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After banging on the door the previous two years, the St. Joseph Academy football team finally broke it down.
Following two runner-up finishes, the Crusaders rolled to a CIF championship Friday night with a 60-22 romp over Calvin Christian in the Division 6 championship game for 8-man teams.
The convincing win at Palomar College left St. Joseph with a 10-1 record and the San Marcos school’s first CIF banner in football.
“These guys worked awful hard all year, and it’s all on them,” said winning coach Tom Davis. “There’s really no magic formula.”
After St. Joseph raced out to a 38-14 halftime lead, senior captain Mathew Adams made the big plays in the third quarter as the No. 1 seed ran just two offensive plays yet scored 22 points.
“It’s been rough the past two years, but coach finally got us there,” said Adams, who scored on touchdown runs of 68 and 8 yards before adding a 47-yard interception return for a score as the third quarter ran out. “This is a great group and I’m proud to be team captain. Everyone came out with a lot of fire.”
Junior running back Asher Larkin gave St. Joseph the lead for good with two big plays just 55 seconds apart in the opening quarter. An 88-yard kickoff return by Larkin erased an 8-6 Calvin Christian lead with 4:37 left in the first quarter, and following a fumble recovery by Adams, Larkin scored again when he broke three tackles en route to a 52-yard touchdown run as St. Joseph established a 22-8 advantage.
A 21-yard scoring pass to the left corner of the end zone from Calvin Christian senior quarterback Cole Souders to senior receiver Caleb Brower at the end of the first quarter cut the St. Joseph lead to 22-14, but TD runs of 36 yards by sophomore James Drexler and 44 yards by Adams gave the Ocean League champions a 38-14 lead at the intermission.
St. Joseph rushed for 288 yards in the first half while not attempting a pass. The winners finished with 373 yards, all on the ground, with Adams rushing for 147 yards on just seven carries. Adams and Larkin both went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season.
No. 3 seed Calvin Christian finished its season at 7-4. Relying mostly on the passing game, Souders completed 22-of-41 passes for 225 yards, but he was intercepted twice and was sacked four times.
Brower finished with 13 catches for 152 yards.
“We showed that we can be physical and tough, but we need to pick it up another level,” said Calvin Christan first-year coach Justin McKenzie. “St. Joseph showed it was their time.”
Calvin Christian, the CIF 8-man champion in 2015, defeated defending 8-man champion Foothills Christian in the semifinals, 50-34. Foothills Christian defeated St. Joseph in last year’s title game, 31-26.
“Calvin had us concerned after they beat Foothills,” Davis said. “All the credit goes to them.”
St. Joseph was a 66-6 winner over Horizon Prep in the semis.
St. Joseph Academy 60, Calvin Christian 22Calvin Christian 14 0 0 8 — 22St. Joseph Academy 22 16 22 0 — 60SJ – Drexler 5 run (run failed)CC – Souders 1 run (Albertson run)SJ – Larkin 88 kickoff return (Ambuul run)SJ – Larkin 52 run (Drexler run)CC – Brower 21 pass from Souders (run failed)SJ – Drexler 36 run (Larkin run)SJ – Adams 44 run (McMahon run)SJ – Adams 68 run (McMahon run)SJ – Adams 8 run (Drexler run)SJ – Adams 47 interception return (run failed)CC – Souders 4 run (Brower pass from Souders)
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