The battle of the Saints was a tight one for exactly one quarter before the Ste. Genevieve Dragons ran all over the St. Pius X Lancers. The Dragons got their second win in a row, routing the Lancers 59-28, after going winless to start the season.
The first quarter was a tight one as Ste. Gen went down 7-0 early, but they responded hastily with a 60-yard TD run from Austin McBride (kick was no good). Feeling a bit of pressure they decided to switch to another gear and let it all loose after that. The Lancers were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Aiden Boyer stuffed one in from the one yard line (two-pt conversion was good) to make it 14-7, before he threw a 16-yard strike to Bret Bieser to triple up St. Pius. Boyer wasn’t done though. He followed that up with another passing TD. This time to Payton Matthews for 25 yards. In what seemed like the blink of an eye the Dragons were up 28-7.
A Lancer TD to close out the third quarter made it 28-14, but that only roiled the fire in the Dragons’ bellies. Boyer went off again for a 21-yard rushing score and then threw another dart to Matthews, this time for 31 yards, to make it 49-20 going into the final quarter.
Matthews stressed the importance of the team’s work ethic saying, “It was for sure a big win for us. It all started in practice. It was more mental practices then physical, but that is what we needed. that is what led to the success friday night. Everyone did their job and it all came together. To keep things rolling, we just have to stay committed. We need to go 100% in practice and come out with energy Friday nights and don’t take any play off.”
The Lancers tacked on one more score to start the 4th and converted the two points after, but the game was well out of reach. Liking icing on his cake, Boyer decided he would scamper for a 61-yard TD for good measure. A Bryant Schwent field goal gave us the final 59-28 tally, and that was all she wrote.
Boyer was indisputably the star of the game with six total TDs (three passing, three rushing) and compiled 300 total yards on the nose (162 passing, 138 rushing). He was 6-of-11 through the air and Matthews was his most formidable threat hauling in both of his targets for TDs.
McBride was stellar in the ground game as well going for 123 yards on just 14 carries with the two aforementioned scores. Defensively Bret Bieser led the team with nine tackles and a fumble recovery; not to overshadow his receiving TD.
It was a complete effort on both sides of the ball and the Dragons are really rounding into form after a rough start to the season. They take on undefeated Central (5-0) this Friday, which will be a tough test to keep the train moving to say the least.
