Holy Family starts fast – stays undefeated

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Holy Family Fire traveled to St. Paul to put their undefeated record on the line against a one-loss St. Agnus team that was off to a 2-1 start. The Fire took advantage of some early Aggies' mistakes and scored on three straight possessions. The defense took over from there and won, going away 25-7.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the strength of a great kickoff return by <strong>Bennett Bamsey</strong>, St. Agnus moved into Fire territory but faced a fourth-and-three. Holy Family defensive lineman <strong>Eli Foudray</strong> beat his blocker clean off the snap and was immediately in the backfield. His penetration forced the Aggies' running back well behind the line of scrimmage, where his teammates rallied to make the tackle for a big loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two plays later, the Fire was in the end zone. Quarterback <strong>Ethan Ryan</strong> threw across his body to a leaping <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1159089' first='Tanner' last='Davis']</strong> for 21 yards. On the next snap, running back <strong>Griffin Murray</strong> got the corner and raced in for a 32-yard touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We were staying with our true selves since this summer," running back <strong>Noah Galvin</strong> said. "Everyone was making right decisions and playing hard."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With a fumble on the kickoff, the Fire had the ball right back. Ryan tested the Aggies' secondary right after the turnover and found Galvin down the sidelines for a 27-yard touchdown. In a blink of an eye, the Fire was up 13-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> Holy Family forced another turnover on the Aggies' next set of downs. <strong>Levi Skinner</strong> jumped on the ball after <strong>Will Burmiester</strong> ripped the ball away from the running back. The Fire running backs had no such problems. They ripped off big chunk plays on the ground – highlighted by Ryan's twenty-yard run on a designed quarterback run. Murray paid off the drive with his second touchdown run of the first quarter – giving his team a 19-0 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We got some breaks early in the game, and we were able to take advantage of it," Holy Family head coach <strong>Dan O'Brien</strong> said. "We didn't play very clean in the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter, but we did enough for the win."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both defenses played well in the second quarter. The only points came from the Aggies. In Fire territory, quarterback <strong>Joshua Lopez</strong> ran a quarterback draw on fourth and five for a first down. After moving the ball down to the five-yard line, running back <strong>Evonson Plamann</strong> found the end zone from three yards out. Neither team would threaten the rest of the half – giving Holy Family a 19-7 halftime lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holy Family – whose offense was shut down in the second quarter – came out running the ball with a purpose to start the second half. Galvin, Davis, and Murray each had good runs to set up Levi Trout's four-yard touchdown run. The drive chewed up nearly half of the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Down 25-7, St. Agnus looked like they would have an answer to the Fire's touchdown and get back into the game. They were inside the ten-yard line, but Foudray was in the backfield again, wrapping up the ball carrier for a five-yard loss. Facing a third and long, St. Agnus threw into the end zone, but pressure from defensive lineman <strong>Connor Schreier</strong> forced an off-balance throw. The Fire's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1311587' first='Breck' last='Neubauer']</strong> picked off a pass in the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Our defense was playing amazing," Galvin said. "The corners maybe gave up one pass. The secondary was playing well, and the linebackers were making plays."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Aggies never threatened again. The Fire's offense didn't score again, either, but their running game moved the chains and moved the clock. When they gave way to the defense, the front seven put on the pressure, and the defensive backs locked down the receivers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Late in the fourth quarter, the Fire played several backups and moved into the red zone again, but instead of trying to score, they took a knee inside the ten-yard line, securing the 25-7 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It was a dog fight," O'Brien said. "They got us pretty good last year. St. Agnus is well-coached and is physical. It was exactly that."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->