PORTLAND -- First string, second string, third string – it doesn’t seem to matter which tailback carries the ball for Jesuit.
As long as they are running behind the Crusaders’ dominant offensive line, the results are turning out the same.
That point was vividly illustrated Friday night in the Holy War rivalry game when No. 7 Jesuit ran all over No 8 Central Catholic 42-16. The host Crusaders (4-1) rushed for 341 of their 409 yards to control the 6A nonleague game from the start.
“They outphysicaled us tonight,” Central Catholic coach Steve Pyne said.
Jesuit junior Kade Wisher, filling in for injured starter Andy Alfieri for the second game in a row, rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries before leaving with a head injury late in the second quarter.
The Crusaders simply turned things over to speedy junior Ted Atkinson, who cut through the Rams (2-3) for 197 yards and one touchdown on a career-high 30 carries.
“It’s just what it is. One of us goes down, you’ve got to jump in,” said Atkinson, who ran for 144 yards in last week’s win over Aloha. “It’s the game of football. It was so much fun.”
Jesuit surpassed its rushing average of 297.3 yards per game. The offensive line – center Seth Monahan, guards David McDougall and Declan Quillin and tackles Joe Quillin and Shea Brooks – is becoming more cohesive by the game. And fullback Logan Horton is doing his part, too.
“Nothing to take away from our running backs, but you’re going to go as far as your offensive line takes you, and our O-line was very good tonight,” Jesuit coach Ken Potter said. “Our running backs did a great job of following their blockers. And we’ve got a phenomenal fullback who makes lots of really good blocks.”
The Crusaders jumped to a 14-0 lead as Wisher scored on runs of 18 and four yards in the first quarter. On many carries, Wisher did not meet any resistance within the first five yards.
“We came out fired up,” Monahan said. “Our whole team was ready to go, play some Jesuit football. We were all psyched. We were getting off the ball, pushing it back. It was real fun.”
The Crusaders also were thinking about payback for last year’s 28-24 loss to Central Catholic.
“Yeah, we were, especially for those seniors last year,” Monahan said. “We really wanted to do it for them.”
The Rams made it 14-3 on a 44-yard field goal by senior Fritz Kabeiseman, but Jesuit answered when senior quarterback Will Spitznagel capped an 80-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run, opening a 21-3 lead at half.
Central Catholic junior Cade Knighton threw touchdown passes of 24 yards to junior Kalvin Souders and one yard to junior Silas Starr -- sandwiching another scoring run by Spitznagel -- to bring the Rams within 28-16 late in the third quarter.
After the latter score, the Rams appeared to recover an onside kick, but Jesuit was awarded possession when officials ruled that Central Catholic touched the ball one yard short of the necessary 10 yards. The Rams protested, to no avail.
“We get a little momentum in the third quarter, clearly recover an onside kick, and it gets overruled,” Pyne said. “I’m not saying that made the difference, but momentum was in our favor at that point.”
Spitznagel connected with senior tight end Colin McMahon for a 25-yard touchdown pass and Atkinson bolted for a 31-yard touchdown run as the Crusaders extended the lead to 42-16 midway through the fourth quarter.
Atkinson, who runs the 200 and 400 meters in track, showed off his sprinter speed on several occasions.
“I consider myself pretty quick. It’s just how I roll,” Atkinson said. “I take one cut, and I’m gone.’
Alfieri, who suffered a head injury against Westview on Sept. 14 and missed the Aloha game, returned to play defense in the second half. He foiled a two-point conversion attempt by tipping a pass at the line of scrimmage.
Jesuit won its third consecutive game since losing to No. 2 Lake Oswego 20-14. The Crusaders are feeling good about their progress heading into next week’s nonleague showdown at No. 3 Sheldon.
“We’re three games older,” said Potter, who won his 306th game to move into a tie with Kent Wigle for third place all-time in Oregon. “The progress is we’re communicating better, we’re coming off the ball, doing the stuff we’re capable of doing. We’re getting into a rhythm.”
Jesuit also played solid defense in holding Central Catholic’s multidimensional offense to 314 yards, well below the Rams’ 395-yard average. Senior linebacker Zach Carr led the charge with two sacks.
Knighton, coming off a 344-yard game, completed 15 of 24 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Starr had four catches for 49 yards and one score, and junior Elijah Elliott rushed for 64 yards on nine carries.
It was a rough night for the Rams, who open Mt. Hood Conference play next week at home against Centennial.
“They’re good. We knew they were good,” Pyne said. “We’re getting better, but tonight was a little bit of a hiccup.”
