CHERRY TWP — Take away Matthew Davis and Moniteau would’ve held visiting Saint Marys to just a dozen yards from scrimmage in the first half of Friday night’s gridiron opener.

Without the Flying Dutchmen’s senior rusher, the scoreboard would’ve read all zeroes at the end of the initial 24 minutes.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Davis punched the ball in twice before the midway point and was conspicuously present throughout, scoring all three touchdowns as Saint Marys ended up on the right end of a 20-0 final.

“We knew No. 5 (Davis) was their best player,” Moniteau coach Bob Rottman said. “That wasn’t hard to pick out in a scrimmage. He ran the ball hard. He’s a good running back.

“He broke that one on us. That was a little bit on our end, too. We weren’t disciplined on defense, and he took advantage of it.”

The carry Rottman was referring to was a 76-yard romp that opened the game’s scoring with 2:49 to go in the first frame. Davis rumbled for 95 yards on his initial pair of totes and finished with 226 yards on 23 gives. He accounted for all but 30 of his team’s yards from scrimmage.

Rottman said, “You preach to your kids all the time, you know, ‘You’re going to give up a score here and there. You’re going to give up a big play, but you’ve got to rally back regardless.’ ... I thought they did a good job of that, of fighting back tonight. We had some miscues on offense that didn’t let us keep it going. But, I think that will come as we go.”

The Warriors attack was slow to get around, as it began with four three-and-outs. Junior starting quarterback Trent Beachem was switched out for sophomore Brendin Sankey out of halftime, though it was no fault of his.

“It was just kind of like one of those things, ‘Let’s try something, switch it up, and try to get it going a little bit,’” Rottman said. “I don’t think Trent had much of an opportunity to sit back and read his routes and throw the ball. Brendin comes in and he’s a little younger, he’s a little more fearless. So, he just puts it up and what happens, happens.”

Sankey was the catalyst of a pair of third-down passes that moved the sticks for Moniteau in the third quarter — a 25-yarder to Logan Campbell and a 23-yarder to Kole Scott. He hit Blain Jamison down the right sideline for 32 yards on the team’s next possession.

“We all just needed to come together at halftime and restart things,” Sankey said. “We had a bad first half, we could’ve made it up in the second half. But, hey, this is a learning experience. ... We were competitive, now we’ve just got to turn that into winning.”

A blindside strip sack of Sankey by the Dutch later preceded Davis’ final score with 5:52 to play. Senior Jayden Keene is the only returning starter for a Warriors offensive front that was missing center Finley Thurner.

“They had a lot of good moments, they had a few mistakes here and there,” Rottman said of the green offensive linemen. “Just not going to the wrong guy or not getting to a linebacker — or the right linebacker. They’ll learn from that.

“In their defense, we’ve shuffled them around. From guard to tackle to center to guard, based on a couple injuries that we had early on.”

Offensively, Moniteau finished with a total of three three-and-outs, a pick, and a lost fumble. Four drives ended on downs.

“If we sustain a couple drives and get a score, that helps our defense,” Rottman said.

The Warriors operate on a short week, as they’ll visit Elk County Catholic Thursday.

“We’re young,” Sankey reminded. “We’ve also got some time to grow together. We’ve still got nine more games.”

Rottman echoed that.

“This is just Week 1,” he said. “I expect us to win a lot of football games this year, based on what I saw tonight.”

Saint Marys 7 7 0 6 — 20

Moniteau 0 0 0 0 — 0

First Quarter

SM — Matthew Davis 76 run (Gianna Surra kick), 2:49

Second Quarter

SM — Davis 16 run (Carter Dush kick), 3:12

Fourth Quarter

SM — Davis 19 run (Surra kick blocked), 5:45

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Moniteau, Logan Campbell 10-18, Kole Scott 6-10, Trent Beachem 3-(-1), Brendin Sankey 11-(-23). Saint Marys, Matthew Davis 23-226, Grant Jin 5-13, Darren Shaw 1-4, Landon Cook 1-0, Cameron Coudriet 5-(-7), TEAM 1-(-5).

Passing: Moniteau, Brendin Sankey 5-10-93-1, Trent Beachem 3-7-20-0. Saint Marys, Cameron Coudriet 3-8-25-1.

Receiving: Moniteau, Logan Campbell 4-41, Blain Jamison 1-32, Kole Scott 1-23, Peyton Kohlmeyer 1-15, Brock Beachem 1-2. Saint Marys, Jackson Vollmer 1-14, Ben Paul 1-11.