ST. PETERSBURG — The Canterbury Crusaders (4-0) wasted very little time jumping on district foe Bradenton Christian (3-1) on Friday night.
They put together 48 minutes of dominant football and looked quite impressive on both sides of the ball in a lopsided 37-0 victory.
“We started strong and finished strong; this was the first time that we had beaten them in a couple of years,” Canterbury coach Bill Jones said.
After several possessions in the first quarter, the Crusaders got on board as Josh Belton threw a 26-yard strike to Sammy Faucette. O’Shon Allen later scored on a beautiful 62-yard jaunt as he leaped over a defender to elevate the Crusaders to a 14-0 lead.
Faucette scored twice in the second quarter on runs of 45 and 17 yards as the Crusaders built a 28-0 lead at the break.
The Crusaders added a safety in the third quarter. Faucette, who was a force on both sides of the ball, scored his fourth touchdown on the night as Belton hit him with a 9-yard touchdown pass.
“The defense really rose up, and each week we reload,” Jones said. “In the next couple of weeks we will have some critical district games coming up.