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St. Mary’s High junior Fred Hives ran back the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown against McClymonds High on Saturday, giving the banged-up Panthers a ray of hope. But that was the last highlight for St. Mary’s, which was simply run over by the Warriors in a 42-6 drubbing. 

McClymonds (3-1) ran for 429 yards, including 205 on 26 carries by senior Darnell Henderson, and held the Panthers (1-3) to 37 total yards. With St. Mary’s missing starting linemen Leon Drummer and Jarrell Booker, a combined 570 pounds of beef, they couldn’t stop the Mack running game and struggled to keep the Warriors out of their backfield on offense. 

“We couldn’t run inside, we couldn’t run outside, and we couldn’t get time to pass,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “[The Warriors] were faster, more physical and played with more heart and desire than us.” 

McClymonds head coach Alonzo Carter made his game plan clear right away, running the ball 24 times before attempting a pass. The Warriors threw the ball just four times in the game, but with the Panthers unable to stop the ground game, the didn’t have much reason to. 

“We knew [St. Mary’s] were missing guys, that they were undermanned,” Carter said. “I figured we could get away with running the ball consistently, and we did.” 

Henderson wasn’t the only Warrior running back to have an outstanding game. Senior Genado Vital had 99 yards on 14 carries, including two first-half touchdowns, and showed off a lightning-quick spin move that had the Panthers grasping for air several times. And when Henderson and Vital tired in the fourth quarter, Carter turned to fullback Dante Floyd, who pounded through the Panthers for 92 bruising yards. 

After surrendering touchdowns on McClymonds’ first two drives, with the Warriors running for 146 yards on 12 plays combined, the St. Mary’s defense stiffened a bit. The Panthers stopped both of McClymonds’ second-quarter drives, with lineman Nick Osborn making a big hit to stop Henderson on a 4th-and-1 deep in St. Mary’s territory just before halftime. 

But after forcing a turnover on downs on the opening drive of the second half, the Panthers started to crumble. Henderson ripped off a 57-yard touchdown on a counter play, then Floyd recovered a botched St. Mary’s handoff and ran it back 41 yards for a score. The Warriors tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. 

Lawson expects to have Drummer and Booker back in time for Bay Shore Athletic League play in two weeks, but first will have to face Oakland Tech High on Friday, a game that could be just as tough as Saturday’s loss. The St. Mary’s coach said he’ll be happy to just keep his team healthy for league play. 

“I scheduled a tough preseason to get the team ready for league,” he said. “But now I’m just hoping not to get too beat up to win our league.”