Floyd kick-starts Raiders
The feats of Cretin-Derham Hall wide receiver Michael Floyd are growing by the week.
Floyd, a strong, fast and elusive pass catcher, is leaving opposing high school defenses in his wake, and he already has top Division I schools hovering like vultures. The junior gave college recruiters and fans another jaw-dropping, head-shaking performance with his catch-and-run playmaking that bailed Cretin-Derham Hall out of early trouble Friday night.
Floyd caught 10 passes for a school-record 228 yards and scored a touchdown to help propel the Raiders to a 28-7 victory over White Bear Lake in a Suburban East Conference game at O'Shaughnessy Stadium on the University of St. Thomas campus. Joe Springer completed 19 of 26 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders (6-0). He has 20 touchdown passes this season and no interceptions.
No. 2-ranked Cretin-Derham Hall was flirting with potential disaster early in the game, when its potent offense wasn't clicking. The Raiders were held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time all season by an aggressive Bears defense that kept pushing Cretin-Derham Hall into third-and-long situations.
But when the Raiders found their groove, Floyd, along with Springer, set the tempo.
On Cretin-Derham Hall's first scoring drive, the Raiders faced third and 16 from their own 14-yard line. One crossing pass later, Springer hit Floyd for a 28-yard gain. Moments later, a sack by White Bear Lake's Derek Weber pushed Springer for a 10-yard loss. Floyd responded with a 12-yard run. Floyd struck twice more on the 16-play, 80-yard drive by catching a 20-yard pass on another crossing route and gaining 9 yards on second and long.
"I wasn't really concerned about our offense not clicking," said Floyd, who caught eight passes for 169 yards in the first half. "I think we just needed a spark. On third downs, we need to take advantage of the guys we have."
Springer called Floyd "an unbelievable player, as well as a great person."
"We picked things up in the second quarter," Springer said. "Mike is always a good one to throw to whenever you are in doubt. He is a great player. Great players make great plays."
Floyd, who has 738 receiving yards in six games, caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Springer and tip-toed just inside the end line during Cretin-Derham Hall's 28-point outburst in the second quarter. Shady Salamon's 1-yard run with 9:49 left broke a scoreless tie and triggered a 21-point scoring spree over a span of 3:51.
Springer completed that spree with a 6-yard touchdown pass to a diving Robbie Lambert. Salamon, who rushed for 76 yards, built the Raiders' intermission lead to 28-0 on a 5-yard run with 40.1 seconds left in the second quarter. On that scoring drive, Floyd caught passes of 34 and 28 yards.
"I thought we played really good defense, but you can't give a talented team like that a 50-yard field to play on like we did in the second quarter," Bears coach Bob Jackson said. "(Cretin-Derham Hall) is tough enough to defend when you are on a 100-yard field. Our kids played their butts off on defense. We just weren't able to generate any offense to drive the ball."
Darius Green had the only touchdown for White Bear Lake (4-2) on a 94-yard run down the right sideline with 8:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press