If Jeremiah Moore was nervous, getting his first varsity start, It didn't show. When the 5'9", 182 pound running back rumbled around the right end for the game's first score, he looked every bit the poised veteran. His 12 yard strike sparked a big first half by Saint Mark's, that the Red Wolves were never able to fully recover from. The sophomore from Maryland would go on to rush for 149 yards, and three touchdowns. Though the young man, who played his youth ball with the Cherry Hill Cougars, did admit to some pregame jitters, his motivation was drawn from something personal. When asked if he expected to have a big night, Jeremiah replied: "No, but I was hoping to have a good game. A year ago I lost my Grandmother and I was playing this game in her honor." It would have been difficult enough containing Crystal Moore's inspired grandson, but as a team, the Spartans were more than Conrad could handle.
The Red Wolves started strong and played hard throughout the contest, but from the outset things didn't go their way. A fumble on their opening drive, recovered by Ben Anderson, set up Jeremiah Moore's first score to put Saint Mark's up 7 - 0, 2:52 into the game. After the defense held Conrad on the following drive the Spartans would double their lead, with Moore going 51 yards to pay dirt. The game would settle down, with both offenses finding some success, until Saint Mark's took command of the contest 7:36 into the second quarter. Blaec Sanders, who had contributed on both the Spartan's earlier drives, with 27 and 19 yard receptions, hauled in a 15 yard Jack LaFrankie pass and danced his way to the end zone. LaFrankie would push the lead to 28 - 0 with 22 seconds left in the half. After a Christian Colmery interception at midfield, LaFrankie connected with Patrick Palm on 4th down to keep the drive alive, and finished it himself, with a 1 yard plunge. Feeling the game slip away, the Red Wolves got aggressive and were rewarded, with Stephen Allen hitting Ja' Teir Berkley-Osborne with a 57 yard strike, three seconds before intermission.
"The thing that we saw from Conrad was their players play hard. We knew that they were going to come at us for 4 quarters." - Joe Wright
The Spartans seemed to draw more inspiration than the Red Wolves from Conrad's late score. When play resumed Saint Mark's took over the contest, running the ball, and chewing up clock. Jeremiah Moore would round out the scoring with his third touchdown of the night, on a 5 yard run. While Moore got the spotlight, the victory was a total team effort. Zion Glover helped fuel the ground game with 102 yards. Jack LaFrankie, making his debut, went 8 of 13 for 138 yards and a touchdown, Blaec Sanders caught 5 of those passes for 85 yards and a score. The line played well, paving the way to 281 yards on the ground. Patrick Palm and Christain Colmery both made key plays on both sides of the ball. The defense, led by Jack Palmer, Wayne Shannon, and Nick Muzzi, kept the Red Wolves bottled up, with the exception of their lone score. Special teams were solid, with kicker Brandon Keen making four of five extra point attempts in his first start. More telling than their stats though, was the unity the team played with, and support they afforded each other.
Leading up to the opener Joe Wright had Don Burawski, Saint Mark's first coach, stop by practice and speak to the team on what it means to be part of the school, the program, and the football family. Burawski's wisdom was reflected in Captain Patrick Palm's response when asked if he was pleased with how the group is coming together, and the chemistry the team is forming. “I could not be happier with how the team is coming together this year. The chemistry with the upperclassmen has been there since we were in our underclassmen years, and this year’s underclassmen have worked hard to quickly become a part of the tight-knit family that is St. Mark’s football. Everyone on the team knows that when one of us fails, we all fail, and when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. This is a team where every one of your teammates has your back, on and off the field.” With new players joining the squad, and inexperienced players stepping into bigger roles, how a group plays as a unit is as equally important as the chemistry they form.
"Everyone on the team knows that when one of us fails, we all fail, and when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. This is a team where every one of your teammates has your back, on and off the field.” — Patrick Palm
When asked his concerns prior to facing the Red Wolves, and how the team responded, Coach Wright replied: “It is hard to gauge the teams based off their scrimmages. Sometimes teams do not show everything in those scrimmages and other times you can’t tell who is who because of the practice jerseys., but the thing that we saw from Conrad was their players play hard. We knew that they were going to come at us for 4 quarters. They have a really good WR that when he had an opportunity, had some big plays for them. Fortunately, we were able to keep him in check for most of the game. I think the big take away from the game was that we got better as a team compared to our last scrimmage. We played as one team and were able to cause some havoc on the defensive side and capitalize on the offensive side.” The Spartans weren't perfect, nor were they facing a daunting opponent, but for an opener, with a team still finding its way, they aced the exam.
All Game Ball photos courtesy of Richard Christians.