SEDAN — Adam Albertini rushed for 242 yards and six touchdowns while also passing for another score, leading the St. Paul Indians to an impressive 52-14 victory over Sedan Friday night at Prather Field.
The Indians — three-time defending Three Rivers League champions and just two years removed from an appearance in the Eight Man-Division I championship game — improved to 1-0 on the season. Up next for St. Paul, it will remain on the road on Sept. 13, heading to Wichita to take on Life Prep Academy.
As for Sedan, which was coming off a 7-2 campaign and its first postseason appearance since 2009, it dropped to 0-1 on the season. The Blue Devils will remain at home for a second straight week as they entertain South Central Border League foe Oxford (1-0) in a contest on Sept. 13.
A year ago, the Indians and Blue Devils locked heads in St. Paul. The Indians had a 30-6 lead early in the second half, but Sedan stormed all the way back by scoring 38 of the game’s final 44 points to rally for the wild 44-36 come-from-behind victory.
This time around, Albertini and the Indians weren’t about to let history repeat itself. Sedan had an early 6-0 lead following a 14-yard touchdown pass from Tayte Halderman to Eli Campbell, but St. Paul came right back with a four-yard run from Albertini and took the lead on the conversion for an 8-6 edge after one quarter.
That was the start of 32 unanswered points for the Indians, with Albertini involved in each score. First was a 29-yard TD pass from Albertini to Hayden Smith. That was followed up by a pair of scoring scampers from Albertini of 27 and 47 yards for a 32-6 edge.
Sedan ended St. Paul’s scoring run on a 15-yard scoring strike from Halderman to Nile Osburn, but Albertini ran in another score from 10 yards out before the break to give the Indians a commanding 40-14 advantage.
From there, the Indians shut down the Blue Devil offense in the second half. Meanwhile, Albertini continued his dominance with two more scores after the break — a 50-yard blast in the third quarter and a 12-yard dash to the end zone in the final period to seal the deal.
As a team, St. Paul finished the game with 411 total yards, including 364 of that on the ground. Albertini had 17 carries for 242 yards and six rushing touchdowns. He also completed all three of his passes for 47 yards and one more score. A year ago, he rushed for 2,240 yards and 51 touchdowns.
Sedan was limited to 163 yards of offense in the contest — 127 of that coming on the ground. Halderman was the top rusher for the Blue Devils with 15 carries for 103 yards.
(Photo courtesy of Cynthia Hills)