By Joseph W. Gex II/Sports Writer

BILOXI — The St. Patrick Fighting Irish stood their ground Friday night when they hosted the Saint Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws in a key Region 8-3A matchup that all but determined which squad would be going to the playoffs. 

The Irish (3-5, 1-2) used a deliberate screen passing attack and an opportunistic defense to key a 38-21 victory over the visiting Rocks (1-7, 0-2) on Senior Night. The victory also secured the Irish’s first victory over SSC on the football field in their short rivalry history. The two teams had played just five times previously since St. Patrick opened in 2007. The series record now is 1-5 in favor of the Rocks. 

The Rocks took the field first on offense and wasted little time moving the ball as Lew Monti hooked up with Brayden McDonald for a seven-yard pickup and Christian Haas for a 31-yard gain. Jayvien Thompson rushed seven times on the drive with the final carry being a two-yard scoring run with 8:32 left in the first quarter. Jude Babin converted the PAT to make the score 7-0.

The Irish answered with another impressive drive of their own highlighted by Liam Richards rushing for gains of 12, 11, 6, and a 19-yard scoring run to cap the drive with 3:38 left in the first quarter. Lucas Kurihara converted the PAT to knot the score at 7-7.

The Irish stuffed the Rocks on the ensuing drive forcing a punt. St. Patrick took over at their own 20-yard line following an Irish personal foul penalty. Satchel Mercier went to the air connecting with Colton Harper for a gain of 11 yards before Richards went to work on the ground with a gain of seven. Hunter Robertson had gains of 6, 6, and 9 yards on the drive. The 11-play drive culminated with a 13-yard scoring run by Richards with 6:55 left in the first half. Kurihara converted the PAT to make the score 14-7.

On ensuing kickoff return for SSC, Tripp Lee fielded the kickoff at his own seven-yard line and dishes a few moves before turning up the field as he raced 93 yards for a touchdown return with 6:38 left in the first half. Babin made the PAT to even the score at 14-14.

The Irish added a quick score of their own when Mercier tossed a screen pass to Richards who raced up the sideline for a 79-yards scoring reception with 5:35 left in the half. Kurihara made good on the PAT and pushed the score to 21-14. 

The Rocks were intercepted on the first play of the ensuing drive by Ryan Knowles who returned the pick 16 yards for a touchdown with 5:28 left in the half. Kurihara’s PAT made the score 28-14.

A turnover by both teams helped run out the remainder of the half with the Irish enjoying a two score lead. 

Both squads traded two possessions to start the second half.

The Irish started their third possession of the half on their own 33-yard line and moved the ball to the Rock 21-yard line. An offsides penalty pushed the ball to the 16-yard line. The Irish opted for a 33-yard field goal on fourth down by Kurihara that made the score 31-14 with 11:02 left in the game. 

Lee returned the kickoff 27 yards to the Rock 34-yard line. McDonald ripped off a 23-yard run along with gains of eight and six yards on the drive. Thompson connected with Haas on consecutive passes of 12 and 11 yards before Thompson called his own number on a one-yard touchdown run with 8:34 left in the game. Babin’s PAT made the score 31-21. 

The Irish put away any thought of a Rock comeback on the ensuing series when Mercier tossed Richards another screen pass that went for a 45-yard touchdown reception with 3:26 left in the game. Kurihara’s PAT made the score 38-21.

SSC head coach Tate Thigpen commented, “The Irish coaching staff had their players ready to compete tonight and took advantage of the mistakes we made. I thought Jayvien Thompson had his best game of the season and Tripp Lee looked impressive on his kickoff return. The key to this game was we did not block well on the offensive line and we had difficulty tackling them on defense. This was their first victory over us on the football field. At some point, it had to happen. We still have a job to do. We have two games left in region play and we will find out how much heart we have.”

The Rocks were led by Thompson who rushed for 74 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns and threw for 60 yards on 4-for-10 passing. On defense, SSC was paced by Lex Rhodes with 10 tackles and a pass break-up while Sal Riccardi had 11 tackles and a forced fumble. 

St. Patrick head coach Nate Encrapera stated, “I was proud of how we ran the football tonight to help control momentum of the game. We were able to stay on schedule with the game plan tonight which helped us on both sides of the football. We were able to get our defense in positions to be successful on the field. We will have to continue that going forward. We have to go to Tylertown next week. They are big, fast, and physical. We have to continue to minimize mistakes and put ourselves in positions to be successful.”

The Irish were led by Richards who rushed 14 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Mercier threw for 205 yards on 9-for-14 passing.