Reviewing St. Johns’ Victory

St. John’s defeated Don Bosco 27-6 on Saturday. The Cadet offense was electric and their defense prevented Don Bosco from generating any offense whatsoever. St. John’s will look to stay undefeated at home next week against Butler. <strong><u>St. John’s </u></strong> Offense: <strong>2022 6’1 190 QB – [player_tooltip player_id="134896" first="Wyatt" last="Hagan"] </strong> Hagan was nothing less than fireworks on Saturday and that was even amidst an injury sustained during an awkward hit. Behind his stellar offensive line, which deserves a ton of credit, he threw touchdown passes to both [player_tooltip player_id="136028" first="DJ" last="Linkins"] and [player_tooltip player_id="121525" first="Jamar" last="Curtis"] which reinforces his status as a versatile pocket passer. Hagan was incredibly efficient on third down with minimal turnovers in general, and, with [player_tooltip player_id="134896" first="Wyatt" last="Hagan"] under center, there’s no question that the ceiling for this St. John’s team is a national championship. The entire WCAC better be on high alert because [player_tooltip player_id="134896" first="Wyatt" last="Hagan"] and the Cadets’ collegiate level offensive line are firing on all cylinders early on in non-conference play. <strong>2022 6’3 170 WR – [player_tooltip player_id="136028" first="DJ" last="Linkins"]</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="136028" first="DJ" last="Linkins"] was spectacular in this game and it was clear from the beginning that even Don Bosco’s most elite defensive backs could not keep up with him. He created space for himself with his sharp route running ability and scored a big touchdown early on in the contest. Linkins showed his toughness and proved that he can generate a lot of yardage after contact. He’s a physical receiver who’s becoming more and more difficult to tackle every week. His special relationship with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="134896" first="Wyatt" last="Hagan"] continues to blossom as the two establish themselves as one of the best quarterback-receiver tandems in the WCAC and perhaps even the nation. Defense: <strong>2022 6’4 230 DL – [player_tooltip player_id="90511" first="Isaiah" last="Smith"] </strong> The SMU commit was a force to be reckoned with on Saturday and, as expected, the Don Bosco offensive line was no match for him. Alongside Junior defensive end [player_tooltip player_id="146636" first="David" last="Ojiegbe"], Smith rose to the occasion, and St. John’s was able to put constant pressure on the opposing quarterback. Don Bosco never got comfortable on offense and the reason is because the Cadet defensive line, led by [player_tooltip player_id="90511" first="Isaiah" last="Smith"], was simply too relentless. He certainly had help from other key players like Ojiegbe, but it was clear from the first snap that [player_tooltip player_id="90511" first="Isaiah" last="Smith"] is the leader of this defense. It is going to be extremely difficult to score on this St. John’s defense this season. <strong>2022 6’0 185 DB – [player_tooltip player_id="90520" first="Phil" last="Rawlins"] </strong> [player_tooltip player_id="90520" first="Phil" last="Rawlins"] and the St. John’s defensive backs played very well in this game, but the harsh reality is that they weren’t tested very much against Don Bosco. The Cadets’ defensive line was so dominant that the Bosco quarterback barely had any completions. Most of his throws were throw away balls and the reason for that was constant pressure from the Cadet d- line. The downfield tandem of [player_tooltip player_id="90520" first="Phil" last="Rawlins"] and [player_tooltip player_id="90518" first="Joshua" last="Thompson"] remains one of the conference’s best, and they’ll look to continue their dominant efforts next week at home against a non-conference Butler team.