St. Anthony’s football program put on an exciting spring game Wednesday afternoon, dividing their roster into two teams (Purple and White) to create a competitive game-like scrimmage. The Saints debuted their reconstructed Clark Field, welcoming in an attendance of fans to their spring event in the new and improved stadium.
“We’re trying to make this a tradition, where every year we can have a Spring Game and get a crowd out here and bring some excitement with the DJ and the cheerleaders,” said St. Anthony’s head coach Raul Lara. “We want to bring the school spirit out here.”
It was a defensive slugfest through three-fourths of the game, as it remained scoreless after the third. The White team did however threaten deep in the redzone late in the third, following a 20+ yard catch-and-run on a fourth down conversion to WR Jasiah Lolesio-Pua. Quarterback Adrian Perez looked Lolesio-Pua’s way once again on 4th and goal, ending in a pass break up and turnover on downs. Lolesio-Pua would make up for it later in the game, but the close of the third quarter was representative of the defensively-dominated first three quarters.
“The defense did a great job today,” said Lara. “It’s hard (for the offense) when the defense knows all of your plays, but it’s a great challenge for the offense and a couple things ended up working out for (the offense) in the end.”
It did end up working out in the end, as both offenses broke open in the fourth quarter. A 33-yard pass from Perez to Remy Doering set up the White team inside the five, where Lolesio-Pua would haul in the games first score to take a 6-0 lead following a missed extra point.
The Purple team would put together a response of their own on their ensuing drive, as QB Noah Furlow unleashed a 30 yard bomb along the right sideline to Andres Mendoza to tie the game up at 6 a piece.
“I just wanted to bring some excitement out here and show people what we’ve been doing the whole off-season, and I think once the guys started to clue in on that they started playing a bit better (towards the end of the game),” said Lara of his team’s fourth quarter spark.
Midway through the fourth the White team recaptured the lead, as they poured on two more touchdowns from connections of Perez to both Lolesio-Pua and Doering. These final two touchdowns would cap the fourth quarter scoring as the White team came out with a 18-6 win over the Purple.
Regardless of the score, the true end result that matters is the competition and experience for the Saints leading up to their 2023 season. After the game, Lara said he liked what he saw from his players, as they faced each other in a friendly yet competitive environment.
“It was good to see them compete. To me, that’s what we were expecting. We were just trying to get guys involved and see who could step in and help the team out.”
St. Anthony will open up their regular season at home in a non-league game against Dominguez on September 9th.
