The St. Mary's Knights made the big plays when required and scored a convincing win over the Korah Colts.
Despite having their offense held in check for the majority of the game, the Knights converted on their opportunities and scored a 40-14 win over the Colts on Saturday afternoon at Rocky DiPietro Field to close the high school football league senior division regular season.
The Colts loss gives the Sir James Dunn Eagles (4-0-1) the regular season championship. The Knights finish in second place at 4-1 while the Colts place third at 3-1-1.
The win for the Knights comes just a week after their 21-game winning streak was snapped against the Eagles. It was their first loss since the 2001 season.
Semi-final playoff action begins on Thursday as fourth place Bawating (2-3) meets the Eagles on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. while St. Mary's battles Korah once again at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both games are scheduled for Rocky DiPietro Field.
Semi-final winners advance into the city championship game on Friday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Rocky DiPietro Field.
Despite holding St. Mary's to 48 yards total offense in the first half, the Knights ran off the field with a 14-7 lead at the break.
Jourdan Morin gave the Colts the early lead with a 45 yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Mark DeVuono hauled in a 15 yard pass from quarterback Anthony Amadio to tie the game at 7-7.
Just minutes later, the Knights took a 14-7 lead when Clay Tessier fell on a loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown on a botched Korah punt attempt.
The Knights opened up the lead late in third quarter as Andrew Baziuk scored on an 18 yard run. On the Colts next possession, St. Mary's Conan Sawko returned an interception 48 yards for the touchdown and a 27-7 lead.
Jeff Greco, on a four yard run, and Pat Armstrong, on a 38 yard run, capped the scoring with touchdowns for the Knights. Justin Longo kicked four converts.
Pat Koski added a late touchdown run of 65 yards for the Colts. Colin Edwards booted both converts for Korah.
Baziuk topped all Knights with 81 yards rushing on 10 attempts. Dan Esson added 49 yards on seven attempts.
Esson led the Knights defense with six tackles and a sack while Giancarlo Perra recorded six tackles. Brad Symboluk added 4.5 tackles and Longo four tackles and a sack. Spencer Brason and Dan Perri also recovered fumbles.
Pat Koski paced the Colts offense with 195 yards rushing on 18 carries and Morin added 91 yards on nine carries.
Koski recorded 4.5 tackles and a sack on defense while Jon Day added four tackles. Jacob Loubert recovered a fumble.
*** JUNIOR:
In the regular season finale in the junior division on Saturday morning, Korah and St. Mary's battled to a 7-7 tie. Ben Ginter scored the touchdown for Korah while Michael Esson replied with a major for the Knights.
With the tie, both teams finish the regular season as co-league champions with records of 4-0-1. Both teams will also receive a bye into semi-final action.
Quarterfinal games, as all junior teams qualify for the playoffs, will be held on Tuesday with the third through sixth seeds doing battle.
PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED.