St. Francis football holds on for overtime win

The St. Francis High football team began the season last week by pulling out a close two-point victory at home.

The Golden Knights looked to create a little more breathing room in their second game, a nonleague contest Friday evening on the road at Damien.

However, St. Francis found itself in another tight contest, leading by one point after three quarters and falling behind my seven late. Things remained deadlocked after four quarters, as the teams were forced to go to overtime.

Bryson Reeves caught a 25-yard pass from quarterback Jack Clougherty to give St. Francis a 28-21 overtime victory.

After a scoreless first quarter, St. Francis got on the board in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Clougherty.

The teams went in at halftime with the score tied at 7.

Clougherty completed 14 out of 25 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. Reeves caught five passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner.

The St. Francis (2-0) defense was led by Devan Bell, who recorded an interception in the first quarter and a sack. Max Garrison recovered a Damien fumble to seal the victory in overtime.

“We had a rough start early on but we made some adjustments at halftime. The run game definitely opened things up for the passing game in the second half,” Clougherty said.

Damien (1-2) was led by freshman quarterback Dylan Gutierrez, who threw for 84 yards and one touchdown on 10-of-18 passing. Gutierrez carried 10 times for 129 yards. Jacob Leazenby carried 21 times for 126 yards and one touchdown.

Tanner Tomko caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Clougherty early In the third quarter and Garrison carried the workload for the Golden Knights on the ground with 20 carries for 101 yards.

Garrison was subbing for Kevin Armstead.

St Francis drove to the 17-yard line with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. Jake Smith missed a 34-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

“It was our first bus trip, so it took us awhile to start to handle things,” St. Francis coach Jim Bonds said. “Early on we were off-balance and out of sync. The drive to open up the second half got us going after we challenged them at halftime. We were fortunate to get out with a win.”

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