Tim football: Stepinac 49 – 0 winner, now 9-0.

Another big win, against a team that was 6-2 going into the game. But – they hadn’t played the high level of competition Stepinac had.

Game ends, and despite the rain, Stepinac fans are happy.

Here’s a little Tim action as #40 gets in a good block for Malcolm Major, who scoots down the sideline. No touchdown though; ball was brought halfway back because of a downfield holding call.

Here’s the coverage from the Staten Island newspaper – where Monsignor Farrell was from.

The Lions, coming off their own 35-7 romp of Island rival St. Joseph by-the-Sea, were no match for the league’s top team — especially after that pivotal sequence in the first.

Trailing 7-0, Farrell’s Ryan Hurley had a punt blocked by Tyquan Ennis with Stepinac’s Gavin Heslop recovering on the MF 11. A touchdown pass from Tyquell Fields to Andrew Geni followed on the next play.

The Lions’ Joseph Irlinger then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, with Ennis recovering at the 31. Again, the Crusaders needed just one play to strike paydirt, this time on a run by Brandon Coleman, who trampled one defender and bounced off two others to make it 21-0 with 4:43 left in the period.

“That took us out of our game, more emotionally than anything,” said Lions head coach Jim Bradley.

When asked if that was the turning point of the contest, Bradley quipped, “No, it was the opening kickoff.”