The stage was a little different today for the Green Knights, but the lights were just as bright.
St. Joe's headed to Marlton to square off against the highly-ranked Cherokee High School Chiefs. Coming off a big win against Don Bosco Prep, Coach Marangi and the Green Knights were poised for yet another victory this weekend.
In the first quarter, it was all SJR. Two plays into the game, Audric Estime '21 found his way into the end zone putting the Green Knights up 7-0. The first quarter onslaught for the Green Knights didn’t stop there. Estime once again barreled his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game putting SJR up 13-0 just four and a half minutes into the game. With time winding down in the first quarter, the Green Knights scored yet again. This time it was Logan Rivera '21 who caught a short pass from Dorian Nowell '21 to extend the Green Knights’ lead to 20-0.
SJR was cruising early offensively and defensively, but Cherokee came to play. In their first drive of the second quarter, the Chiefs answered with a Dhante Johnson 21-yard run for a touchdown. The Green Knights were unable to capitalize allowing for yet another Cherokee score. Ahead 20-14 in the 2nd quarter the Green Knights struck again as Estime recorded yet another touchdown, his third of the game, putting SJR up 27-14 right before halftime.
However, costly penalties from the defense allowed Cherokee to put together one final drive before half. With four seconds left, Mark Phillips cruised into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown. This narrowed the lead to 27-21 at halftime.
In the third quarter, SJR’s defense revived itself and began to show why they are considered one of the best in the state. Forcing the Chiefs to multiple three-and-out drives allowed for a number of scoring opportunities though SJR failed to capitalize other than a Sebastien Tasko '21 40-yard field goal to put the team up 30-21.
Before the conclusion of the third quarter, Cherokee was driving down the field with aggression. They kicked things off to start the fourth quarter with a 3-yard touchdown from senior wide receiver Darnell Hightower once again narrowing the Green Knights’ lead to 30-28.
Then Chiefs pulled a fast one with an onside kick. Cherokee recovered on the Green Knights’ 49-yard line and under a minute later, Cherokee QB Billy Osborn once again connected with a wide open Caden Burti for a 53-yard touchdown. This was Cherokee’s first lead of the game with the score being 35-30.
The Green Knights began their next drive on their own 25-yard line when Nowell connected with Nuri Robinson '21 for a gain of more than 50 yards, setting up another scoring opportunity.
Who do you call in these types of situations? Estime, of course.
The Michigan State commit rushed for 5 yards into the end zone. Estime’s fourth score of the game put the Green Knights back on top 36-35 with time winding down.
With no timeouts remaining, Cherokee had one minute to get into field goal range. A tremendous sack by Jimmy Mullen '23 and perfect coverage by the Green Knights’ secondary secured the electrifying win.
On the back of Estime’s 296 yards on 27 carries and 4 touchdowns, SJR improves to 5-2 on the season. Estime’s absurd stat line only padded his season totals even more. The senior has totaled 1,632 rushing yards on 153 attempts and 21 rushing touchdowns on the year.