With a playoff game on the line, St. Peter rose to the challenge on Saturday. They took down the Moore Catholic Mavericks 42-28. For the Eagles, this counts as revenge for the 32-22 win the Mavericks walked away with the last time they faced one another back in October of 2023.
Marco Aruta was his usual excellent self, picking up 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 83 yards and two touchdowns. He really caught the secondary sleeping when he pulled down a catch that went for 80 yards. Another player making a difference was Jeremiah Williams, who rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown.
St. Peter's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 213 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 160 rushing yards in seven consecutive contests.
St. Peter's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB four times. Moore Catholic's QB won't forget Angelo Negrette anytime soon given he sacked him twice.
Despite the loss, Moore Catholic still got an impressive performance from Jayden Melendez, who picked up 71 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 48 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance also gave Melendez a new career-high in rushing yards (18). Thomas Zeh was another key player, throwing for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
St. Peter's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 38.8 points per game. As for Moore Catholic, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-6.
St. Peter's will square off against St. Joseph-by-the-Sea at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. St. Joseph-by-the-Sea will roll in looking for their eighth straight win, something St. Peter's surely won't give up without a fight. Moore Catholic does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
