowery 1-13, Richard Okoniewski 1-5; Sacred Heart – Brad Marrero 1-70, Gary Duckworth 5-43, Luke Davey 2-24, Ethan Riddick 1-6.
