Not even Halloween night, when the unusual is commonplace, could keep St. Louis from checking off another win in District 4-3A play.

Opportunistic plays on both sides of the ball led the Saints as they ran away from Westlake 31-13 Friday night.

Despite the win, the Saints (4-5, 3-1) couldn’t completely escape the voodoo of the evening. They went three-and-out on their first two possessions and fumbled away the next three possessions.

The Rams (2-7, 1-3) capitalized on those early chances by riding the arm of junior quarterback Hunter Racca, who finished with 147 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception. Racca’s touchdown came early in the first quarter on a short slant to senior Armon Dunbar who sprinted in from 45 yards out. From there, the Saints tacked on a pair of field goals.

The tide changed for the Rams midway through the second quarter when Racca was sacked and fumbled on the St. Louis 35-yard line. An 11-play drive ensued with most of the damage being done on the ground by tailback Colby Rodriguez. The junior carried the ball eight times on the drive, capping off the series with a nifty 28-yard touchdown run to close the gap. Rodriguez scored again just before the half on a 13-yard reception, giving the Saints a 14-13 lead.

The strategies for each team seemed to switch in the second half. Similar to the way the Rams leaned on the success of their passing game in the first half, the Saints were content with letting their ground game dominate the second half. They tacked on a field goal at the 5:34 mark in the third to make the score 17-13 and then continued to run the ball.

The only time the Saints stepped away from handing it off was to toss a 9-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Tyler Washington, pushing the score to 24-13.

The Saints ground game continued to shred the Rams deep into the fourth quarter. The final score came on an explosive 55-yard score by Rodriguez, who finished with 177 yards rushing and two scores on 25 carries. The Saints scored the final 31 points of the game.

St. Louis head coach Charlie Cryer talked about being proud of the way his players responded. Giving away the game’s first 13 points through a handful of turnovers is a hard thing for most teams to recover from, he said.

“They played hard the whole game and they didn’t let the start bother them,” Cryer said. “It was all about effort tonight. The team gave great effort and they were able to get a win.”

Listening to the way Cryer spoke with his players after the game, he didn’t sound like a man adjusting to his new program even though that’s exactly what he is doing. Cryer said he was witnessing his team grow up.

“They’re growing up,” he said. “They’re playing physical and they’re playing that way for four quarters. We still have work to do. I have work to do and the kids are just getting used to what I’m asking of them, but we’re getting there. We’re definitely getting there.”(Rick Hickman/American Press)