Josh Swearengen and the St. Patrick Saints can’t help but have their eye on next week’s first-place battle with the St. Ignatius Falcons.
But the junior varsity football quarterback and his teammates first had to get past a Westgate Tigers squad on Thursday, a team looking to pull a mild upset and topple the Saints from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Swearengen, who hooked up with Sebastien Foglia for a 72-yard scoring strike on the first play from scrimmage, then scored an insurance touchdown on a seven-yard, third-quarter carry, said it was a battle from start to finish.
“It was a close game for us, the closest game we’ve had yet,” he said. “We knew we just had to stick with it, play hard and we’d get through it. And we did.”
The Saints, who rolled out to a quick 14-0 lead in the opening quarter, improved to 4-0, moving temporarily a half-game ahead of two-time defending champion St. Ignatius in the junior standings.
“I think it just feels great for the team to know that we can beat a team like that going into next week,” Swearengen said.
St. Patrick coach Dave Battistel called Foglia a lethal weapon.
“I think he’s probably one of the fastest guys in junior football right now. We knew we could run outside on them if we turned the corner and he made a fantastic run,” Battistel said of the opening score.
Foglia also ran one in from 27 yards out a little later in the first.
But the Tigers, who slipped to 1-3 with the 20-13 loss, didn’t let their early deficit get them down.
Clayton Hill got Westgate on the board early in the second, plunging in from a yard out to make it 14-7. Darien Fuchs then scored from five yards out to pull the Tigers within a point, but kicker Leon Khnanisho’s extra point attempt was low and Westgate trailed at the half.
It was a special teams mistake that set up the Saints final touchdown of the afternoon.
Westgate’s Dan Romeo muffed a punt return, the ball recovered at the Tigers seven-yard line by St. Pat’s Rhys Hooke.
Swearengen called his own number on the ensuring play, scampering home for the major.
“I think this was a very important game for us,” Battistel said. “Kudos to Westgate, they played us well. They completely threw off my defensive game plan. They came out with a completely different offence and we had a hard time dealing with their power running up the middle.
“I think this was a good character win for the team. I think they really needed to experience some challenges and having to overcome some difficulties. The offence responded when we needed it to and the defence stepped up when we needed them to as well.”
The Tigers marched deep into St. Patrick territory late in the fourth quarter, but turned the ball over on downs.
