Saints stop Titans

It took an entire half for the St. Anne’s-Belfield offense to get rolling, but once it got started, it was awfully tough to stop Friday night as the Saints defeated Trinity Episcopal 28-0 in their first home game of the 2009 season.

In a scoreless first half dominated by defense, neither team was able to find any rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. Both squads had their opportunities in opponent territory but were turned away each time by stout defensive play.

“We were killing ourselves offensively in the first half,” said St. Anne’s coach John Blake. “Between the penalties, fumbles, and poor execution, we were finding ways to give [Trinity] the game.”

Following a stern halftime talk from Blake, the Saints (1-2) came out in the third quarter firing on all cylinders. After a long kick return from Joseph Stuart gave St. Anne’s the ball at the Trinity 43-yard line, the STAB coaching staff dialed up a double-reverse pass and quarterback Jacob Rainey found tailback Aaron Clark streaking down the right side of the field for a 40-yard completion. Clark would punch it in on the next play, giving the Saints a 7-0 advantage and, more importantly, swinging all the momentum to the St. Anne’s sideline.

“We noticed in the first half that Trinity’s ‘D’ was playing real close to the line, so we called for a reverse pass,” Blake said. “It turned out to be the play we needed to get our offense going.”

The Saints continued the onslaught in the second half, scoring on four out of five offensive drives. Thanks in large part to the efforts of Clark, who finished the game with 180 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, the St. Anne’s offense broke out of its funk and broke open an otherwise close game.

“After the first half, Coach Blake told us we weren’t playing our best,” Clark said. “[The coaches] made some changes and things started to open up for us in the second half … it feels good to get our first win like that.”

While the offense appeared re-energized in the second half, the Saints’ defense played inspired football for the entire 48 minutes. Led by the tenacious play of junior linebacker Brandon Spitzer, the St. Anne’s defense delivered big hits, made key stops and kept Trinity’s offense off the scoreboard.

“You know, our defense has played great in every game this season,” Blake said. “They have kept us in every game. They have really played their tails off … it wasn’t until the third quarter tonight that the offense started to match the defense’s intensity.”

The Saints travel to Richmond next Saturday to take on St. Christopher’s at 3 p.m..