In a matchup of two of the better senior quarterbacks in South Louisiana in U-High’s Emile Picarella and St. Paul’s Brennan Keim, it was all about the defenses as both offenses had tough time trying to consistently move the football. However, it was the Cubs that was able to lean on its ground attack, strong defense, and even bag of tricks to get a 29-12 win over the Wolves.
“The offensive line did a great job tonight in opening up the holes and the running backs were running hard. They showed what they can do and it was fun to see.”
“I thought our defense got a lot of pressure on their quarterback. We didn’t just let him sit there and throw. Early on, we kind of did and then we realized that we can get to him. We got him off his throwing lanes. We were able to stop the run and they run the ball really well. That was a big thing for us to stop the run and make him throw it and I thought we did.”
U-High Head Coach Andy Martin on the win
With that being said, the Cubs were able to get into their bag of tricks early to strike first as they faked a punt and snapped it to LSU commit Keylan Moses, who took the football 49 yards for the score to open up the scoring. Head Coach Andy Martin was not done as he decided to go for two on an option pitch to give the Cubs an 8-0 lead.
That set the tone for the Cubs as they never failed to give up the lead throughout the rest of this game. St. Paul’s was able to score on the next drive as Keim ran it in to pull within two at 8-6, but unfortunately for the Wolves, that was as close as it got.
Offensively, the Cubs got a lot of production in the ground game led by the 1-2 punch of Sage Ingram and Corbin Odell. Ingram often times was the leading back that got them down the field while Odell sealed the deal on two touchdown runs including one on fourth and goal to give the Cubs a 22-6 lead in the third quarter. Running behind one of the best offensive lines in the state, the two talented young running backs combined for 232 yards on 32 carries.
“I felt happy. I get to follow my blocks and I am just doing what they taught me. It was amazing. It was beautiful. I wish that Sage could score tonight, but we will take it.”
U-High RB Corbin Odell on the rushing performance
U-High was able to seal a victory when Keim threw an interception to DJ Coleman, who returned it 74 yards for the backbreaking touchdown to make it 29-6 in the fourth quarter.
Although the Wolves quickly responded with a touchdown pass from Keim to running back Cody Corales, it was too little too late for the Wolves falling to the Cubs on the road by 17 points.
It actually could have been by a wider margin, but U-High also turned the ball over on several occasions with each time the Cubs threatening to score.
“We had three turnovers and let some points off the board. However, our guys stayed resilient even through all of that. They kept playing hard and I am very proud of them. We need to clean up the turnovers and just stay away from the penalties. I thought we did a good job tonight of doing that and playing good defense. We will see how far that takes us.”
U-High Head Coach Andy Martin
The Cubs will improve to 4-1 to start the season and will take on Mentorship Academy next week. Keylan Moses did leave the game early in the third quarter, but the Cubs are hoping for the best moving forward.
“I haven’t gotten any updates yet. We will find out and hoping that it is not too serious.”
U-High Head Coach Andy Martin on Keylan Moses’ second half injury
Meanwhile, the Wolves fall to 3-2 and will take on the Hammond Tornadoes next Friday.
Check out the photo gallery taken by myself during the U-High/St. Paul’s game!
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