Ground Attack Lifts St. Ignace Saints Over East Jordan Red Devils 34-8
By David Latva

Alex Fitzgerald (85) hauls down an 18-yard scoring pass from Gerrit Mortensen late in the first half to give the Saints a 27-0 halftime lead.

The St. Ignace Saints ground attack totaled 327 yards en route to a 34-8 nonc onference win over the East Jordan Red Devils at Boswell Stadium Thursday, August 30.

"This was a good game, in that everyone played and contributed to the win," said Saints Coach Marty Spencer. "It was a balance effort on both sides of the ball."

Anthony Lester's interception set up the Saints first touchdown as Jesse Becker, who led the offense with a career-high 111 yards, dashed 27 yards for the score, giving St. Ignace (2-0) a 6- 0 lead at the 10:08 mark of the first quarter.

Kyle Smock's three-yard score at 4:11 of the first period increased the Saints lead to 12-0 and, with 7:49 remaining of the second quarter, Shawn Cowell plunged over from the one-yard line. Gerrit Mortensen's twopoint conversion pass to Lester extended the advantage to 20-0.

Mortensen and Alec Fitzgerald combined on an 18-yard scoring pass with 1:02 left in the second quarter and Andy Tamlyn added the extra point to give the Saints a commanding 27-0 halftime margin.

Steffan Saffian

Becker scored his second touchdown on a five-yard run after Lester got his second pass interception and Tamlyn converted the extra point kick for a 34-0 lead late in the third quarter.

The Red Devils (0-2) managed to score in the closing three minutes to avoid a shut out.

Saints offense: Jesse Becker, 111 yards on 11 attempts; Kyle Smock, 83 yards on 14 attempts; Shawn Cowell, 52 yards on nine attempts; Tyler Oja, 23 yards on six attempts; Rob Robinson, 21 yards on six attempts; Anthony Lester 11 yards on two attempts; Gerrit Mortensen, six of nine passing for 52 yards and 26 yards rushing on five attempts; Alex Fitzgerald, three receptions for 38 yards; James Peterson, one reception for 11 yards, Anthony Lester, one reception for three yards, and Kyle Smock, one reception.

Saints defense: Steffan Saffian, 10 tackles and one fumble recovery; Nick Montie, nine tackles; James Peterson, one fumble recovery, seven tackles; Tyler Oja, seven tackles; Kyle Smock and Shawn Cowell, six tackles; Nathan Thompson, five tackles; Anthony Lester, two pass interceptions; Rob Robinson, one fumble recovery; Nick Gould and Alex Fitzgerald, four tackles; Andy Tamlyn, three tackles; Derek Marshall, Frank Beaudoin, Billy Grogan, Michael Wilk, two tackles.

Jesse Becker (22) rushed for a career-high 111 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Saints 34-8 win over East Jordan. (Photograph by Melissa Brown)

The Saints will play host to Newberry (0-2) Friday, September 7, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Saints Field.