Saints whip Granite City; next up: Geneva
Exceptional performances by the St. Charles East defense and tremendous output from running back Wes Allen has helped the Saints enjoy great success this fall.
That continued Friday night, as the Saints took care of business in a first-round game of the Class 7A playoffs as they buried Granite City, 31-6 at Norris Stadium.
With the victory, the Saints secured a meeting with nearby Geneva next weekend.
"It's going to be great game, there's no question about it," Saints coach Ted Monken said, "The Tri-City area loves their football and the Tri-City little league football team and these kids all know each other.
"It's going to be a fantastic night and hopefully we'll be able to find a way to win, but they're a great team."
St. Charles East (8-2) didn't hesitate in jumping ahead of
Granite City, taking the kickoff and then 10 plays to reach the end zone on a 14-yard touchdown run by Allen, who would prove to be huge all evening.
"We knew coming in that we had to score first," Allen said. "It made the biggest difference."
Allen, who would rush for nearly 300 yards, made it a 14-0 contest on the Saints third possession as he took advantage of great blocking by his offensive line and exploded through the center of the field for a 75-yard touchdown run.
Granite City (6-4) didn't convert a first down until its third possession, but even then the Warriors were stopped as Pat Friel picked up his first of two sacks on the night.
"Our front seven really played hard and our two outside backers had a really good game," Friel said. "Matt Johnson and Ryan Scott had a good game for us and (Dave) Mashal and our d-line just got to the football and just made some plays."
Allen nearly put the Saints ahead by three touchdowns with a 56-yard run on the Saints next possession but was dragged down at the 1-yard line and the hosts ended up settling for a 22-yard David Winn field goal for a 17-0 halftime advantage.
"That first score on the board and then getting another and a field goal before halftime and it's 17-0 in a muddy game against a team that doesn't throw the ball that often," Monken said. "They're not a great comeback team because they're a running team and they ate up so much clock in the second half."
The Warriors tried to battle back as they finally reached the end zone on Kenny Stanley's 22-yard touchdown run with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but the Saints answered nearly immediately when quarterback Sam Gunther connected for a 64-yard touchdown pass to Matt
Hammer on the second play of the Saints next possession as time expired before the fourth quarter.
It didn't end there as Allen would push the Saints further ahead, 31-6, with a 24-yard touchdown with 3:18 remaining.
"It was just a blast and it was probably one of the most fun games I've ever had," Allen said. "The line did a great job and like Gunther said, it all goes to (the offensive line) because they made everything possible."