A game that was expected to be a dogfight for the District 2-4A crown turned to out to be a blowout as the St. Joseph Fighting Irish football team proved they were just too fast, too motivated and just too good in their 47-0 shutout home victory over Winston Academy Friday night.
Everything — except for their opening offensive drive which ended with an interception in the endzone — went just about perfect for the Irish in their victory which moved them to 5-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 to conclude district play.
After the game, Fighting Irish head coach John Baker couldn’t decide if his offense or the defense played better.
The St. Joseph O was led by quarterback C.J. Moore who proved elusive all night. When Moore wasn’t scampering past a Patriot player for a first down, he was finding his receivers down the field.
Moore’s 93-yard touchdown pass to Christian Foster with 7:30 left in the first quarter not only put the Irish on top 14-0, but also seemed to be an early warning that this matchup, which the Irish won by just seven points last season, may be over early. Moore’s TD came right after St. Joseph junior running back AJ Hill opened up the night’s scoring on a 2-yard run.
After Foster’s long touchdown, the Irish quickly scored right again after St. Joseph defender Carson Graham recovered a Winston fumble at the St. Joseph 40-yard line. Graham’s recovery set up a 36-yard touchdown run by senior Kye Nelson, who also tacked on the two point conversion to put the Irish on top 22-0.
“Our defense played lights out all night. Alex Foster and Donnie Smith, our two defensive ends, played exceptionally well and they didn’t have an answer for them,” Coach Baker said.
A one-yard run by Moore with 3:26 left in the second quarter concluded the scoring in the first half and gave St. Joseph a 30-0 lead at intermission.
The St. Joseph special teams also performed well for much of the night. Instead of kicking the ball deep to Winston’s Omar Scott, who is their premier player, Irish kicker Jay Chow kicked it short all night. In the second quarter, Chow’s onside kick was recovered by Donnie Smith to set up the Irish’s final core of the night. Chow also kicked a 35-yard field goal in the second half.
Although their district season is over, the Irish still have lots to play for this season. Next Friday night they are scheduled to travel to Louisiana to take on Riverfield Academy. Riverfield is coming off a 38-8 victory over Washington School Friday.
“We are going to play a very good team next Friday,” Coach Baker said.
