By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
St. Anne’s-Belfield exploded for five second-quarter touchdowns en route to a lopsided 49-7 victory over Covenant in the annual clash of Albemarle County private schools, fittingly played under the lights — and on the turf — at Albemarle High. On the schedule as a Covenant home game, the venue changed due to field conditions after the week’s heavy rainfall.
“We saw we had a ton of support behind us, and we’re moving in the right direction,” said Covenant coach Dave Hart as Eagles’ fans, students, and a pep band packed the customary visitors’ bleachers. “[STAB]’s a good team, and they’re going to do some special things this season.”
The Covenant faithful had plenty to cheer about in the early going. After receiving the opening kickoff, the offense spent eight minutes and 59 seconds marching down the field on rushes by senior Austin Llera and keepers by senior quarterback Paul Huemme. Inside the STAB 10, though, a holding penalty derailed the drive, and Saints’ defenders stopped Llera 10 yards short on fourth down.
“They did a very good job on the first drive,” said STAB coach John Blake. “I knew they were going to try holding the ball — I would, too, if I were playing against us. Our defense kind of stiffened up there and stopped them, and then they got behind the sticks a couple times in the second quarter.”
The STAB offense took the field and mounted an 88-yard drive. Senior quarterback Lee Parkhill picked up chunks with completions to Kareem Johnson and Campbell Miller. Senior Jake Allen capped the drive early in the second quarter with a seven-yard touchdown on a direct snap run. The STAB defense adjusted quickly to the Covenant ground attack and next forced a quick three-and-out. The offense needed just 89 seconds to drive 52 yards, with some assistance from a 15-yard facemask penalty. Jalen Harrison out-jumped a defender to haul in Parkhill’s pass to the left edge of the end zone for a 15-yard score.
Covenant ran into more trouble on its next series. After a botched pitch setup third and 17, Huemme’s shovel pass attempt ended up in the arms of STAB senior linebacker Gideon Elron, who took it 20 yards for the Saints’ third touchdown.
“We came out a little flat [in the first quarter], but we changed and put some linebackers up on the line,” Elron said. “I was watching my guy, and happened to get it. I just ran with it and had the guys behind me.”
Following another Covenant three-and-out, the Saints pulled out some trickeration. Senior Brodie Phillips got the ball on a halfback option and lobbed it to a wide-open Jalen Harrison, who raced 43 yards for his second score. After one more three-and-out, Parkhill covered 49-yards with two passes, both to junior Campbell Miller, to give the Saints a 35-0 halftime lead.
“It was almost like a hot shooter in basketball — everything we did was right,” Blake said. “You put five touchdowns up in eleven and a half minutes, and the last touchdown we scored in about 45 seconds, we just played great. Lee did a great job distributing the ball around, our up-front guys blocked well, and we just did some good things.”
STAB was back at it after recovering Covenant’s onside kickoff attempt to start the second half. Junior John Woodson raced 32 yards down the right sideline for the quarter’s only score. The Eagles mounted a 10-play drive, but a fumbled exchange on fourth and one foiled any scoring potential. Michael DiGiacomo capped the Saints’ scoring with a 29-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Huemme got Covenant on the scoreboard with a 17-yard keeper with 3:16 remaining.
Parkhill was an efficient 6-of-9 passing (one incompletion was a spike) for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Miller led the receivers with three catches for 77 yards. Five rushers totaled at least 29 yards, led by Woodson’s 52 yards on three touches. Phillips carried a team-high six times for 31 yards. STAB (7-1) travels to VES next Saturday.
The Eagles finished with 251 yards on the ground, with Llera and Huemme each rushing 19 times for 84 and 105 yards, respectively. Covenant (5-3) heads to Roanoke next Saturday to face North Cross.
