Despite having two days between Friday’s loss to Covenant and Monday’s game with Brunswick Academy, St. Anne’s-Belfield didn’t hold a practice. They slipped in a short walkthrough, but Saints head coach John Blake wanted to make sure his team’s frustration only had one possible path for release.
“We just wanted to exert a lot of our power in this game — (we had) a lot of anger from Friday,” said STAB’s Gabe Decker. “We were particularly hungry.”
STAB unleashed that anger on Brunswick, rolling 42-7 to pick up another VISFA 8-man win and get the Saints back on track after Covenant rolled 62-13 over STAB last week.
“I didn’t want to give them an out,” Blake said about not holding practice. “I didn’t want to give them a chance to take that anger out on us, I wanted them to take it out on somebody else.”
Decker was the first to unleash some of that frustration, rolling 46 yards for a touchdown on STAB’s first offensive play after forcing a turnover on downs near midfield. He followed that with a 9-yard score at little more than two minutes later. Decker clocked 92 yards on just four carries on the night as the Saints built a sizable 28-0 lead at the half and then played backups for much of the second half. Amani Woods’ kickoff return for a touchdown from 90 yards out put the Saints up 35-0 on the first play of the third quarter, pairing with his second quarter touchdown for a solid night for the running back.
“When we’re focused we’re pretty darn good and when we’re not, things like Friday can kind of avalanche and it just goes on you,” Blake said.
STAB quarterback Thomas Harry finished a perfect 5-for-5 for 54 yards and a 31-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Johnson. Harry also rushed for 50 yards on five touches. Taylor Miller led STAB with 7.5 tackles, four of them solo, while Decker added four solo stops of his own. Nolan Burton knocked down six point after attempts and scored a 4-yard touchdown.
STAB faced just one third down and converted it while Brunswick went 3-for-11 on third downs on the night.
Getting the starters out early was critical since the Saints are facing three games in seven days with the third contest scheduled for Friday against a Kenston Forest squad they already beat earlier this season.
“Tomorrow we’ll do some film work and get ready Friday but I think the three games in a week we’ll cope with it pretty well,” Decker said.
