St. Mary’s captures County Championship

Knights defeat St. Rose of Lima in OT

Okay, so we said they were big and slow…we were wrong. The “Big Boys” from St. Mary of Escondido are big, physical, and disciplined. The Knights defeated the Lancers from St. Rose of Lima in overtime, 22-20, to capture the 2013 Saints Alumni-San Diego County Parochial Football Championship. The “Big Boys” made big plays when they had to.

The game went back and forth. St. Rose was holding on to a 14-6 lead late in the game, thanks to a stingy defense led by All-County selections Juan Fuentes and Sebastian Acevedo.

With 35 seconds left in the game, the St. Mary defense pinned St Rose back on their own 5 yard line, forcing the Lancers to punt. The Knights’ Michael Carey blocked the punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and then William Downey converted the PAT to make it 14-14.  The Knights defense held on to force overtime.

St. Mary won the toss and elected to have the ball first (four plays from the 10 yard line).  The Knights scored on a TD pass play from Luca Scarpello to Michael Carey.  Again, William Downey came up big with a critical PAT making the score 22-14.

Now it was St Rose’s turn:  The Knights defense held them for three downs, but St. Rose came back with a touchdown, led by Jordan McDaniel and Anthony Hindi, both selected to the All-County team.  The Lancers attempted their PAT to even up the score, but Bryan Barazza came in hard to block the kick.

Final Score: St. Mary’s 22 – St. Rose of Lima 20

Both teams played a hard fought game. St. Mary coach Virgil Enriquez said, “I am really proud of this team. They showed great team work and character throughout the year and especially in this tournament.”

St. Mary players Adam Barraza, Bryan Barraza, Michael Carey and Luca Scarpella were named to the All-County team.