St. Matthew’s 7th and 8th grade flag football teams both reached the Pacific Basin League finals last week, losing to Windward in the championship game. In the 8th-grade division, St. Matthew’s beat Wildwood 22-14 in thge quarterfinals as Tyler Newman scored on a punt return and a kickoff return and Brandon Kupfer added the final touchdown on a 35-yard run. Alex Kahn and Peter St. John anchored a defense that deflected a pass in the end zone with 15 seconds left to preserve the win. The semifinals saw Preston Clifford throw two touchdown passes to Newman and another to St. John and a key two-point conversion by Truman Hanks. Newman and Kieran Sheridan intercepted passes on defense while St. John and Alex Kahn had sacks in the Falcons’ 20-12 victory over Crossroads. The championship game pitted the Falcons against a Windward team led by Palisadian Drew Pion. Clifford threw to Newman to tie the game 8-8 early but Windward ultimately prevailed 30-8. The Falcons’ 7th-graders won their quarterfinal game 34-0 over Turning Point, as Matt Douglas passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and added a two-point conversion run. Hudson Ling passed for two touchdowns and caught a two-point conversion while James Mann, Dylan Cotter and Cameron Schiffer each added a touchdown reception. Cotter, Hank Algert and Hunter Price were the leading flag-pullers on defense. In the semifinals, St. Matthew’s edged Willows 21-18 when Chase Aldridge and Douglas batted down passes in the end zone to thwart a late Willows drive. Douglas caught a touchdown pass from Nicholas Moreno and threw one to AJ Peyrot in the first half. He then found Mann for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Peyrot for a two-point conversion to give St. Matthew’s a 21-12 lead. In the finals, Douglas threw a touchdown pass to Matt Kaufman and added the two-point conversion pass to Peyrot. After Price made an interception, Douglas hooked up with Kaufman again for a touchdown and the two-point conversion pass to Aldridge made it 16-6 in favor of the Falcons. Windward scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to won 28-16. Girls’ Volleyball St. Matthew’s 8th-graders fell to Marlborough in the semifinals of the Delphic League playoffs, 27-25, 25-22, despite strong performances by Marielle Bagnard, Jo Kremer, Emma Sanderson and Jackie Carr. The Falcons’ 7th- and 8th-grade teams are a combined 18-3 over the last two seasons under coaches John Caravella and Kate Sauerhoff. s St. Matthew’s coaches John Caravella and Kate Sauerhoff.
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