With crisp offense and physical defense, the St. Joe High School Fighting Irish dominated visiting Central Holmes 42-0 in first round of the MAIS Class 3A playoff action Friday night.
St . Joe junior quarterback Victor Baker connected with sophomore receiver Jaleel Moore on a 15-yard touchdown at 6:44 mark of the third quarter which invoked the running of the clock mercy rule. The PAT gave St. Joe a commanding 36-0 lead.
Senior running back Jaquavious Nash added a short scoring run in the final minutes of the game. The point after failed giving the home team a 42-0 advantage.
“They know that it’s only one way around here during playoff time and that’s to win,” said head coach Jon Baker. “That’s built into the culture around here. Losing is not an option.”
Early in the contest, Baker completed a beautiful touch pass over the top of the Central Holmes defense for a 64-yard touchdown to a fleet footed Jayden Easley. The two-point conversion gave the Fighting Irish an 8-0 lead with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter.
Central Holmes special team downed a punt to open the second quarter of play at the St. Joe five-yard line pinning the home team deep in its own territory.
However, senior running back Javeon Byars changed field position immediately with a 40-yard run up the visitors sideline to place the ball near midfield. Two plays later, Baker threw a perfect spiral hitting Moore in stride for a 45-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion pushed the Trojans lead to 16-0 with 10:46 remaining until halftime.
On St. Joe’s ensuing possession, Baker demonstrated his complete skill set by turning in a 49-yard run down to the Central Holmes 16-yard line and scrambling to find open receivers.
Baker capped the drive with a short touchdown run. The two-point conversion failed and the Fighting Irish led 22-0 with 7:15 remaining until the half.
Indicative of how physical St. Joe played on Friday, John Haggard got penalized for laying a crushing block on a Trojans special team player. The crowd let out a collective “Oooouh!” in response as the opposing player laid in pain for a few minutes before being helped to the sideline.
On the next possession, Baker added another rushing touchdown. The point after made the score 29-0 with 3:05 remaining until halftime.
Christian Beckwork contributed an interception for the Irish defense at the 2:24 mark of the third quarter.
St Joe will travel to face Canton Academy in the second round on Friday.
“Last time we faced them was last year in the semifinals,” Coach Baker recalled. “We were down 26-0 and came back to win. We know they’re going to be a tough adversary.”
