Saint Marys cruises to 21-7 win over Moon Valley
October 12, 2024 by Pratham Valluri, Arizona State University
Pratham Valluri is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover St. Mary Catholic High School for AZPreps365.com
Saint Mary's rolled to a dominant 21-7 victory over Moon Valley on Friday, and improved to 3-3 to stop a two-game skid.
In the Knights' first home win, scored three rushing touchdowns by halftime, and their defense held the Rockets scoreless entering the third quarter.
“It was big for our kids to come out and get a win in front of the home crowd and … just important (for us) to have some success,” St. Mary's head coach Jose Lucero said.
St. Mary's head coach Jose Lucero played his power backs and multi-running back committee throughout the game. Senior running back Josiah Atkinson had 19 carries for 51 yards and one TD, complemented by sophomore RB Branson Brown’s eight attempts for 23 yards and two TDs.
Moon Valley came into this game averaging over 274 rushing yards over their past three contests, and the Knights have allowed over 5.3 yards per carry this season.
But the St. Mary's defense held strong for the majority of the game, and caused multiple turnovers in the second half.
“Defense bailed us out for a whole two quarters,” St. Mary's sophomore wide receiver Anthony Cannon said. “We couldn't put anything together for those last four quarters so it's really helpful.”
St. Mary's prepared all week for the physical Moon Valley’s rushing attack. The Knight's D-line had constant pressure on passing downs, and the secondary came up with numerous key plays.
As Moon Valley drove down the field and threatened to score near the Knights' 15-yard line in the second half, St. Mary's punched the ball out on a carry, then senior linebacker Bobby Lewis recovered it for St. Mary's next possession.
Another forced turnover was on the fourth quarter's first play in whch sophomore cornerback EJ Hooks III intercepted a throw on the left flat in the Rockets' territory.
“We want to be able to apply pressure and force people into bad positions,” Lucero said. “We adjust a little bit of coverage stuff to try to take away some of the deep shots. But for the most part, we still wanted to get some pressure on (the opposing QB).”
Balancing between a run-heavy approach and keeping defenses on their toes has been a challenge for St. Mary's this season. But this game provided a blueprint that they can apply moving forward.
“We'll have a quick hitch play to Cannon, so then the corner will bite on it and then we'll just have a quick pitch outside,” sophomore quarterback Billy Lewis said.
Cannon added on to the importance of having both a solid air and ground attack “really opens up their whole playbook.” He was a major part of the passing attack tonight in which Cannon recorded 75 receiving yards from his eight catches, which were the most of Lewis’ 11 completions.
The pair credited their chemistry to the time that they spent together from third grade all the way through to high school.
“In freshman year, we were on JV together. We had a strong connection and we both got pulled up to varsity and our connection just has been great ever since,” Billy Lewis said.
Next for St. Mary's is taking on Lake Havasu at home in a 4A West Valley regional matchup on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.