SAU football drops home finale to Bluefield

LAURINBURG —The St. Andrews Knights football team dropped their home finale to conference rival Bluefield on Saturday afternoon by a score of 38-14. St. Andrews remains winless and falls to 0-8 (0-5 in conference games) on the season with the loss while the Rams improve to 4-6 (3-2 against conference opponents) with the victory. Head Coach Robert Curtin was happy with some progress seen from his team but still wasn’t pleased with the result of a loss.

“I’m definitely encouraged with the play on both offense and defense, I think we got much better today,” Curtin said. “It’s definitely a hollow success pill to swallow but the culture of this team with regard to fighting the way they did today was good to see.”

Bluefield received the opening kickoff and immediately drove right down the field by covering 70 yards in 13 plays and 6:27 of game time. Rayjuan Trynham was the unquestioned star of the drive for the Rams, getting carries of 10 yards, 16 yards, four yards, eight yards and 10 yards again. Nathan Herstich would score from two yards out on the ground to give Bluefield an early 7-0 lead. The Knights would have one positive play on their opening drive: a 20-yard completion from Kedrick Patterson to Marquis Fenton but Patterson would be intercepted by Stacy Wilson at the Rams’ 25-yard line to put an end to any momentum it might’ve created.

Bluefield would immediately capitalize with another long touchdown drive that covered 75 yards over 13 plays and took 8:33 off the clock. The Rams continued to lean on the run game but allowed Zamarreon Younger to do most of the work as he had carries of 14 yards, 11 yards, nine yards, seven yards, four yards and six yards before Braydon Holley delivered the goods with a one-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal as the quarter expired to extend the Rams’ lead to 14-0.

The second quarter was a sloppy one for both teams. The Knights had some positive plays on their first possession of the quarter as Rodney Huggins had an 11-yard carry to start the drive while Mason Davis also caught an 8-yard pass from Cadyn Graves, but they still turned the ball over on downs after deciding to go for it on a 4th & 2 from the Bluefield 46-yard line. The Rams seemed to take advantage of the solid field position as Christian Mack caught a long pass and nearly scored but fumbled the ball which was forced and recovered by Nijel Pearce for a touchback.

The Knights were unable to take advantage, going three and out on their next drive before the defense stepped up again with a fumble recovered by Lavarius Heath-Lewis and brought back to the Bluefield 35-yard line. Unfortunately for St. Andrews, they would give the ball right back on the very next play with a fumble by Huggins which was recovered by Leyton Fowler. The Knights’ defense would then step up again by allowing the Rams to get down to the four-yard line and eventually forcing a turnover on downs, but Patterson would fumble the ball shortly after which turned into three points for Bluefield before the break as they led 17-0. Curtin was thrilled with the way his defense forced multiple turnovers and played their hearts out but wants his offense to get going at the start of the game rather than waiting until the second half.

“We have to figure things out earlier offensively,” Curtin said. “The defense was really lighting things up in the first half, if we could’ve turned something positive offensively, we might be looking at a different game.”

The third quarter turned out to be a shootout as St. Andrews would quickly get on the board thanks to a nine-yard completion to Devon Roesch and a 66-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Juwan Lyons less than a minute into the second half. Bluefield responded right away with good field position (St. Andrews’ 36-yard line) and almost exclusively the run game as Younger, Herstich and Holley all got involved with Holley being the touchdown scorer from eight yards away to restore their 17-point advantage.

The Knights weren’t done yet, driving 60 yards in 11 plays and 4:31 of game time with the biggest plays being a 30-yard completion from Patterson to Roesch and a 7-yard touchdown run by Patterson to make the score 24-14 with 6:40 remaining in the quarter. However, as if according to script, the Rams answered right back with an efficient 75-yard drive over 10 plays that chewed up 5:29 of game clock. They spread the ball around to multiple different weapons and capped the drive off with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Herstich to Gage Chambers to make the score 31-14 after 45 minutes. Curtin was glad to see some of his younger players make an impact and to get the offense moving.

“Seeing the young guys get out there and make some plays was good to see,” Curtin said. “That gives the boys hope and it was exciting.”

The fourth quarter was rather uneventful. The Knights did have one promising drive to start the frame but got no points out of it due to another interception thrown by Patterson. The Rams would then put the game away for good with a long touchdown drive that ended with five minutes left in the game. No other points were scored by either team after that.

St. Andrews will wrap up their 2024 season on the road next Saturday against conference rival Pikeville. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. Curtin is keeping an even keeled approach heading into the finale and simply wants his players to keep their focus in the moment while continuously getting better.

“It’s the same thing, we are a program that cannot quit or change the course of what we’re doing,” Curtin said. “We got to believe in who we are and do what makes us get better each and every day.”