St. Paul's Drops Football Season Opener

Although the football team dropped last Saturday's season-opener, 21-19, at Perry Hall of Baltimore County,  it was not from a lack of effort.

Make that, . 

After taking a 7-0, first-quarter lead, the Gators allowed 21-unanswered points before scoring 12 of their own in the fourth quarter and falling short. 

Trailing 21-19, the Crusaders recovered an onside kick in the final two minutes and drove to the Gators' 30-yard line before missing a 47-yard field goal attempt.

The Crusaders led, 7-0, following a 32-yard pass from Spencer Parks to Teddy Martinez. But as the afternoon heat began to take its toll on the Crusaders, the Gators capitalized on a second-quarter fumble recovery to tie the score, and eventually grabbed a 14-7 halftime lead. 

Down, 21-7, after three quarters, the Crusaders pulled to within eight points, 21-13, thanks to a 3-yard pass from Anthony Pino to Tre Hamer.

Martinez then intercepted a pass and ran to the Gators' 5-yard line, setting up a short scoring run by Pino to make it 21-19.

The Crusaders attempted a two-point conversion pass, but the ball was knocked down by a Gators' defender. 

For the game, the Crusaders' Dale Harris ran for 102 yards on 26 carries, and teammate London Fitzhugh had eight receptions also for 102 yards. 

The Crusaders finished with more yards rushing (96-to-86) and passing (195-to-163) than the Gators, as well as more first downs (16-15) and fewer turnovers (4-3).

The Crusaders will get a shot at redemption at 7 p.m., Friday when they play Western Tech of Baltimore County at CCBC Catonsville.

Box score:

Perry Hall     0     14     7     0     21

St. Paul's     7      0     0     12    19

VOLLEYBALL

The Crusaders' volleyball team of coach Jim Jung opens with a scrimmage on Friday against C. Milton Wright of Harford County at home.
 

 SOCCER

The St. Paul's soccer team will try to rebound from an 0-2 start with a game at Calvert Hall of the MIAA's A Conference

RAIN-HAMPERED RUNNING HARRIERS 

The Crusaders' cross country team has largely been rained out, although coach Keith Culbertson has had enough practice time to determine his starters. 

"We did have our intra-squad race to determine the seven varsity spots, with three freshmen making the top seven on a team that lost two of its top 14 runners," said Culbertson. "So that gives us three freshmen and two sophomores, one junior and one senior on the varsity."

Last year's Crusaders lost once in 13 regular-season meets, and finished third behind St. Mary's and Glenelg Country School in the championship event—after having won it the year before.

"We still haven't had a race yet, so there is really nothing else to report," said Culbertson, who is in his third season. "We actually are supposed to run today at Severn against Severn and Pallotti, but it could very well get cancelled because it won't stop raining."