Ascension Christian runs all over St. John

Ascension Christian started off well as they scored on the opening drive of the game. The Lions quarterback; P. Bahlinger hooked up on a beautiful pass in the end zone to K.Delone to put the Lions up 7-0. Thanks to the good field positioning on the opening kickoff, the Lions did not have to travel far down the field to find points.

 

St. John responded with a huge 90-yard rushing touchdown by Landon Leblanc. The Eagles were pushed back for a holding call but that did not stop Leblanc from bursting through the line to help his team by bringing the score to 7-6. The extra point was no good leaving the Eagles behind by a point.

 

The Lions had another promising drive as Bahlinger ran a swift QB sneak for 55 yards until fumbling on the Eagles’ 32-yard line. Just before the 2^nd Quarter approached, the Eagles’ own Adam Blanchard would run the ball in himself on the opposition’s 1-yard line to give St. John the lead. The Eagles failed a 2-point conversion bringing the score to 12-7.

 

St. John was relentless on putting pressure at the quarterback but finally caught themselves off-guard as Bahlinger found the open hole in the middle of the field for a 30-yard reception touchdown. The Lions would take a 14-12 lead.

 

Shortly afterwards, the Lions would attempt a squib kick that was recovered on the opposition’s 30-yard line. Bahlinger struggled to move the ball on the next drive as the offense caught got into penalty trouble. The Lions would have to settle for a 34-yard field goal attempt to bring the score to 17-12 just before halftime.

 

The Lions would get lucky on a fumble recovery call that would give them a good field position for their skill players to contribute. Shortly afterwards, Templet rushed for a touchdown only 18 yards out to give the Lions some breathing room on the scoreboard with a 24-12 lead.

 

It did not take long for the Lions to find the end zone again as their defense held the Eagles offensive unit forcing them to punt once again. Templet rushed for his 2^nd touchdown of the night as he took it straight up the middle for 40 yards untouched. Ascension Christian would take a 31-12 lead.

 

St. John was desperate for some kind of response as the Lions began to run away with the score. After not scoring any points since the 1^st Quarter, Landon Leblanc rushed for 38 yards before finding the end zone in a much-needed touchdown for the Eagles. Leblanc would keep the ball on the 2-point conversion to narrow the score to 31-20.

 

The Lions offense proved too much to handle as the Eagles defense struggled to make tackles all night. Templet found plenty of room to run free as he scored another touchdown late in the 3^rd Quarter to help his team widen the gap to 38-20.

 

Leblanc kept the Eagles offense moving as they relied heavily on the running game. It proved effective too as he rushed on several occasions on the opening drive of the 4^th Quarter before punching a 1-yard touchdown through the middle. Brock would rush for the 2-point conversion to bring the score to 38-28 with Ascension Christian still maintaining the lead.

 

A nice combination of Bahlinger and Templet kept the chains moving for the Lions all night and Templet would once again find a huge gap in the middle of the field for a 37-yard rushing touchdown. The Lions would expand the lead to 45-28.

 

The Eagles received the next kickoff and were looking to score again just before D.Capiel stripped the ball away from Leblanc for a defensive touchdown. Ascension Christian continued to contribute points to the board on both sides of the ball as they brought the score to 52-28.

 

Ascension Christian would stop the Eagles on their final attempt to score and would run the ball down the field till the end of regulation. The stout running game proved too much for the Eagles to defend. The final score would stay at 52-28.