Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – St. Bernard’s senior cornerback Kris Tinkham pulls in an interception in the end zone during Saturday’s game against Biggs.

By Ray Hamill — It was far from pretty, but it was the sort of performance that a team can learn from.

On Saturday afternoon, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders overcame a mistake-filled afternoon and pulled out a 20-14 win over Biggs at Crusader Field.

The game went down to the final few minutes after the visitors managed to pull back within a score on a tipped pass that receiver Solomon Melendez took 76 yards to the end with just under three minutes remaining.

The home team, however, was able to hold on down the stretch and improved to 3-0.

“I’m not going to leave this game extremely happy with the performance,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “We just didn’t play very good.”

Matching up against an option team caused problems for the SB defense, but Tomlin believes his players can use this as a learning experience.

“We had a lot of blown assignments in the option game, but it gives us a chance to learn,” said Tomlin, whose team has upcoming games against a pair of option teams, Ferndale (Sept. 28) and Fortuna (Nov. 1). 

Despite the mistakes, which also included throwing three interceptions in the first half, there were some bright spots for the team.

Most notably the play of inside linebacker Ethan Hagler and defensive end Kohlton Hall.

Hagler was playing in his first game of the season after returning to the lineup from injury and his presence was immediately notable.

The standout senior finished with 12 tackles.

“Very impressive,” Tomlin said of Hagler’s performance. “He just really led our defense. I was super happy to have him back.”

Hall was equally influential and made several big plays in the second half to help his team hold onto a slender one-point lead.

Even more remarkable is the fact Hall is a back-up who only saw a lot of game time because of injuries elsewhere in the team.

Check some game highlights above …

“Kohlton Hall, I thought, won the game for us in the fourth quarter,” Tomlin said of the junior. “He played so well, he’s earned a starting job.”

The two defensive standouts weren’t the only Crusaders to impress.

On the offensive side of the ball, senior running back Luis Malko-Allen continued to run the ball hard and scored two of his team’s three touchdowns.

“I was super happy with Luis Malko-Allen,” the head coach said.

Malko-Allen opened the scoring for the team in the first half on a 17-yard TD reception from quarterback Seth Brunton.

Just one point separated the two schools at the break and neither was able to add to its tally in the third quarter.

Sophomore Treten Hagler took over at quarterback for the second half after Brunton threw three interceptions and he gave the Crusaders a different element running the ball.

The younger brother of Ethan added to the home team’s lead on a two-yard TD run with 8:31 remaining.

That play was set up on a spectacular individual effort by sophomore receiver Garrett Shanahan, who was stopped just short of the goal line after a long reception.

After taking over possession again on downs on Biggs’ ensuing drive, Malko-Allen would add to the Crusaders’ tally with his second TD of the day just two plays later, this time finding the end zone on a 20-yard run.

With four minutes remaining in the game, it appeared as if the Crusaders had done enough to secure the win.

However, the visitors would make things interesting when quarterback Skyler Long connected with Melendez on the long scoring TD and a two-point conversion pull them within six.

But with Trenten Hagler and Malko-Allen continuing to run the ball effectively down the stretch, the Crusaders got two game-clinching first downs and held on for the victory.

Senior cornerback Kris Tinkham also had a pivotal play early in the second half, pulling down an interception in the end zone just as the Wolverines appeared as if they were about to take the lead.

Next up, the Crusaders will play at Clear Lake next week before returning home to face Ferndale the following week.

With Saturday’s loss, the Wolverines dropped to 1-1 on the season.