St. Mary was handed a two-point defeat in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against Elgin/Pope John on Friday. The St. Mary's Cardinals simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Elgin/Pope John Wolfpack 68-28 on the road. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Cardinals as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Gage Hedstrom was his usual excellent self, rushing for 140 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries, while also throwing for 136 yards and three touchdowns on only eight passes. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 119 rushing yards dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Ben Barlow, who picked up 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
St. Mary's didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Barlow and Hedstrom. Barlow is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, St. Mary's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 224 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 156 rushing yards in six consecutive games.
Elgin/Pope John's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Grady Drueke, who rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
The win got St. Mary's back to even at 3-3. As for Elgin/Pope John, this is the second loss in a row for them and also nudges their season record down to 3-3.
St. Mary's will be playing in front of their home fans against North Central at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Mary's knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past six contests -- so hopefully North Central likes a good challenge. As for Elgin/Pope John, they will venture away from home to square off against Neligh-Oakdale at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Elgin/Pope John is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 40.3 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
