St. John's new offense successful in opener

8/29/2005

St. John's Jesuit's new spread-option offense proved successful in Saturday night's season opener in a 42-38 victory over Findlay at Rogers.

Junior quarterback Sean Patterson's record-setting passing effort keyed a comeback from a 38-21 late third-quarter deficit in a wild shootout that lasted three hours and six minutes.

Patterson, who completed 16 of 31 passes for a Titan-record 312 yards, threw for four touchdowns and ran for another. He connected with Jalil Carter for a 12-yard TD late in the third quarter and a 23-yard score in the fourth, setting the stage for the game-winning score, a 53-yard strike to Ross Hartwig with 2:49 left in the game.

A Bill Claus extra-point kick after the final TD proved crucial as Findlay drove to the Titan 7-yard line in the closing seconds and could not tie the game with a field goal. Instead, a pass from Trojan quarterback Brady Schneider was intercepted in the end zone by Mike Floyd, who returned it 63 yards. Patterson, who eclipsed Mickey Cassidy's previous mark of 276 passing yards, then took a knee to run out the clock. DeAndre Ware rushed 17 times for 83 of St. John's 134 ground yards, scoring the game's first TD from two yards out.

Caleb Enright, who rushed 22 times for 196 yards for Findlay, scored on runs of 6 and 49 yards in the second half, giving the Trojans their 17-point lead. Schneider, 19-of-34 passing for 202 yards, threw for one TD and ran for another. Findlay also got a 91-yard kickoff return score from Ryan Sottoway for a 24-15 lead late in the first half.