Cardinals soar past Swordsmen, 72-63
by Jason Chlapek, Gonzales Inquirer Sports
Tuesday, November 21, 2011
Gonzales Inquirer Article | St. Paul Cardinal Football | Return to Shiner Home Page
From the looks of things, 72-63 is a score associated with basketball or 6-man football.
St. Paul running back Brett Hodges (1) runs with the football as Cole Hybner (10) blocks a Garland Christian defender during the Cardinals’ 72-63 victory over the Swordsmen Friday in Georgetown. Hodges rushed for 107 yards and five touchdowns on 17 carries and was one of three St. Paul players to rush for 100 yards or more in the game. photo by Lori Raabe
But, such a score occurred Friday night in an 11-man football game. The St. Paul football team lived to play another week as the Cardinals outscored Garland Christian, 72-63, in a TAPPS Division IV state quarterfinal playoff game Friday at Birkelbach Stadium in Georgetown.
"This was one of those games where you were just waiting for the clock to run out," St. Paul coach Paul Johnston said. "Luckily we were able to outscore them."
St. Paul (10-2) advanced to the state semifinals for the second year in a row with the high-scoring win. The Cardinals will face The Woodlands Christian at 6 p.m. Saturday at Buffalo Stadium in Giddings.
Johnston not only led his team to victory Friday night, he also did so against his former team. Johnston was Garland Christian’s coach during the 2009 season.
Just like he did at Garland Christian two years ago, Johnston brought the spread offense to St. Paul.
However, the Cardinals resorted back to a big part of their success last season -- the run.
St. Paul ran for a season-high 387 yards on 51 carries -- also a season-high. Brett Hodges (17 carries, 107 yards, 5 TDs), Martin Kennedy (11-102, TD) and Dakota Kresta (12-100, 2 TDs) all rushed for 100 yards or more for the Cardinals.
In addition to running the football successfully, St. Paul also survived a big night from Garland Christian quarterback Hayden Burnett.
The Swordsmen’s quarterback accounted for more than 700 yards of total offense -- 483 passing and 265 rushing -- and eight total touchdowns -- four rushing and four passing.
It didn’t take long for Burnett to get things going for Garland Christian as he scored on a 32-yard run to put his team up, 7-0, at the 10:23 mark of the first quarter. But Kresta responded more than three minutes later as he scored on a 14-yard run to tie the game at 7 with 7:06 remaining in the opening quarter.
St. Paul took the lead, 14-7, on a 1-yard run from Hodges with 2:10 left in the first quarter. Burnett hit Cody King for touchdown passes of 60 and 19 yards, respectively, to put the Swordsmen back on top, 21-14, early in the second quarter.
Kresta connected with Cole Hybner for a 22-yard score, but the two-point conversion attempt failed to leave Garland Christian on top, 21-20, at the 5:33 mark of the second quarter. King struck again -- but this time on defense -- as he returned a Kresta interception 20 yards for a score to give the Swordsmen their largest lead of the game, 28-20, but Kennedy scored on a 46-yard run to trim the Garland Christian lead to two, 28-26.
The Swordsmen’s two-point halftime lead vanished on the opening play of the third quarter as Adam Hollenbach scored on a 49-yard run to put St. Paul up for good, 33-28, at the 11:49 mark of the period. Back-to-back Garland Christian turnovers led to back-to-back touchdown runs for the Cardinals as Hodges and Justin Natal scored from 4 and 5 yards out, respectively, to give their team the largest lead of the night, 46-28, with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
But Burnett regained his composure to connect with King for a 27-yard touchdown and Zev Bailey from 21 yards out. The back-to-back touchdown passes cut the St. Paul lead to 46-41 at the 4:31 mark of the third.
Hodges scored from 35 yards out to increase the Cardinals’ lead to 53-41 before Burnett scored on a 2-yard run to put his team within five once again. St. Paul led 53-48 entering the fourth quarter as the Cardinals and Swordsmen combined to score nearly as many points in the third quarter (47) as they did in the first half (54).
