By John Tolis
Kellenberg ended St. Francis Prep’s season with a heartbreaking overtime playoff loss last year.
For that the Terriers and senior star running back Justin Guerre got to exact a measure of revenge with a 30-20 win over the Firebirds in CHSFL Football at Mitchel Field Saturday night.
Guerre was the Terriers’ catalyst for the second straight week with a stellar performance against Kellenberg. He ran for three touchdowns and set up the Terriers’ fourth. Guerre rushed for 142 yards and had three receptions for 95 yards. He showed everyone in attendance that he’s the real deal, especially late in the fourth quarter.
The Terriers, who were clinging to a three-point lead, began to put the game out of reach when quarterback William Gluck hit Guerre around the midfield. Guerre then took care of the rest and ran down to the Firebirds’ 3-yard line for a 60-yard gain.
“Bread and butter play right there, wide open,” Gluck said. “Just Justin being Justin, him outrunning everyone and getting up the field.”
That set up fellow running back Tariq Olivier to finish the drive with a 3-yard run into the end zone to give St. Francis (2-1, 2-0) a commanding 30-20 lead. After the Terrier touchdown, Kellenberg had no time to bounce back. Throughout the game SFP used Guerre as its main weapon. He got warmed up in the first quarter when he broke away and ran for a 19-yard touchdown, which helped give his team a 7-6 lead. Between Guerre and Anthony Vieto, the Firebirds had trouble controlling the Terriers’ running game.
On its second possession of the game, St. Francis Prep handed it off to Guerre yet again, who ran it in for a 17-yard touchdown, making the score 14-6. Kellenberg sliced the deficit late in the first half when quarterback Kyle Driscoll connected with wide out Connor Gross on a 14-yard touchdown pass that made the score 14-12.
“Justin is a special kid,” St. Francis Prep assistant Coach Richie Carroll said. “He forces defenses to take notice of him wherever he is on the field.”
Even though Guerre and the Terriers’ offense put on a show, Carroll was impressed by the defense.
“When we had to come up big, we came up big,” Carroll said. “We were able to stop them in certain situations.”
Kellenberg (0-3, 0-2) didn’t have the same luck against the Terriers and Guerre. The season just started and already Guerre has rushed more than 100 yards in consecutive games. He thinks he can still do more.
“I think I did pretty good,” Guerre said of his performance. “I still gotta get better in everything.”
