Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – It wasn't the result the St. Scholastica football team was looking for, but the buzz around Malosky Stadium was satisfying enough as 3,547 people packed into the University of Minnesota-Duluth Stadium and cheered on the first Saints football team on school's inaugural homecoming and the team's first home contest tonight.

Crown College arrived in Duluth and spoiled the party, however, defeating the Saints by a score of 51-13. It was Crown's first road and conference win this season.

CSS (0-3, 0-2) would get the ball on the opening possession of the game after Crown (2-3, 1-1) deferred to the second half. The Saints would go three-and-out. On the ensuing punt, the Storm would storm through the middle of the line and block the punt. The ball was then returned 15 yards for a touchdown. The point-after would be no good as Crown took an early 6-0 lead.

After a Saints punt on their next possession, the Storm moved the ball down the field, converting a pair of third-and-longs as the drive was capped off on a quarterback sneak to make the score 13-0. Crown capitalized on their third possession on a 16-yard touchdown pass and the score was quickly 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Saints drove the ball down the field at the beginning of the second quarter, but turned it over on downs at the Crown 28-yard-line. The teams then traded punts, but Crown would make the score 27-0 when it drove the ball 71 yards on 12 plays ending in a 1-yard touchdown run with a little over four minutes left in the half.

St. Scholastica got on the scoreboard on the next possession thanks to #Christopher Henagin# (Jr.-Cloquet, Minn.), who had 53 yards rushing on the drive, including an 8-yard touchdown run with a 1:47 left in the first half. The point-after was blocked as the score was 27-6. The excitement was short-lived as on the ensuing kickoff, Crown's Drew Milner returned 80 yards for a touchdown to make it 34-6. CSS then threw an interception on its first play of the next possession and the Storm scored four plays later as the score at the half was 41-6 in favor of Crown.

Not looking at the score, the stats were fairly even in the first half. Crown out-gained the Saints 255-206 and just had a slight edge in first downs 13-11. The Storm were 5-for-6 on third down, while the Saints were just 1-for-6.

After Crown scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, the Saints scored their second touchdown of the night when it was Henagin again that ran it in from seven yards out to make the score 48-13. That touchdown was set up thanks to a 54-yard pass connection between #Jake Olson# (Fr.-Esko, Minn.) and #Mike VanMassenhove# (So.-Superior, Wis.). The Storm would just add a 21-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make the final score 51-13.

Christopher Henagin (Cloquet, Minn./Fond du Lac) rushed for 92 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jake Olson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) was 10-of-20 for 188 yards. #Keegan O'Neill# (Fr.-Superior, Wis.) had four catches for 94 yards to lead CSS in receiving. #Jonathan Bennett# (Fr.-Blackduck, Minn.) also had four catches for 28 yards. #Phil DesMarais# (So.-Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) had eight tackles to lead the Saints defensively.

The Saints will be back on the road next Saturday when they face Macalester College in a non-conference matchup. The kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.at Macalester Stadium.