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Jesuit whips Holy Cross

By TONY LaBELLA
Staff writer

Jason Hirstius rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns as Jesuit built a 21-0 halftime lead and beat Holy Cross, 35-6, in a District 10-5A game Thursday at Memstas.

The Blue Jays (5-3 overall, 2-2 in district) had 378 total yards.  Wiggins Edrington completed nine of 16 passes for 140 yards.

Jesuit led, 21-6, and stopped the Tigers on fourth-and-five from the Jesuit 32 with 4:30 left in the third quarter.  The Blue Jays then began their most time-consuming drive, moving 63 yards in 5:06.  Hirstius, the district's leading rusher, scored for the third time on a 10-yard run with 11:24 left.

Rickey Roniger scored Jesuit's final touchdown on a 1-yard run with 2:14 left.

Lofton Fairchild led Holy Cross (1-7, 1-4) with 80 yards on six carries, including a 61-yard run late in the second quarter.  Burt Rareshide returned four kickoffs for 114 yards, but the Tigers did not take advantage of the good field goal position provided by the returns.

Holy Cross' only touchdown came on a 23-yard pass from Sean Martin to Henry Allen to cap the Tigers' first drive of the second half.  Holy Cross forced Jesuit to punt on the next series, but the Jays held and regained the momentum.

Jesuit, which committed 10 penalties for 105 yards, opened the scoring with a nine-play, 56-yard drive in the first quarter.  A key play on the march was a 21-yard pass from Edrington to Roniger on third and nine from the Holy Cross 37.  Hirstius, who has nine touchdowns this season, scored on a 3-yard run, taking a pitch and sweeping right with 3:42 left in the first quarter.

On its next possession, Jesuit needed 59 seconds to drive 55 yards for another score.  Hirstius had runs of 43 and 14 yards to give the Jays first-and-goal from the three, and he carried again for the touchdown.

After another Holy Cross punt, Jesuit took over at its 43 and scored in seven plays.  Brian Marino rushed for 39 yards on the drive, and Roniger scored on a 6-yard run over the left side.

Fairchild's long run helped Holy Cross move to the Jesuit 8 just before halftime, but Jimmie Glorioso threw an incompletion on fourth-and-two on a pass intended for Albert.

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