Flashes have much work to do after loss to Saints

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 9, 2003

[9/8/03]Nothing went right for St. Aloysius Friday night against St. Andrew’s.

Passes were overthrown and dropped, tackles were missed, and mental mistakes were made. So much went wrong, in fact, that it was hard for the Flashes to put aside the embarrassing 26-6 loss as just a bad night.

“It wasn’t a bad night. We played like we practiced,” St. Al coach Jim Taylor said. “We just didn’t play. We didn’t execute in any phase of the game, from alignment to whatever. We don’t have anything to complain about. We have to point the finger at our own selves.”

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The Flashes committed four turnovers in the game, but the most glaring errors came on the defensive side of the ball.

St. Andrew’s had six plays go for 25 yards or more two of which went for touchdowns of more than 50 yards and a 29-yard interception return to set up a short touchdown run.

The Saints gained 260 of their 391 total yards on the ground. Running backs Bradford Blackmon and Alex Bondurant each had more than 100 rushing yards and a touchdown. Most of the yardage came on basic plays, such as the fullback dive.

Bondurant broke one dive play for his 50-yard score in the first quarter, and the Saints hammered the Flashes with the play all night.

“They had good line splits. They were blocking us off the ball, one-on-one, double-teaming in spots, and our linebackers had a terrible night,” Taylor said. “I can’t brag on us in hardly any phase of the game. We knew coming in from looking at the film that they run basic stuff.”

The second quarter was a nightmare for the Flashes. After St. Al quarterback Drew Mazzanti hit Anthony Rector for a 72-yard touchdown to tie the game at 6-6, Robert Rives found William Craig for a 52-yard TD pass with 9:30 to play in the half that put St. Andrew’s ahead 12-6.

An interception by Saints safety Drew Hyatt set up Blackmon’s 1-yard TD run two minutes later, giving St. Andrew’s a 19-6 lead. Only a pair of mistakes by St. Andrew’s kept the game from being over by halftime. Late in the quarter, Conway Craig dropped a deep pass down the left side.

Then, in the closing seconds of the half, the Saints drove to the St. Al 44-yard line before stalling. St. Andrew’s lined up to punt with about 10 seconds to play, but ran a fake with a direct snap to Bondurant. He ran for a TD, but it was negated because of an illegal block.

The Flashes had their regular defense on the field for the punt, or at least part of it. Out of timeouts and in full confusion, they only had seven men on the field.

“We started off slow, and by the time we picked it up, the score was too high,” Mazzanti said. “Nothing went right tonight.”