The Siena Heights Football Team won their third game in a row and opened up MSFA Mideast play with a strong 30-0 win over Missouri Baptist.
After deferring the opening kickoff, the Saints defense was tested early when the Spartans started with the ball near midfield. A 12 play drive which took up over five minutes of time took the ball to the Saints two yard line. With a first and goal from the two, the Spartans tried to pound the ball into the end zone. A first down run inched them closer, however, Malik Edwards and E.J. Shaah stopped them prior to getting to the end zone. On second down, the Saints defense gained that yard back when Zachary Flack and Edwards stuffed the run up the middle. Third down produced another yard for Missouri Baptist, but came up short when Jarrad Whited and Nick Stalworth stopped the runner short of the goal line. With a huge fourth and goal from the one looming, the Spartans went for the touch down only to see Edwards come up big with the stuff for a one yard loss to allow the Saints to take over on their own two yard line. That stand set the tone for the rest of the game from the Saints defense.
After taking over in the shadows of their own endzone, a 12 play, 80 yard drive took the ball all the way down to the Missouri Baptist 18 yard line where Brady Tanguay stepped up and knocked in a 35 yard field goal to open the scoring with 5:27 left in the first half. The Saints defense took off and sent the Spartans offense right back off the field with a four yard loss three and out series. When the ball came back to the Saints they moved it 24 yards over just under two minutes and Tanguay once again stepped onto the field. This time Tanguay connected with a school record 43 yard field goal to provide the Saints a 6-0 lead going into the second quarter.
After a Spartan punt early in the second quarter, the Saints took over at their own 19 yard line. A 13 play drive taking over five minutes off the clock came down to a fourth and three from the Spartan seven yard line. Lucas Barner Jr. dropped back and lofted a pass into the corner of the end zone finding the hands of Deontae' Rush for a seven yard touchdown. The teams went on to trade three punts back and forth with the Saints receiving the ball back with 1:24 remaining in the first half. Starting on their own 46, the Saints marched down the field with three passes from Barner Jr. to D'aries Davis for 12, 10, and 6 yards respectively prior to a 7 yard connection between Barner Jr. and Braelen Bader. With the ball on the 19, Barner Jr. pulled the next one down and took off running, gaining 12 yards and scampering out of bounds. From there Davis took over on the next play driving the ball into the endzone with a 7 yard run capping off a 54 yard drive. Tanguay notched his second PAT of the quarter to give the Saints a 20-0 lead heading into the half time break.
The second half saw the Saints receive the opening kick and drive the ball 48 yards over seven plays. Once again Tanguay stepped up and after the teams traded a couple of 5-yard penalties back and forth, he sent the ball through the uprights for a 38 yard field goal. After forcing another three and out, the Saints got the ball back at their own 20 yard line. An eight play, 80 yard drive ensued, chewing up another 4:14 off the clock. This drive was capped off by another Davis touchdown, this time a 10 yard scamper followed by a Tanguay PAT. From there, Missouri Baptist was unable to generate any momentum on the offensive front moving the ball only as close as the Saints 38 yard line the rest of the game. The Spartans has one last ditch effort to gain momentum and put some points on the board when they went for it on a 4th and 5 from the Saints 43 only to see the pass fall incomplete.
For the game, the Saints had 22 first downs compared to the Spartans 16. Offensively the Saints had 419 total yards while allowing only 206. The Saints had 252 yards rushing and 167 yards passing compared to 84 yards passing and 122 yards rushing for the Spartans. The Saints defense was at their best on third and fourth down, allowing the Spartans to convert only one third down of their 14 opportunities, and allowing only one of three fourth down attempts to be successful. The Spartans were forced to punt nine times on the afternoon while being sacked three times and having a total of nine tackles for a loss.
Davis had an exceptional afternoon carrying the ball for 194 yard, only two yards shy of the Saints single game record, in 22 carries with two touchdowns. Davis had a long of 42 yards and set a single game record for the Saints with an average of 8.8 yards per carry, breaking his own previous record of 7.2 yards per carry in a game against St. Xavier in 2015. Davis also notched a total of 222 All-Purpose Yards which tops the single game mark for the Saints previously held by Raphael Dunson against Marian in 2014 with an All-Purpose total of 213. With his afternoon, Davis eclipses the 1,000 yard mark for his career. He now stands in second place on the all-time rushing list with 1,064 yards. Davis also moves into a tie for first in career rushing touchdowns with ten. Davis' total rushing yards for the season now stands at 451, good for the 5th highest single season mark in Saints history, only 157 yards behind the single season mark of 608.
Offensively, Dahvon Washington added 42 yards rushing while Barner Jr. ended the game throwing for 167 yards, completing 20 of 29 passes with one touchdown. Adam Glanders led the Saints with 48 yards receiving followed by Damon Wright Jr with 38 yards and Rush with 34 yards. Davis added 28 yards receiving as well. As a team, the Saints topped their previous single game record for average yards per rush, gaining a total of 6.3 yards per rush on the afternoon, topping the previous mark of 6.0 yards per rush against Waldorf in 2013.
The special teams had a strong afternoon as well. As previously mentioned, Tanguay set a school record for the longest field goal with his 43 yard boot. He topped the previous mark of 41 which he and Victor Brodie held. His 38 yard boot is good for the 4th longest field goal in school history, while his 35 yard kick is good for a tie for the 5th longest kick in school history. Aaron Wagner was the holder for the Saints for Tanguays kicks, however, his afternoon was strong with his own kicks as well. Wagner punted the ball six times with an average kick of 46.3, good for the highest average in school history, topping his own previous mark of 44.7 set just two weeks ago. Wagner had a long punt of 57 yards, good for the 4th best in school history as well.
On the defensive front, the Saints had a stifling defense, allowing just 206 yards and only 16 first downs. The defense had three sacks and nine tackles for loss. Edwards led the Saints with a total of eight tackles, three solo stops and five assisted stops. He had 1.5 sacks for three yards lost and a total of two tackles for loss accouting for four yards. Stalworth added eight tackles, one solo tackle and seven assisted tackles. Griffen Sobol added seven tackles, one solo stop and six assisted stops. Darius Price had a team high five solo tackles while Tyaire Bragg had 1.5 tackles for loss accouting for seven yards lost.
With the win, the Saints build their winning streak to three. They are now sitting at 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in the MSFA Mideast Division. They will return to action on Saturday October 7th when they travel to Taylor University for a 1 pm kickoff. They will be back home on Saturday October 14th for their final home game of the season, homecoming weekend when they play host to the defending national champion, and current #1 ranked St. Francis (Ind.) Cougars. Kickoff will be at 7 pm on Saturday night the 14th.
