Apparently, St. Anne’s-Belfield quarterback Charlie Murray didn’t even know that he was capable of Friday’s performance.
“I didn’t even know I had this in me,” Murray said. “But it’s nice to know that if we need it, we’ll be able to throw the ball.”
Murray, a first-year starter, put up numbers Peyton Manning would be jealous of Friday afternoon against Covenant during the Saints’ 39-20 victory. The tall signal-caller completed 13 of 22 passes for 335 yards and four touchdowns, the most productive passing day from a Central Virginia quarterback this season.
Murray turned it on in the second half, throwing for a pair of long scores
Murray pulled off the big numbers with just three pass catchers on the receiving end. Nicco Freeo, Andrew Crockett and Lawrence Brayman split the catches pretty evenly, with Freeo leading the way in yards with 160 and Brayman nabbing two touchdowns and 65 yards. Crockett finished with 110 yards on four catches including a 45-yard touchdown with just 25 seconds left in the first half that seemed to let STAB take control of the contest.
“(Charlie) is making Nicco and I better as he gets better,” Crockett said. “As the weeks go by it’s just getting more fun, just throwing the football around.”
St. Anne’s (7-1) had to turn to Murray more with star tailback Branford Rogers on the shelf after suffering an injury against Collegiate last week, but the STAB run game had some success too. Defensive tackle/linebacker Charles Sipe, who was a standout at tailback in youth football, carried the load, piling up 97 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Erik Allen also got in the mix with 55 yards on eight carries as part of the balanced offensive effort.
“To tell you the truth I didn’t even know I was going to touch the ball that much but coach (John) Blake gave me the opportunity and I just tried to make the most of it,” Sipe said. “After that first hit I took I knew it was going to be a good day.”
Covenant hung tough with the deep, athletic STAB squad, leading deep into the first half 6-0 after a Sam Patterson touchdown catch from quarterback Lee Coppock got the scoring started. But breakdowns in the secondary led to big openings for Murray with the trio of pass catchers often running wideopen behind Covenant’s defensive backs.
“We finally figured out how to stop the run and we forgot how to stop the pass,” said Covenant coach Dandridge Payne, who’s squad has struggled mightily against the run throughout the year.
Brandon Spitzer was a defensive force for STAB too, helping disrupt Covenant’s passing game with relentless pressure on Coppock. Spitzer finished with 11 tackles for the game and the Saints’ success in blitzing up the middle allowed them to hold Coppock well under his usual output with just 86 yards passing—all of which came in the first half.
Chris Shifflett managed to give the Eagles some offensive spark with 138 yards on the ground on just 23 carries, and Fred O’Connor finished off two drives in the second half with hard-nosed touchdown plunges, but Covenant couldn’t find an answer for Murray defensively.
“Charlie was great—he made some great throws,” said STAB coach John Blake. “I was real impressed with Charlie today.”
St. Anne’s has a pair of monster home games to close out the season, both against key competitors for the Division II state title, Christchurch and Blue Ridge. Christchurch currently sits at third in the division after edging Blue Ridge last week while the Barons are ranked sixth but have the opportunity to climb starting tomorrow with their home finale against Virginia Episcopal.
Covenant will host North Cross next week.
