Saints come up short in championship

VIRGINIA BEACH — After a year where St. Anne’s-Belfield overcame hurdle after hurdle, the Saints finally found an obstacle they couldn’t conquer — slowing down Atlantic Shores Christian quarterback Josh Healey.

Healey rushed for 281 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries while throwing another touchdown. In the process, the Atlantic Shores senior halted St. Anne’s run of two straight VISAA Division 2 titles and lifted the Seahawks to a 33-13 victory and a state championship just a year removed from a 2-8 campaign.

“Josh had a great game and we couldn’t tackle him,” said St. Anne’s coach John Blake. “I said fundamentals were going to win this game, and we couldn’t tackle Healey and we turned the ball over too many times.”

St. Anne’s struggled to get a bead on Healey and running back Parker Jackson, who piled up 159 all-purpose yards, all night on a boggy, sloppy surface saturated by consistent rain. The Saints had trouble with the Seahawks hard-nosed offensive line, but despite trailing 18-6 at the break and fumbling the ball repeatedly during the opening half, STAB refused to go quietly.

The Saints survived a long third quarter when the Seahawks turned the ball over twice, then capitalized with 41 seconds left in the frame on a 12-yard run by quarterback Howie Long that pulled STAB within a touchdown at 18-13. Long carried the Saints on the 57-yard drive, going 2 for 4 through the air for 25 yards while rushing for 32 yards, including a 16-yard run on third and four.

After forcing a fumble by Jackson on the Seahawks’ long ensuing drive, STAB took over at their own 3-yardline, poised to take the lead with a touchdown. The drive came to a screeching halt on second down when the Saints fumbled a handoff back at the three.

“That hurt us, that deflated us,” Blake said.

Healey cashed in on the next play with a 3-yard plunge, then followed it up with a toss to Mike Johnson on the two-point conversion. In three plays, STAB went from down five to down 13.

“We trust our defense, our team is so strong,” Healey said. “Then we got the ball back and scored to put it away.”

Healey kicked things into high gear early on with a 79-yard run early in the second quarter, breaking loose on third down for the score. STAB managed to counterpunch immediately when Quincey September took the kickoff back 80 yards for a touchdown.

But Healey proved too much, hitting Jackson on the next drive for an 18-yard screen pass that went for a touchdown.

St. Anne’s struggled to rally in the fourth, largely because it couldn’t get the passing game going.

“The conditions stink, but they stunk for them, too,” Blake said. “But it does take something away from us because we couldn’t throw the ball — Howie couldn’t get a grip on the ball.”

Will McGhee led STAB on the ground with 63 yards while Long rushed for 53 yards. The Saints’ 125 rushing yards was a far cry from the last two games, when the Saints ran roughshod over Blue Ridge and Covenant. The Seahawks’ defensive line got a lot of penetration up front, which closed down the Saints’ running lanes.

St. Anne’s finished the season 7-4, overcoming an extremely tough schedule, and kept alive a streak of four straight title game appearances, a run that includes back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.