St. Paul’s efficient in all phases in regional playoff win over Tioga

When you play physical football on both sides of the ball, have a good kicking game and play error-free, good things are certain to result.

St. Paul’s was excellent in all three phases and got the result Friday night.

The No. 7 Wolves started slowly but finished with a flourish, whipping No. 10 Tioga 38-14 in the Select Division I regional round playoffs Friday night at Hunter Stadium.

On The Three Tailgaters Show on NASH ICON 106.1 FM Saturday morning, St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears talked about how well his team played.

“They got off the bus ready to play,” Sears said. “It’s playoff football. Our defense tightened up in the second half. Our coaches made adjustments. Our offense was solid throughout. Our kicking game has been there throughout. It was a good night for us.”

St. Paul’s was outstanding offensively, scoring on its first six possessions. Its seventh possession was one where the Wolves ran out the clock.

Cody Corales rushed 15 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns while Troy Willis had 17 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown as the Wolves controlled play up front, rushing for 252 yards.

Tioga took an early 7-0 lead on a 16-yard run to Case Malone in the first quarter.

St. Paul’s answered with a nice drive, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by Corales to tie it 7-7 late in the first quarter.

Travis Adams gave the Indians their final lead of the game with a 28-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and it was 14-7.

Superb Wolves kicker Drew Talley cut the deficit to 14-10 with a 41-yard field goal to make it 14-10.

St. Paul’s got a stop and took its first lead and would not relinquish it as Corales scored from 4-yards out to make it 17-14 at halftime.

The Wolves proceeded to continue what ended up being a 31-0 run the rest of the way after trailing 14-7 as St. Paul’s was excellent defensively.

On the first possession of the second half, Ben Buisson raced 35 yards for a score to increase the lead to 24-14. Willis then provided cushion with an 18-yard run late in the third quarter to make it 31-14.

Corales capped the scoring with a 17-yard run with 7:30 to play in the game.

St. Paul’s committed no turnovers while Connor Lacoste had an interception for the Wolves. Brennan Keim completed 10-of-14 passes for 125 yards.

“I feel like we have gotten a little better offensively every week and have more balance,” Sears said. “We lost Jeb Reina in the Northshore game but persevered. Everything clicked for us the week after Northshore (Oct. 13).”

The Wolves (10-1) have won nine straight games and will attempt to reach the semifinals for the second time in three years when they host No. 18 seed Archbishop Rummel next Friday night.

The Raiders (6-6) went on the road and upset No. 2 Captain Shreve 13-3.

Rummel overcomes injuries to shut down Captain Shreve, 13-3

The two Christian Brothers schools meet annually in jamboree action. Rummel edged St. Paul’s 13-10 on August 25 at Hunter Stadium.

“I talked to Nick Monica this morning and I thanked him for keeping us from having to go to Shreveport,” Sears said. “What a great job and resilient team Rummel has been in overcoming adversity. We have great respect for the Raiders. I’m just glad to be home and playing them and playing a good friend like Nick.”