Saints unbeaten following win over Braves

The St. Basil Saints remain among the High School Football League's unbeaten following an impressive win over the Bawating Braves.

On Saturday afternoon at Rocky DiPietro Field, the Saints shut down the Braves rushing attack and ran for 295 yards of their own in a 29-7 senior division victory.

St. Basil and the St. Mary's Knights now remain the only two teams unbeaten at 2-0. Bawating falls to 0-2.

The Braves started the game well with a pair of good drives offensively, one of which led to a touchdown reception by Ryan Lecuyer on a 43 yard catch and run play from quarterback Mike Storozuk.

After going three and out on their first possession and surrendering a score, the Saints turned up their offense and shut the door defensively.

Justin Minelli scored his first of two touchdowns on a two yard run before Kevin Smith caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from Mike Tassone for a 14-7 Saints lead at the half.

Minelli opened the second half scoring with a 17 yard run while Cody Reville punched in another major from two yards out and Steve Pandzic, who kicked four converts, completed the scoring with a single off a missed 31 yard field goal. Brad Beatty kicked the Braves convert.

Leading all rushers, Steve Fantin ran for 139 yards on seven carries while Minelli added 102 yards on 16 carries. Tassone completed five of nine passes for 56 yards including two strikes to each of Smith for 24 yards and Fantin for 27 yards.

Jake Lake anchored the solid Saints defense with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks. Izaak Wickstrom made 5.5 tackles, Smith 4.5, Dan Buonomo 4.5 and Donovan Bertolo recorded four tackles and 0.5 sack.

For the Braves, Dan Vaz ran for 72 yards on 15 carries while Mike Storozuk completed 10 of 18 passes for 121 yards while running for 34 yards on six keeps. Joe Storozuk caught five passes for 43 yards and Lecuyer three for 59 yards.

Defensively, Doug Watt led with 10 tackles while Zach Clement made 6.5, Lecuyer 5.5 and Shawn Gardner 4.5.

*** JUNIOR DIVISION:

On Saturday morning at St. Basil, the Saints scored a 21-0 win over the Braves. No scoring details were made available.