Hodges scored from 13 yard out to give St. Paul a 59-48 lead at the 10:28 mark of the fourth quarter before Burnett scored on a 6-yard run and hit Terry Braxton for the two-point conversion to trim the Cardinals’ lead to three, 59-56, with 9:09 left in the contest. Hodges scored his fifth and final touchdown of the night on a 7-yard run to put his team up 65-56 at the 5:33 mark of the fourth quarter.
Burnett scored on a 2-yard run to pull his team within two points, 65-63, with 4:46 left in regulation. But Kresta’s 12-yard touchdown run and Hybner’s extra point put the game out of reach for Garland Christian as St. Paul took a nine-point lead, 72-63, with 1:47 left in the contest.
In addition to the trio of 100-yard rushers, the Cardinals also had a big night from Hollenbach, who ran for 79 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, and led all St. Paul receivers with 105 yards on three catches. Kennedy also caught three passes for 73 yards, and Kresta completed 11-of-18 passes for 232 yards and a score.
The winner of Saturday’s semifinal contest will face Sacred Heart or Brazos Christian in the TAPPS Division IV state championship game Dec. 3 at Wildcat Stadium in Temple.
GAME STATISTICS:
statistics source: http://www.gonzalescannon.com/node/7379TEAM STATISTICS: St. Paul Garland First Downs 25 26 Rushes-Yards 51-387 30-238 Passing Yards 232 434 Passes 11-18-2 18-36-4 Punts 1-45 0 Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2 Penalties-yards 7-64 8-75 SCORING SUMMARY: 1 2 3 4 -- Final Garland Christian 7 21 20 15 -- 63 St. Paul 14 12 27 19 -- 72 SCORING DETAILS: First Quarter GC -- Hayden Burnett 32 yd run (Burnett kick) SP -- Dakota Kresta 14 run (Cole Hybner kick) SP -- Brett Hodges 1 run (Hybner kick) Second Quarter GC -- Cody King 60 pass from Burnett (Burnett kick) GC -- King 19 pass from Burnett, (Burnett kick) SP -- Hybner 22 pass from Kresta (pass failed) GC -- Cody King 20 interception return, (Burnett kick) SP -- Martin Kennedy 46 run, (run failed) Third Quarter SP -- Adam Hollenbach 49 run, (Hybner kick) SP -- Brett Hodges 4 run, (run failed) SP -- Justin Natal 5 run, (Hybner kick) GC -- Burnett to King 27 pass, (Burnett kick) GC -- Burnet pass Zev Bailey 21 pass, (pass failed) SP -- Hodges 35 run, (Hybner kick) GC -- Burnett 2 run, (Burnett kick) Fourth Quarter SP -- Brett Hodges 13 run (kick failed) GC -- Burnett 6 run, (Braxton Terry pass from Burnett) SP -- Hodges, 7 run, (kick failed) GC -- Burnett 10 run, (Burnett kick) SP -- Dakota Kresta, 12 run, (Hybner kick) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Rushing St. Paul, Adam Hollenbach 7-79, Justin Natal 2-7, Brett Hodges 17-107, Dakota Kresta 12-100, Martin Kennedy 11-102. GCA, Marcus Ketter 1-13, Hayden Burnett 28-265, Cody King 2-4, Jeremy Smith 1-1, Michael Assels 2-(-8). Passing St. Paul, Dakota Kresta 11-18-2-232. GCA, Hayden Burnett 18-42-4-483, Braxton Berry 0-1-0. Receiving St. Paul, Martin Kennedy 3-73, Adam. Hollenbach 3-105, Cole Hybner 2-34, Justin Natal 2-20. GCA, Marcus Ketter 1-46, Cody King 4-141, Zev Bailey 9-228, Jeremy Smith 1-25, Brazton Bailey 1-25, Michael Assels 2-18.St. Paul Cardinal Football | Shiner Home Page
GO CARDINALS !
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