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Helena saw its 2024 season end as St. Paul’s defeated the Huskies in their first-round matchup. (For the Reporter/Jason Homan)

By CHRIS HONEYCUTT | Special to the Reporter

HELENA – The St. Paul’s Episcopal Saints won the opening coin toss and seemingly every facet of the game as the Helena Huskies were eliminated by a final score of 26-0 on Friday, Nov. 8 at Helena High School, ending their 2024 campaign in the first round.

“Our team from last year lost about 90 percent of our production on both sides of the ball and have seven guys playing in college. I think this team overachieved, and this is not the way we wanted to end it, but the four losses we had this year were all to top 10 football teams,” Helena coach Richie Busby said. “I’m very proud of this team. We didn’t play well tonight, but a lot of that is contributed to the fact that St. Paul’s is a very good football team.”

The Saints offense relied on the ground attack most of the night behind Juniors Tate Johnston at quarterback and running back Anthony Frasier. St. Paul’s ran a total of 57 plays for 356 yards of total offense.

The Saints defense, which has allowed only 10 points a game all season in arguably the toughest region in Class 6A, dominated the Helena offense. The St. Paul’s defense was on the field for only 33 snaps and gave up 21 yards of offense and only two first downs in the shutout win.

The game started with punts on the first three possessions before Helena quarterback Nate Ferguson had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage and was intercepted by the Saints defense at the Helena 37-yard line.

St. Paul’s managed to gain ten yards before settling for a field goal by senior kicker Drew Ginsberg.

After a three-and-out on Helena’s next possession, Saints quarterback Tate Johnston ran the ball in from 65 yards out on the third play of the drive for a touchdown, making the score 10-0 with 11:47 to play in the second quarter.

The Huskies punted after three plays once again but forced one on the defensive end after St. Paul’s had a 26-yard touchdown run called back for a holding penalty.

After having no success moving the ball, Helena punted and the Saints went on a nine play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 23-yard pass from Johnston to junior receiver Anthony Jones.

That put St. Paul’s up 17-0 going into the halftime break.

The second half was much of the same for Helena offensively. After receiving the kickoff to start the half, both teams traded punts.

On Helena’s second possession of the half, it was forced to punt from inside its own 10-yard line. A bad snap sailed through the back of the end zone, giving St. Paul’s a safety, making the score 19-0.

St. Paul’s took the kick following the safety at their own 28 yard line and went on a 12-play drive that stayed alive with two clutch third-down passes.

The Saints finished it off with an 11-yard touchdown run by Anthony Jones, capping off the 26-0 victory to advance to the second round.

Ferguson went 6-of-13 for 23 yards and an interception, and Dom Santiago took nine carries for 29 yards. Torrey Ward caught a pair of passes for nine yards.

Helena finishes its season 6-4 with the loss tonight in the first round.

“We will go back to work by getting into the weight room and preparing for next year,” Busby said.

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