3-0 start a first for All Saints

Published 6:38 am Saturday, September 10, 2011

The All Saints Trojans are 3-0 for the first time in the history of their program.



All Saints limited Burkeville to 67 total yards and the offense put up plenty of points to defeat Burkeville 35-0 on Friday night at Mewbourne Field.

Quarterback John Norton led the offense with 131 yards rushing and threw for two touchdowns and 121 yards for the Trojans.

All Saints played in Mustang territory for most of the first half. The Trojans took the opening kickoff to the 2-yard line before fumbling and then turned it over on downs on their next possession at the Mustang 3.

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However, Merritte Greene tackled Malik Spearman in the end zone for a safety and 2-0 lead with 2:38 left in the first period.

All Saints started its next possession at the Burkeville 41 and Norton scored on a 4-yard run to put All Saints up 8-0 with 11:30 left in the second period.

The Trojans stretched their advantage to 22-0 in the waning moments before halftime. Chandler Hammond ran for seven yards for a score with 3:38 left in the second period and Norton found Taylor Ball for a 26-yard scoring strike with 21.1 seconds left before halftime.

Greene recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff, but All Saints was unable to connect on three pass plays and settled for a 22-point lead at intermission.

The offensive line, consisting of Kevin Nourse, Andrew Latta, Grady Smith, Josh Sigal and Morgan Bain, opened holes for Norton’s rushing and gave the signal-caller time to find mostly wide-open receivers.

Burkeville took the second-half kickoff and penetrated Trojan territory for the first time before All Saints stopped Cameron Vanveckhoven short on fourth-and-3 at their own 20.

The Trojans then marched 80 yards with Norton rushing for 34 yards on the drive and freshman Grady Atkins finishing the drive with two runs totaling 25 yards and a touchdown.

The Mustangs could not move the ball and on fourth down, Greene and Hammond combined to tip the punt attempt and the Trojans took over at the Mustang 43. It took the Trojans only four plays to find pay dirt as Norton threw a strike to Atkins for the touchdown.

Brice Borgeson and Greene recovered fumbles for All Saints.