Crusaders' big plays the difference in their opening day victory

Early-season football games – at all levels – are often not works of art. Whoever has fewer penalties and turnovers usually wins the game – especially early in the season. That was the case at St. Croix Lutheran Friday night when the Crusaders took on the South St. Paul Packers to open the 2024 season. While neither team played a clean game, St Croix Lutheran was cleaner, played great defense, and took advantage of two huge plays on offense to walk away with a 16-10 victory.   A mistake by the Packers on the opening kickoff gave the Crusaders an immediate field position advantage. Neither team was able to pick up a first down on their first series, but with South St. Paul starting so deep in their own territory, the entire first quarter was on SSP's side of the field. The home team eventually capitalized on the field position with a 33-yard field goal by Matthew Beekman late in the first quarter.   The Crusaders' Thiago Silva Candeo didn't bite on a misdirection play and blew up an outside run on third down to force a punt. That third down stop set up the Crusaders' first big play of the game. Wyatt Robinson found some room off the right side of the offensive line, broke into the clear, and didn't stop running until he was inside the ten-yard line. The 76-yard run set up a short touchdown run by quarterback Tory Wollersheim.   "Wyatt's got some speed that showed when he busted through the line," Crusaders' head coach Adam Frey said. "They were giving us a hard time on the line of scrimmage. They have a couple of tough guys in the inside of their defensive line."   The Crusaders' defense gave up some yards late in the first half but kept the Packers out of scoring range, ending the first half with a 9-0 lead.   The Crusaders' defense continued to keep SCL in the game. As South St. Paul moved the ball across midfield, they decided to go for it on fourth down near midfield. The Packers tried to run a middle screen, but Beekman read the play and made an open-field tackle short of the sticks.   "We found a couple of things that worked for us on the defensive side of the ball, but we were pursuing, and that was the biggest thing," Frey explained. "We were missing tackles – it is high school football, that is going to happen, especially in the first game – but we were pursuing the ball. We weren't being spectators. They were getting after it – that was the biggest thing."   South St. Paul finally got their offense going in the third quarter. A twenty-yard run by Aiden Kraft was the spark that started the drive. A few plays later, Nasir Robinson found room to the outside, and then a middle screen from quarterback Marco London to Jake Baldus put the Packers in the red zone. Kraft finished off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. The extra point cut the Crusaders' lead to 9-7.   After the Packers' defense forced a punt, Baldus broke free for a 30-yard run to put the Packers in position to take the lead. However, penalties started to pile up on the Packers. Back-to-back penalties turned a first and goal from the eight into a second and eighteen from the twenty-eight. Two plays later, they faced a fourth and five from the fifteen. Another penalty wiped a fifteen-yard touchdown pass off the board. St. Croix Lutheran took over and hit their second big play of the game.   The Crusaders were running the option all game. After their biggest defensive stand of the game, Wollersheim faked the dive and floated to the right, appearing to run another option. Instead of cutting up the field or pitching the ball to the running back, Wollersheim pulled up and fired a pass to a wide-open Colin Avery, who sprinted into the end zone from 84 yards out. The score made the score 16-7.   "We always think we can get a cheap one every game because we do run the ball so much," Frey said. "Teams keep sucking up towards the line of scrimmage, and we will take a couple of shots a game. Thankfully, that one worked for us."   South St. Paul was not going to roll over. They moved the ball down the field after the long touchdown pass but stalled at the nine-yard line. With three minutes to go in the game, they opted for a field goal attempt, and Packers' kicker Alida Ahern nailed a 26-yard field goal to cut the lead to 16-10. However, the on-side kick attempt bounced out of bounds, and St. Croix Lutheran was able to pick up a couple of first downs to seal the opening-day victory.   "It was a great matchup for us," Frey concluded. "We knew it was going to be close. We knew we would need to play tough. South St. Paul is a tough-nosed football team."

Early-season football games – at all levels – are often not works of art. Whoever has fewer penalties and turnovers usually wins the game – especially early in the season. That was the case at St. Croix Lutheran Friday night when the Crusaders took on the South St. Paul Packers to open the 2024 season. While neither team played a clean game, St Croix Lutheran was cleaner, played great defense, and took advantage of two huge plays on offense to walk away with a 16-10 victory.