The St. Joseph Knights and Templeton Eagles got down and dirty Friday night at St. Joseph's homecoming game at Al Maguire field.

In a battle for first place in the Los Padres League, the Knights and Eagles went toe-to-toe to see who would claim the top spot.

The Knights pulled out a hard-fought 17-13 victory over the LPL newcomers to run their record to a perfect 4-0 in the LPL and 5-2 overall.

“This was a great football game. No turnovers, few penalties (only two in the entire game and they were back-to-back, one 5-yarder on each team, on two consecutive plays in the first quarter), just a great game,” said St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman. “Templeton is not a team that beats themselves. You have to go out and beat them. I'm very, very proud of our kids.”

It was the Eagles' (2-2 LPL, 5-2 overall) first visit to Al Maguire Field and their first-ever game against the Knights since joining the CIF Southern Section and the LPL this year.

“This was a tough game, a physical game,” said Templeton coach Don Crow. “They're not undefeated in the league for nothing.”

Tailblack Thomas Sua led the Knights' attack, piling up 182 yards and one touchdown on the ground. St. Joseph quarterback Shawn Winters scored the other Knights TD on a 4-yard run. Kicker John Wood added a 35-yard field goal and two points-after to round out the Knights' scoring.

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“Sua is a second half runner. He just wears you down in the second half,” said Hartman. “He's a grinder. He gets most of his yards in the second half.” Sua gained 133 of his 182 yards in the second half.

Winters was 9-for-14 with one harmless interception - good for 101 yards through the air - in only his second start under center.

The Eagles were led by running backs Jimmy McCaffrey (58 yards on 14 carries) and Jake Romanelli (49 yards on 8 carries). Quarterback Jacob Fitzgerald completed 8-of-20 passes for 73 yards.

The defenses dominated for most of the game.

It was scoreless at halftime as neither team could mount much of an offensive threat.

Both teams had five offensive possessions in the first half. Templeton had a slight statistical edge - gaining 124 yards to St. Joe's 102 - but neither team could mount a sustained drive.

“These are two very good football team. These are two very good defenses. That's why it was nothing-nothing at the half,” said Hartman. “We challenged our kids to step it up in the second half and they responded, just as they have all year long.”

The Knights finally broke through on their first possession of the second half - but it took a phenomenal play from both Daniel Rudolph and John Wood to put the Knights on the board.

Getting good field position on their own 45 yard line, St. Joseph marched to the Templeton 17 before their drive stalled.

On came Wood to attempt a 35-yard field goal. The snap from center was high - so high that Rudolph, in only his second game as the holder, had to stand up and stretch as far as he could to haul the ball down. Rudolph somehow came up with the ball, got to the ground and put the ball in place for Wood's attempt. Wood, who was ready to try the kick, had to hold up and wait for Rudolph. When Rudolph got the ball down, Wood got his leg into it and got the ball high enough into the air to get over the crossbar and give St. Joseph a 3-0 lead.

“Daniel is in there because of Chase Sanders' illness,” said Hartman. Starting quarterback Sanders was lost for the season when he had to undergo cancer surgery two weeks ago. He has since begin chemotherapy and is expected to make a full recovery. “It's not always the big plays - the long touchdown runs - that win you games. Daniel's play and John's kick - that was the spark that got us going.

The play energized the Knights. Their defense forced Templeton into another three-and-out and St. Joseph was ready to seize control of the game.

Winters and Sua took over. They led St. Joseph to a 7-play, 74 yard drive that ended with Sua scoring on a 21 yard run. Wood's point after gave the Knights a 10-0 edge as the third quarter came to an end.

Templeton showed why they were fighting for first place in the league as the fourth quarter got underway.

Despite being pinned back at their own 2-yard line, the Eagles marched 98 yards on 9 plays - capped off by Ben Terry's 22 yard touchdown run - to get back into the game. Terry also kicked the point after to close the gap to 10-7.

But the Knights remained energized. They marched right back downfield - mixing runs from Sua, Winters and fullback Brandon Ancheta - to go 64 yards on 7 plays, capped off with Winters' 4 yard touchdown run and Wood's PAT to go up 17-7 with 2:53 to go in the game.

The Knights defense again shut down the Eagles but the Eagles' defense wasn't done yet. They held St. Joseph and - with 1:26 to go - blocked a St. Joseph punt at the 15 yard line. The ball bounced back toward the goal line where the Eagles' Sean McCaffrey scooped it up and fell into the endzone, cutting the Knights' lead to 17-13.

The point after failed. Rudolph then hauled in the on-side kick attempt giving the Knights the ball with 1:13 to go in the game and the Eagles with no time outs.

Winters' two kneel-downs sealed the victory for St. Joseph.

“St. Joseph is an excellent football team,” said Crow. “But I like out kids. They battle, they play hard. Moving into the Los Padres League is a huge step for us. We went 11-1 and made the CIF Central Division playoffs last year. Moving up to the LPL - well, it's like we have to face a playoff caliber team every week now.”

“Our defense did a spectacular job. Templeton is really good. This was a great win against an excellent team,” said Hartman.

Templeton comes back to Santa Maria next week when they visit Pioneer Valley on Friday night. St. Joseph has another week at home when Santa Ynez comes to Al Maguire Field next week. Both games kick off at 7:30 p.m.

Sports Editor Elliott Stern can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail at elliottstern@santamariatimes.com

Oct. 21, 2006