No. 1 St. John’s begins with a blowout: Once again, St. John’s is a leading force in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, pulling off a shutout and forcing a running clock in its 49-0 season-opening win against Johns Creek (Ga.) on Saturday afternoon.
The Cadets have one of the most versatile teams in the area, with Division I-bound recruits on both sides of the ball. Their goal is not only to be No. 1 in the conference, it is to be national champion.
“Forty-nine? I don’t think we played that well,” Cadets Coach Joe Casamento told his team as he looked at the scoreboard after the win. “Not bad, but I think offensively we could have done a lot better. And we put up 49 points, we have an opportunity of once in a lifetime. Once in a lifetime to be No. 1 in America. Well, it is our opportunity and we have to take advantage of it.”
Transfer quarterback Sol-Jay Maiava said he was nervous to play his first game with the Cadets, but those nerves quickly vanished.
Maiava’s first pass went deep to junior four-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett. The 6-foot, 185-pound signal caller soon took control and scored on a 10-yard keeper.
The Cadets continued their onslaught on the ground. Senior running back Keilan Robinson, a four-star Alabama commit, scored a touchdown in the second quarter to extend the lead to 28-0 before running backs Colby McDonald and Ronald Cook Jr. combined for three more touchdowns to finish the game.
With a grueling nonconference schedule, the Cadets have the opportunity to prove they’re the best team in the country. They play at Hoover (Ala.) next week and then host Miami Central on Sept. 8 and IMG Academy — the nation’s top-ranked team — on Sept. 15.
“You ain’t going to get any breaks down there [in Alabama],” Casamento told the team after the game. “The flags are going to fly. We got to keep our composure. We got to keep our discipline, we got to keep our intensity.”