Crusaders answer the call, top Division-1 Heritage with much cleaner performance

By Ray Hamill — The Crusaders seem to have learned from their mistakes.

One week after turning the ball over six times against St. Vincent de Paul in the team’s season opener,  St. Bernard’s played a much cleaner game against Heritage on Saturday and the difference was immediately noticeable.

Instead of coughing up possession on their first three possessions of each half, like they did last week, the host Crusaders scored touchdowns on their opening two possessions of the first half and on their first three possessions of the second half, handing the Division-1 Patriots their first loss of the season, 35-18.

There was little to fault about the performance from head coach Matt Tomlin’s players, who played hard all afternoon, took care of the ball and made the plays they needed to make on both sides of the ball.

“Much cleaner,” Tomlin said of the performance. “It was just a much better performance and for a lot of reasons. We just played well as a team.”

And they did so without influential senior lineman Josh Tinkham, whom Tomlin has described as the best lineman in the county, after he was pulled from the starting lineup during warm-ups because of an injury he picked up this week.

In his place, the Crusaders called up sophomore Hudsen Chase to fill in at center, and the youngster had an impressive debut.

“He came up and he played outstanding at center,” Tomlin said. “The line really blocked well today.”

Senior Braylon Johnson also made his first varsity start at quarterback and enjoyed a good day directing the offense.

Johnson threw first-half TD passes to receivers Braedon Simpson and Garrett Shanahan, while the versatile Trenten Hagler ran for a pair of second-half touchdowns, before sophomore Jack Omey broke free for a long 45-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter to put the home team up 23 points and end the game as a contest.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the performance was the way the players responded to last week’s error-filled game and the manner in which they answered every time the Patriots began to gain a foothold.

Check out our video highlights of all five St.Bernard’s touchdowns above …

The Crusaders took the opening kickoff and methodically drove 73 yards on 12 plays, with Johnson connecting with Simpson for a 10-yard TD.

After the SB defense forced a quick punt, the home team went back to work on offense and drove 73 yards on nine plays, with Johnson finding Shanahan for his second TD pass of the half, this one from 15 yards out.

“I thought our quarterback Braylon Johnson, for his first start, was very good,” Tomlin said. “He was very composed and he threw the ball very accurate. He had two very nice touchdown passes and he took care of the football.”

Johnson got the start ahead of Hagler, but the latter also had a big impact in the win while playing running back, receiver, corner and some quarterback in short-yardage situations.

“He’s a team captain and he handled the news at quarterback really well this week,” Tomlin said of the senior, who had several big tackles on defense in addition to his two TD runs. “We’re not going to win without Trenten Hagler.”

Moving forward, Johnson and Hagler will get a start each at quarterback over the next two games, before Tomlin and his staff make a decision for league play later in the year.

“I thought both quarterbacks really complemented each other,” the SB coach added. “We have two very good senior quarterbacks.”

 A Zach Bunke fumble recovery on the very first play from scrimmage in the third quarter gave the Crusaders great field position, and they would take advantage, quickly marching 16 yards on five plays and finding the end zone on a one-yard Hagler run to stretch the advantage to 21.

But the visitors would grow into the game and matched the Crusaders stride for stride for much of the second half, answering with a touchdown each time SB scored.

The fans in attendance were treated to six consecutive drives that resulted in touchdowns.

With Tinkham missing on defense, his teammate and defensive line partner Teqkauri Achane stepped up to fill the void.

“Heritage is a very good team,” Tomlin said. “They’re a physical team and we out-physicaled them today, and I thought that started with Teqkauri Achane.

“His play on defense was really key.”

Simpson also had two sacks from his defensive end position in addition to his touchdown on offense.

“He really had a strong game for us today,” Tomlin said of the senior standout.

Cal Figas also nailed all five of his PATs for SB.

The Crusaders will have a quick turnaround, flying out of Humboldt County on Tuesday to Michigan where they will play Sacred Heart Academy on Thursday before going to see the Notre Dame/Michigan State game next weekend.