Another exciting season of local high school football kicked off on Friday night with the annual John Croshuk Kickoff Classic.
Backed by a pair of shutouts, the East defeated the West 59-18 in front of a huge gathering at Rocky DiPietro Field.
The East captured the exhibition tilt as the St. Mary's Knights blanked the Korah Colts 22-0 and the Sir James Dunn Eagles shutout St. Basil 24-0. Only the Bawating Braves scored for the West as they edged the White Pines Wolverines 18-13.
Bawating and White Pines met in the opening mini-game with Bawating sealing the late victory.
Tim Young hauled in two touchdowns passes from quarterback Mike Storozuk while Kyle Gauthier caught another to pace the Braves.
Alonzo Clarke and Gary Leith scored majors for the Wolverines while Henri Kristensen added a convert.
For St. Mary's, Jeff Greco and Chris Lebel each scored a rushing touchdown while veteran quarterback Anthony Amadio hit Andrew Posteraro, who also added two converts, for another major score.
In SJD's win, quarterback Frank Weise ran for a touchdown along with Kofi Osei. Weise, who kicked a field goal and three converts, also hit receiver Chad Infanti with a touchdown pass.
On Saturday, junior teams will hit the field for an inaugural East/West battle at St. Mary's beginning at noon. Teams will match-up against each other in three mini-games with the format the same as the senior contests.
PHOTO: White Pines quarterback Justin Wensley (#9) delivers a pass under pressure from the Bawating defense.