Colin Avery did just about everything for St. Croix Lutheran on Friday night, and that was enough to carry the Crusaders past St. Paul Johnson 39-20 at Harding High School.
“It was great to get out there and run the ball like that,” said Avery, a senior running back who rushed for four touchdowns and caught another as his team improved to 2-0.
“Our blockers were blocking. Everything was clicking.”
That allowed Avery to get on a roll from the get-go, scoring on a 26-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening drive.
Johnson answered right back when senior Justice Moody caught a short pass on the second play of his team’s first possession and evaded a host of tacklers en route to the end zone on a 51-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the score 7-6.
The Governors (1-1) caught a break when they recovered a fumble at their own 9-yard line. Two plays later, however, Johnson senior quarterback Ali Farfan was tackled in the end zone for a safety and St. Croix Lutheran extended its margin to 9-6.
Then, the Avery show really began.
He scored on touchdown runs of 6 and 16 yards to expand his team’s lead to 23-6. Then, after the Crusaders forced a Governors’ punt with just 21 seconds to go before halftime, Avery made an impressive grab on a pass from senior teammate Villiam Andersen and somehow kept his balance, staying on his feet to complete a 42-yard scoring strike.
That put St. Croix Lutheran on top 30-6. Avery finished the first half with 15 carries for 130 yards and three touchdowns and the one catch for 42 yards — compiling 172 total yards of offense.
“He’s dynamic,” Crusaders coach Adam Frey said. “We’re looking at different ways to use him — out of the backfield, at a receiver spot, as a return guy.
“He’s a special player. He can do a lot of things that other players can’t.”
But a renewed aerial attack, and a pair of Crusaders’ fumbles, helped Johnson climb back into the game in the third quarter.
The Governors advanced to the Crusaders’ 11 on the opening drive of the second half but turned the ball over on downs.
However, St. Croix Lutheran fumbled the ball away at their own 27, setting up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Farfan to senior Jacoby Wiggins. The ensuing 2-point conversion cut the gap to 30-14.
After recovering another fumble at their own 37, Johnson trimmed the lead to 30-20 on a 12-yard touchdown catch by junior Dea’majeon Henderson-Moore.
“We regrouped at halftime,” said Governors coach Richard Magembe, whose team was playing at Harding because work on new stands and lights at Johnson is not yet finished.
“We know we have great skill players,” he said. “We just had to tap into it and get a sense of urgency going. We gave it our best shot to try and rally, but unfortunately it came a little too late and we weren’t able to pull it out in the end.”
Indeed, a 5-yard touchdown by Avery with 6:41 to play and another safety helped the Crusaders put the game out of reach.
“We’re ready to fight,” Avery said of his team. “We’re ready to keep pushing. There’s a lot more season to go.”
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