Nazareth, McKinney cruise past Benet

LaSteven McKinney made all the difference Saturday afternoon in Nazareth's 32-21 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory against Benet.

McKinney returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Then on Nazareth's first series, he took a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation and snaked his way into the end zone from 10 yards out.

When the Redwings answered on their next possession with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back E.J. Howell, McKinney scored from 2 yards out to bring the lead back to 13.

"We've faced some adversity the last couple of weeks," McKinney said. "We wanted to get rid of the losing streak."

The Redwings shrank the lead at halftime when Pat Boyle scored on a 6-yard run up the middle, making it a 20-14 game, but the Nazareth defense hung tough.

"The defense stepped up the second half," Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. "They played with more tenacity."

After the teams exchanged interceptions in the third quarter, McKinney scored his fourth touchdown of the day on a 3-yard run up the middle. The touchdown was set up by McKinney, who took a handoff left tackle and made his way through the defense down the left sideline, cut across the field and ran out of gas and was pushed out at the 5- yard line.

Once again the Redwings responded, this time on a 16-play drive with Boyle scoring his second touchdown of the game.

Nazareth added a 39-yard field goal by Patrick Dunn after McKinney burned some clock and got the Roadrunners into field-goal range. The field goal gave the home team a 32-21 lead, and they hung on for the victory.

"They got (McKinney)," Benet coach Gary Goforth said. "The difference is him. He's a heck of a football player."

Goforth commended the Roadrunners on their performance but was not happy with the play of his team.

"We couldn't connect on a pass, we missed blocks and tackles. It was frustrating," he said.

Howell, who finished with a 135 yards rushing, wasn't happy with the execution of his offense.

"We had good drives, but we need to have them when it matters," he said. "We show good things every week, but we need to put it all together."