St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin has a good problem moving forward.
This week, the Crusaders made the long road trip to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, to play Sacred Heart Academy and came away with a dominating 46-0 win.
The Crusaders scored on their opening drive and led 7-0 after the first quarter, before stretching the advantage to 25 heading into halftime.
They continued to control the game on both sides of the ball after the break, widening the gap to 39 before the end of the third quarter, at which stage the game had gone to a running clock.
With the win, which was the school’s first shutout since beating Eureka 28-0 last October, the Crusaders improved to 3-0 on the season.
SB quarterback Trenten Hagler had a monster night in the win, accounting for four of his team’s six TDs.
Hagler threw for three of them and ran in for another, as he continues to put a shaky start to the season — when he threw four interceptions against St. Vincent de Paul — firmly in the rear view mirror.
And with fellow senior Braylon Johnson also impressing at quarterback in Saturday’s dominating win over Heritage, it appears as if Tomlin and the Crusaders have two excellent options at the position this fall.
After the Heritage win, Tomlin said he would start Hagler and Johnson on back-to-back weekends before making a decision ahead of league play.
And on Thursday, Hagler made a strong case to get the start in the more important games later in the campaign.
St. Bernard’s started strong, opening up a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the night, when Hagler connected with senior receiver Garrett Shanahan on a TD pass.
Neither team was able to get much going on offense for the remainder of the opening quarter, but the visitors would add to their tally early in the second quarter when Hagler ran in to the end zone from 16 yards out.
A two-part conversion would put SB up 15-0.
The SB defense was just as impressive and held the home team to no more than one first down on any drive until late in the game.
The Crusaders continued to cause problems for their hosts on offense and added two more scores before the break.
The first came on a 60-yard TD pass from Mason Long to a wide-open Henry Hinrichs midway through the quarter, a score that made it 22-0, and the second on a 35-yard Cal Figas field goal in the final minute of the half.
Hagler would throw for two more touchdowns in the third quarter, the first to Braedon Simpson and the second to Figas, each of whom also are emerging as big-time playmakers for the Crusaders early in the season.
In addition to his field goal, Figas also made good on all five of his PATs.
Long, another player who is enjoying a good start to the season, would close out the scoring on a 70-yard TD run in the fourth.
The Crusaders also welcomed back influential senior lineman Josh Tinkham, who had missed the Heritage game through injury.
It was another good all-around performance for both SB lines.
Next up, the Crusaders will travel to play Hoopa next Thursday night.
