Football: St. Paul's thumps Pallotti

St. Paul's coach Paul Bernstorf made it a huge priority to jump all over Pallotti in the first half Friday.

The Crusaders didn't want the struggling Panthers to get any kind of a spark.

"We wanted to try to get a couple of scores pretty quick so they might be demorialized," the coach said. "When teams are having rough seasons and when things start going bad, everybody kind of gives up."

Consider the goal accomplished in a big way. St. Paul's scored 47 points in the first half en route to a 54-8 victory in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference game in Brooklandville.

The Crusaders (5-2 overall, 3-1 league) feasted on five Pallotti turnovers.

Junior running back Dale Harris led the offense with four rushing touchdowns and 157 yards on 11 carries. Senior cornerback London Fitzhugh returned an interception for a touchdown and also scored on a punt return.

"We are getting (big plays) in a lot of games," Bernstorf said. "We have some guys with a lot of speed and we have been able to get it done."

The Crusaders had too many weapons for Pallotti (2-6, 0-4) and hurt the visitors in many ways.

Five plays after the kickoff, Fitzhugh scored on a 78-yard punt return.

On the the Panthers' third possession, Fitzhugh picked off quarterback quarterback Bree Hart and raced 38 yards down the sideline for a touchdown with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter.

St. Paul's essentially finished Pallotti over the next 10 minutes. The Crusaders scored 19 points on a safety, Jonas Price 27-yard field goal and two Harris touchdown runs.