By Stephen Zitolo
The first win of the season for Holy Cross wasn’t an ordinary one.
The Knights won this year’s version of the Battle of the Boulevard in decisive fashion, 35-8, over rival St. Francis Prep in CHSFL football on a rainy and windy afternoon last Saturday at Bayside Athletic Complex.
Holy Cross, which struggled through a challenging start to the schedule, seemed to have the Terriers’ number from start to finish. The Knights (1-4, 1-2) scored the game’s first 35 points before St. Francis (1-4, 0-3) scored eight points in the fourth quarter.
“These guys hadn’t had a win yet, so this was big,” Holy Cross coach Tom Pugh said. “To go against your biggest rival where anything can happen, it’s like a Army vs. Navy game. I was proud of the kids today.”
Holy Cross needed this victory and they came out playing like it. Junior running back Jeremiah Nelson had the biggest play of the game. St. Francis Prep had Holy Cross pinned down inside their own 5-yard line before Nelson came shooting out of the backfield and found a hole to run a 97-yard touchdown through. The score put the Knights up 28-0 in the third quarter.
“As soon as I saw our fullback engaged with the linebacker, all I saw was daylight,” Nelson said. “It’s not just me that scores, it’s Holy Cross that scores. The O-line gets a touchdown in my book.”
The Holy Cross defense was on par with the offense as they held the Terriers to only one score when the game was already out of reach
“Coach Timothy Smith is the best defensive coach around,” Pugh said. “He works tirelessly on our defense.”
The Knights had little trouble scoring and found the end zone on their first two drives of the game to jump out to a 14-0 lead. Junior running back Edwin Villegas had a 2-yard scoring run and Daeon Pierce found the end zone from 1 yard out.
The rushing attack continued in the second quarter as Nelson scored from 21 yards away. St. Francis Prep did have an opportunity to get back in the game just before the half as they drove to the 23-yard line of Holy Cross. Prep fumbled the ball on the final play of the half and the Knights recovered.
In the second half Cross saw senior quarterback Paul Yodice toss an 18-yard touchdown pass to Akini Primus. St. Francis Prep would get a late touchdown on an 18-yard hookup between senior quarterback Robert Einersen and Stephan Monfort.
Holy Cross was happy with the win over their rival, but knows it has more work to do.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” Nelson said. “But we can’t dwell on it. We have Chaminade next week and the rest of the season left.”
