Salesianum football Aiden Lego breaks a big run in their win over Smyrna. Photo by Donnell Henriquez
The top-ranked Salesianum Sals defeated Smyrna 29-0 Friday night behind a dominant display on both sides of the ball. Head coach Gene Delle Donne and Defensive coordinator (Paul Worrilow) received an excellent effort from the “D” as the Sals kept the Eagles from scoring for the first time in Mike Judy’s tenure as head coach. The last time Smyrna failed to score points in a game was 2013, the year before Judy took over the program.
Salesianum came out firing as Brady McBride connected with Noah Micks in stride for a 49-yard gain on the opening play of the game. However, Smyrna held the Sals to a 32-yard field goal try that was wide left. The game remained scoreless until McBride threw a 14-yard strike to Jasir Gaymon. Following two offside penalties, the conversion run was good and Salesianum had an 8-0 lead late in the first quarter.
On the Eagles ensuing possession, Jay Burrell picked up a fumble and sprinted 55 yards to give the Sals a 15-0 lead. That’s how the first half ended. It was a penalty-plagued half as the two teams combined for 17 infractions totaling 132 yards. Smyrna’s best chance at a score came in the second quarter when they reached the Sals seven. The Eagles were unable to gain additional yardage and turned over the ball on downs at the 10.
Salesianum went to the “wildcat” formation to start the third quarter and put together a 9-play scoring drive entirely on the ground. The drive culminated with a 2-yard touchdown by Odell Teel. With a 22-0 advantage, the Sals took advantage of their offensive line and ran the ball 25 times in the game’s final two quarters. Teel carried the ball 14 times for 80 yards while fellow running back Aiden Lego added 127 yards on 18 attempts and was named our Player-of-the-Game. In his post-game interview Lego gave the credit to the guys up front, “my O-line was terrific, and I give all the credit to them.” “This (Smyrna) is always a tough atmosphere to play in. It got chippy out there, but we’ll fix it.” Lego was referring to the number of personal fouls and unsportsmanlike penalties. The Sals were flagged 18 times for 180 yards including nine major “dead ball” infractions. That total was more yardage than Smyrna gained offensively. The Eagles were held to 147 yards and were forced to punt 6 times.
Salesianum’s front line of Cam Black, Brady Smith, Luke Guzevich, Anthony Spennato, and August Schweiger protected McBride, allowing just one sack and were instrumental in the Sals run-game totaling 224 yards.
Top-ranked Sallies (2-0) has a “bye week” coming up and will return to Abessinio on the 20th to face Malvern Prep. Smyrna (0-2) hosts DMA next week for what is believed to be the first ever matchup of the two programs.
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