Pratham Valluri is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover St. Mary's High School for AZPreps.365.com

Saint Mary’s delighted their energetic home crowd on Senior Night with a commanding 21-7 victory over Buckeye.

The Knights’ returned to the win column behind a balanced offensive attack that saw 305 total yards on offense: 142 through the air, 163 on the ground. 

However, it was the defense early on that really kept St. Mary’s in the contest. Senior free safety Liam Sullivan had an interception early in the first quarter when he jumped a curl route and later recovered a fumble on fourth down with Buckeye in the red zone. 

“We were struggling so it was huge for the defense to make plays and keep us in it,” St. Mary’s head coach Jose Lucero said. 

The Knights defense was tested often but never broke. Late in the first quarter, Buckeye’s running back ripped off an 85-yard run to set his offense up in scoring position but the defense held them to 0 points on that drive. 

With two minutes in a scoreless first half, St. Mary’s went on a clinical drive. Aided by a long pass interference penalty, the Knights ran the ball at will, ending the drive with a two-yard touchdown by senior RB Josiah Atkinson. 

“Just adjust(ed) the blocks on the O-line and the O-line really stepped up,” St. Mary's sophomore quarterback Billy Lewis said. 

Lewis had one of his most productive games of the season as the Knights opened up their playbook. He constantly hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Anthony Cannon and sophomore RB Branson Brown for big gains down the field. 

The Knights had success with short passes in particular. Lucero was able to neutralize the stacked boxes against the run games by getting his primary playmakers the ball through screens or quick curls and letting them gain yards after the catch.

With Atkinson’s running diverting Buckeye’s attention, Brown was the biggest beneficiary. The increased passing volume allowed him to end up with three catches for 72 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. 

“Especially when we ran our little toss to Josiah, they really started biting on that, and we were able to sneak (Brown) backside and get a touchdown,” Lewis said. 

The fourth quarter was when the Knights started to take firm control of the game. Up 14-7, St. Mary’s embarked on a nearly 10-minute scoring drive. 

Lewis converted on a crucial third-and-12 to a first down and a neutral zone infraction penalty on Buckeye gave the Knights a 1st-and-goal at the two, where Atkinson punched in his second TD of the day to put St. Mary’s up 21-7. 

“Honestly, it's just staying locked in, doing your part and leaving it to the people in front of you,” Brown said. 

Buckeye had just three minutes to respond to the double-digit deficit and St. Mary’s sealed the game with an interception with 37 seconds left in the game. 

St. Mary’s looks to close out their season on a high note as they play their season finale at Thunderbird on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.