St. Mary's cruises to win over Wolverines (Updated)

A highly anticipated early season matchup in the High School Football League senior division turned out to be a one sided affair for the St. Mary's Knights.

Chewing up some 446 yards along the ground and throwing for another 150 yards, the Knights cruised past the White Pines Wolverines 49-0 on Friday night at Rocky DiPietro Field.

The Knights join the Sir James Dunn Eagles with a 2-0 record while White Pines falls to 1-1.

St. Mary's exploded off the opening kickoff. On the first play from scrimmage, Chris Lebel ran for 11 yards and then followed with a 69 yard scamper. Following a defensive pass interference penalty, Jeff Greco punched in the ball from five yards out for a 7-0 lead after four plays.

The touchdown was a signal of what was to come as the Knights controlled the ball on offense gaining 28 first downs using seven different weapons in the backfield while quarterback John Mullin found seven more through the air.

Lebel and Mark Devuono scored two majors each for the Knights while Mike Babcock and Mike Esson also added touchdowns. Jeff Pellegrino booted all seven converts.

Lebel paced the Knights rushing attack with 188 yards on 11 carries. Greco added 117 yards on 13 carries, Michael Esson 33 on four, Mullin 30 on three and Andrew Belsito 26 on two. Andrew Baziuk also added a single carry for 42 yards.

Mullin completed nine of 15 passes for 150 yards with Devuono and Babcock each catching a pair for 51 and 28 yards, respectively.

Defensively, Jordan Verdone led the Knights with 10 tackles while Mark Thorburn added 7.5 and Esson five. Jason Amadio recovered a fumble and Will Stephenson recorded an interception.

Offensively for White Pines, who were held to 167 yards, Alanzo Clarke rushed for 69 yards on 17 carries while Gary Leith added 56 yards on seven touches.

Jake Doan led the defense with nine tackles, Matt Ritchie added eight, Josh Reed six and Zak Stewart five.

Week two action concludes on Saturday afternoon as the Bawating Braves meet the St. Basil Saints at 1 p.m. at Rocky DiPietro Field.

*** JUNIOR:

In junior division play from Friday afternoon, Craig Rushon scored three touchdowns and Matt Buchan two more to power St. Mary's past White Pines 48-0. Chris Travaligni, Alex Cruise and Josh Martella also scored touchdowns for the winners.