The Saint Patrick Shamrocks moved to 7-1 on the season with a thrilling 37-7 dismantling of the Roadrunners of Nazareth Academy. Tom Barrett was nearly perfect at quarterback for the Shamrocks. Barrett completed 13 of 15 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown. The Shamrock defense held the Roadrunners to 176 yards of offense, 78 of which came on one their only scoring play, on 54 plays. Saint Patrick scored on their first four possessions, including three touchdowns in the second quarter, to pull away to a 27-7 lead at the half.

Nazareth got the ball to start the game. The Roadrunners drove 21 yards on seven plays before having to punt. Saint Patrick took over at their own 29. Four plays later, the Shamrocks had 1st and goal at the Roadrunners’ 10-yard line, courtesy of a 42-yard run by fullback Kevin Golden. Saint Patrick wasn’t able to put the ball in the end zone, settling for a 23-yard field goal by Chris Gasiorek.

Following the kickoff, Nazareth drove 32 yards before being forced to punt again. This time the Shamrocks drove 82 yards in nine plays, with the big play being a 47-yard pass from Barrett to Joey Walker. Mark Dietz finished the drive, pounding the ball in from two yards out to give Saint Patrick a 10-0 lead.

A rare miscue by the Shamrock secondary allowed Nazareth to get on the scoreboard, as a blown coverage resulted in a 78-yard touchdown pass from Pete Zavagnin to Matt Schiffler at the 7:23 mark of the 2nd quarter. Saint Patrick wasted no time getting those points back. Mike Lupa returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Shamrock 42, and Barrett led a 5-play, 58-yard scoring drive, capped by a 19-yard Barrett to Matt O’Brien touchdown pass with five minutes to go before halftime.

Nose tackle Mike Bertini forced a Nazareth fumble on their next play from scrimmage, and the Shamrocks took over at their own 49. On their first play following the turnover, Saint Patrick dipped into their bag of tricks, as George Hickey took a handoff on a reverse, pulled up and delivered a strike to Nick Infante on the option pass. Infante took it into the end zone, and the Shamrocks were up 24-7 with 4:25 left in the 2nd quarter. Neither team scored again in the first half.

The third quarter saw Saint Patrick lose the ball on fumbles in both of their first two possessions, only to regain the ball on Joe Nee interceptions. Following Nee’s second interception, the Shamrocks took advantage of their outstanding field position, driving 45 yards on nine plays, with Brian Felke scoring on a four-yard run to make it 30-7 with 2:37 to go in the third quarter. The Shamrocks iced the game with a late special teams touchdown. Felke blocked a Roadrunner punt, and Joel Rivera scooped it up and ran it in from the 12 to close out the scoring at 37-7 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Offensively the Shamrocks gained 473 yards on 49 plays, rushing for 188 on 32 carries, and throwing for 285 yards as a team. Saint Patrick really spread the wealth as seven different Shamrocks rushed for positive yardage, lead by Golden (5 attempts, 66 yards), Dietz (9 attempts, 58 yards), Mike Lupa (5 attempts, 39 yards), and Felke (6 attempts, 38 yards). The Shamrocks really spread the ball around in the passing game as nine different receivers caught passes, with Hickey (3 receptions, 46 yards and O’Brien (2 catches, 77 yards) leading the pack.

Defensively, Nee made five tackles and picked off two passes, and Brian Risa tallied five tackles. Joe Burgess, Brandon Kreczmer, Brian Rategan, Paul Lombardi and Matt Labek all recorded sacks, and Jason Genova broke up three Roadrunner passes.