According to an announcement at halftime of the annual Boys' Latin-St. Paul's game Friday afternoon in Brooklandville, the Lakers won the battle of charitable food donations by a considerable 10-to-1 margin.
While the Lakers weren't quite as dominant on the field as they were contributing canned goods to the needy, they still managed to impose their will in an old-school 6-0 victory behind a relentless running attack powered by halfback Brandon Cherry.
The senior carried 39 times for 219 yards as the Lakers (4-6) won for the fourth time in their last five games while dealing the Crusaders a bitter defeat.
Despite carrying the load, Cherry did not score the game's only touchdown.
That honor belonged to junior quarterback Andrew Roswell, who waltzed untouched into the end zone from the St. Paul's 2-yard line on a draw with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter.
Roswell noticed a mismatch as he perused the St. Paul's defensive alignment.
"I saw that their (line)backers were blitzing over our guards," he said. "I could have taken it 50 yards. It was that wide open."
A botched extra-point attempt did not come back to haunt BL, which was denied several times from adding to its lead by a resilient Crusader defense.
Cherry, though, was, as Roswell noted, the "heart and soul" of the Lakers.
"I knew coming in that would be our game-plan," said Cherry, an early-decision applicant to Johns Hopkins University with a 3.84 grade-point average. "I knew it would be 100 percent smash-mouth football."
He took charge on the opening drive, carrying seven straight times for 59 yards before Roswell scored.
Frustration marked St. Paul's first three possessions, all of which ended inside the Boys' Latin 30-yard line despite fine running by St. Paul's slotback London Fitzhugh.
The closest the Crusaders came to scoring, however, was a missed 27-yard field goal attempt.
"You have to score in those situations," St. Paul's coach Paul Bernstorf said, noting his team will be the fourth seed in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference playoffs if top seeded Archbishop Curley beats John Carroll on Friday night. "Plus, we turned the ball over three times and they didn't have any."
If Curley wins, St. Paul's would meet the Friars next weekend in a semifinal while BL would take on Annapolis Area Christian School in the other bracket.