Head rushes for 218 yards, five touchdowns

Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 21, 2002

[09/21/02]Michael Head had one of the greatest halves of football in St. Aloysius history, and the Flashes cruised to another easy win Friday night against Stringer.

Head ran for 205 yards and five touchdowns in the first half and 180 yards and four TDs in the first quarter alone before finishing with 218 yards on 18 carries to lead the Flashes (4-0, 2-0 Region 4-1A) to a 49-6 homecoming win.

“I’ve probably been involved in something like that, but this was totally, completely unexpected,” St. Al coach Jim Taylor said. “We had guys that were running the ball, guys that were blocking, and the momentum got on our side.”

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It didn’t take long for the Flashes to get the freight train rolling.

Head took a handoff on a sweep off the right side and broke through the Stringer defense for a 64-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. After a Stringer punt, the Flashes drove 65 yards in six plays and made it 14-0 on Head’s 13-yard run another sweep off the right side.

Nearly all of Head’s yards came on the play as Stringer (0-3, 0-2) was unable to even slow it down.

“We just couldn’t stop it,” Stringer coach Jaymar Jackson said. “They were just coming off the ball real well.”

Head’s onslaught was just getting started, however.

After Stringer went three-and-out on its next possession, Head capped a quick six-play drive with a 29-yard touchdown run. For variety’s sake, it went off the left side, but the Flashes got back to basics on their next drive.

One play after Stringer fumbled the ball away, Head went back off the right side of the line for a 19-yard score on the final play of the quarter to give St. Al a 28-0 lead.

Head added his fifth touchdown in the second quarter, a 20-yard run with 3:08 to play, Greg Smith added a 5-yard TD run, and Michael Engle returned a punt 50 yards for a score as the Flashes built a 49-0 halftime lead.

Smith finished with 102 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries.

“I certainly did not expect to score 49 points in the first half,” Taylor said. “When I looked up, I thought when the first quarter was over that it was halftime.”

Stringer converted a St. Al turnover into a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, but never came close to driving on the Flashes.

Stringer was held to just 57 yards of total offense in the first half, and managed 163 for the game. Tailback Tipston Garner led Stringer with 79 yards on nine carries, but 48 of his yards came on one run in the third quarter.

“I thought we matched up well, but they executed and execution outdoes matching up well,” Jackson said.