Saints' firepower too much for Titans

St. Augustine running back Elijah Preston (shown in an earlier game) has moved to No. 3 on the all-time section career rushing list with 5,874 yards and 68 TDs.

Eastlake coach Lee Price shook his head before the game when asked what it would take to beat No. 3 St. Augustine. “They have so many weapons — they can run or pass,” Price said.

The Saints displayed plenty of them Friday night at Mesa College, downing No. 8 Eastlake 46-9.

Quarterback Rodney Thompson stood out, showing off his arm with three TD passes and his legs with an 83-yard scoring run.

Thompson tossed for 136 yards and scores of 19, 5 and 42 yards plus rushing for 108 yards, nicely complementing running back Elijah Preston who scored on runs of 4, 2 and 82 yards while piling up 189 yards in 19 carries.

Although the Saints (4-1) scored the first four times they had the ball to take a 27-9 lead at intermission, it could have been worse as the half ended with the Saints on the Eastlake 1-yard line.

Before that, the game featured big plays and little defense.

Eastlake’s Josh Olave raced 64 yards to tie the game at 6-6 but his run was trumped by Thompson’s long scoring scamper, giving St. Augustine a 21-9 lead.

Preston, who moved to No. 3 on the all-time section career rushing list last week, added those 189 yards, giving him 5,874 yards and 68 TDs.

The Saints defense stiffened after giving up the nine points and with Francois Sims II leading way, had 10 stops for losses, including five sacks.

Eastlake, playing a rigorous schedule of ranked teams, slipped to 2-3.