The Carlton Crusaders made it four wins in a row in the newly re-christened Car Guys Classic with a 48-0 shutout win over the St. Mary Marauders on Friday night at Max Clunie Field.
It’s the fourth consecutive rivalry game win for Carlton, who have now won six of the 13 contests since the annual rivalry game was founded in 2012. St. Mary has won seven games, with their last win coming in 2021.
Carlton coach Lindsay Strachan said the team overcame some problems early on before securing the win.
“We fought some penalties early, but got things straightened out,” Strachan said. “Congratulations to our guys.”
The Crusaders had eight penalties for 70 yards in the first half.
The win pushes Carlton to 3-0 on the year and guarantees the Crusaders top spot in the playoffs.
“That was a well-played football game,” Strachan said. “(I’m) excited for them to be in the position they’re in and excited for us to be in the position we are in. (It’s) a big day for us too, just in terms of what that means for the playoff picture moving forward.”
Strachan called the win a big step that the team is happy about. He said that the team was better in all three phases outside of the penalty filled first half.
“Defence was obviously exceptional all night long. (They) gave up very little. They had a fabulous game and I thought our offense got it going part way through the first. Specials (special teams) was good too.”
Strachan said the team’s mantra is ‘we’re better than the day before’
“We’re looking to take strides every single day.” he said.
“It’s on to the next and it’s about getting better.”
Strachan said ahead of next week the team has to work on cleaning up penalties. He said that in the first half they took some holding and offside penalties on offence and pass interference calls on defence that extended drives for St. Mary.
The Crusaders opened the scoring with a six yard touchdown catch by Zane Litzenberger with a successful convert at the 12 minute mark of the first quarter.
In the second quarter Bladen Dogniez had a 47 yard touchdown catch for Carlton at the seven minute mark. Litzenberger added another touchdown catch, this time for 36 yards at 9:31 of the second quarter. Litzenberger then added a 17-yard field goal and 32 yard field goal at the 10 and 12 minute marks of the second quarter.
Rylan Morrison opened the third quarter scoring for Carlton with a three-yard rushing touchdown at the eight minute mark. Morrison added another four yard rushing touchdown at the 11 minute mark.
Litzenberger closed the scoring for Carlton with a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown as the fourth quarter began.
Litzenberger finished the day with six catches for 115 yards. Quarterback Colm Phillips finished the game with 10 completions on 13 attempts for 231 yards. Carlton’s leading rusher was Morrison with six rushes for 45 yards.
Marauders’ coach Curt Hundeby said St. Mary got off to a positive start holding the Crusaders scoreless until late in the first quarter. One goal is to get the team to be grittier.
“We have got to be tougher,” Hundeby said. “We have to be willing to be more physical.”
Hundeby said Carlton just outplayed the Marauders on Friday night. He said St. Mary got off to a great start but needs to be more consistent.
“We tried to put some plans in place to take away their big guys. We again had moments, but you can’t have lapses against Carlton,” he said.
He said with other teams if you make a mistake you can recover.
“You make a mistake here and you pay for it,” he said.
He added that you do not pay for those mistakes in yards but you pay for them in points.
“We didn’t have the mental toughness to battle with them for four quarters and that’s something we’ve got to work on this week,” Hundeby said.
The loss put the Marauders record at 2-2 and clinched a playoff spot. Hundeby said they’ll look at their practice plan this week and consider shuffling personnel to different spots. He said the goal will be to play tougher and more consistent football.
Carlton travels to Lloydminster on Friday, Oct. 9 to face the Barons, who have yet to win a game in the NSFL this season. Strachan said that the team needs to keep intensity despite clinching first overall.
“To me it’s trying to replicate a playoff type intensity. It’s the worst time of year to take a week off. So, I mean, to us, it’s a momentum builder,” Strachan said.
He said that in high school football you have to prove your worth every week.
“We’re not taking them for granted just because their record isn’t the greatest right now. We know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot. We’ll get prepared just the way we would any other week,” Strachan said.
Meanwhile the Marauders are at Max Clunie Field to face another Marauders, Walter Murray from Saskatoon in an exhibition game at Max Clunie Field on Oct. 9. Hundeby said that the team is banged up and some regulars might get some rest.
“We need that game to help us figure out how to be tough. That’s the reality,” he said.
“They are not going to be an easy opponent, they are coming (from) Saskatoon 6A. They’re going to be tough, so we have to figure out how to be tough against them, and we’ve got to use that to get us ready for the playoffs, because we’ve punched our ticket. If we want to do anything in the playoffs, we’ve got to play better than we did today.”
Hundeby saluted the play of his opponents in the game.
“Just hats off to Carlton, because they’re a quality team. They’re real good,” Hundeby said.
Strachan, meanwhile wanted to keep the momentum going.
“(I’m) Just always proud to work with these guys and proud of where they’re at right now and (hope to) keep getting better,” Strachan said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
