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DUNMORE — The Dwayne Downing Era didn’t start off quite so well. The ending was pretty sweet, though.

Holy Cross’ Cory Miller returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for the score, but that was the only bright spot for the Crusaders as Holy Redeemer and JD Turosky dominated the rest of the afternoon en route to a 34-6 victory at a sweltering St. Anthony’s Memorial Park Saturday afternoon.

It was the first victory for Downing, who took over the program from Scott Dennis.

“Personally, for me, this feels great,” Downing said. “I’ve been out for a few years, so I’m pretty happy to be back on the sidelines. Certainly, we have our challenges, but we have a great group of kids that have made this experience enjoyable for me. We will just keep pushing, and continue to get better.”

The first-year Royal coach gave a little fist-bump to Turosky before the junior spoke with members of the media.

One that was well deserved.

Turosky hauled in a 60-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Thomas Engle on the Royals’ third play of the afternoon before dominating the final 1 minute, 14 seconds of the first half.

Taking over deep in Holy Cross territory after a botched snap on a punt, Engle dropped back and found Turosky in the flat before the big, bruising junior busted two tackles on his way toward the end zone for the 22-yard TD.

“JD is a special kid. He’s quiet, but his play does his talking for him,” Downing said. “He’s young, and he has so much potential. There is no limit for him. He’ll continue to improve.”

Turosky wasn’t done.

On the next Holy Cross’ series, Crusader quarterback Deion Lewis floated up an ill-advised pass that landed right in the hands of Turosky, who rumbled 44 yards nearly untouched down the right sideline for his third touchdown of the first half.

Three touchdowns. Two interceptions. Not a bad way to start off the season.

“I wasn’t expecting to have a half like that at all,” Turosky said. “I think the interception really pumped up the whole team. I think that set the tone for the remainder of this game. We felt good at halftime, but we had to keep our focus. You knew there was still a whole half left, so we had to take care of business.”

The second 24 minutes belonged to Jonathan Winter.

The junior receiver/tailback capped off a nearly-perfect 12-play 61-yard series to open the third quarter with a short 2-yard run. Engle converted a third-and-8 and a fourth-and-short to keep the scoring drive alive.

Winter’s second score wasn’t so conventional.

Also serving as the team’s punter, the junior dropped back to receive the snap on a fourth-and-long in the fourth quarter. But the ball flew almost 20 yards over his head. No problem, though. Winter picked up the pigskin, dodged three tacklers and covered nearly 67 yards for the score – although he was only credited with a 47-yard touchdown.

“There was a lot going through my head. I heard someone yelling jump on it. I heard someone else telling me to kick it. I just grabbed the ball and went for it. Good things happened,” Winter said. “Holy Cross has a nice team. It’s a great victory for us. We had a real good week of practice to prepare for this one. Now we have to get ready for the next one.”

Not lost in the victory was the play of the Royals’ defense. Redeemer held a much-improved Holy Cross team to a mere 106 yards of offense, while forcing a total of four turnovers.

For the game, Redeemer held a 16-8 edge in first downs, and a lopsided 361-106 advantage in total offense.

“It was a great effort from the defense. We are a work in progress, but we are getting better,” Downing said. “We have a lot of potential to be a pretty good defensive unit. The kids are working hard, but we have to get better.”

Holy Redeemer 34, Holy Cross 6

Redeemer`7`13`7`7 – 34

Holy Cross `6`0`0`0 – 6

First Quarter

HC — Cory Miller 80-yard kickoff return (kick failed), 11:47

HR — JD Turosky 60 pass from Thomas Engle (Mauricio Rodriguez kick), 10:11

Second Quarter

HR — Turosky 22 pass from Engle (kick failed), 1:14

HR — Turosky 44-yard interception return (Rodriguez kick), 0:14

Third Quarter

HR — Jonathan Winter 2 run (Rodriguez kick), 6:34

Fourth Quarter

HR—Winter 47 run (Rodriguez kick), 6:35

Team Statistics `HR`HC

First Downs `16`8

Rushes-Yards `37-264 `25-35

Passing Yards `97`71

Total Yards `361`106

Passing `4-12-1`7-14-2

Sacked-Yards Lost `3-24`2-10

Punts-Average `1-35`2-34

Fumbles-Lost `4-0`3-2

Penalties-Yards `7-65`4-20

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — HR, Thomas Engle 13-113, Jonathan Winter 6-62, Robb McClay 5-50, Dorien Ryans 11-36, James Cunningham 2-3. HC, Josh Mies 10-40, Deion Lewis 8-28, Jason Kopf 2-3, Cory Miller 3-0, Team 1-(-11), Mike Roberts 1-(-25).

PASSING — HR, Thomas Engle 4-12-1, 97 yards. HC, Deion Lewis 7-14-2, 71 yards.

RECEIVING — HR, JD Turosky 2-82, Jonathan Winter 1-11, Cade Fahey 1-4. HC, Cory Miller 4-13, Josh Mies 2-50, Bailey Simrell 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS — HR, Turosky 2. HC, Cory Miller.

MISSED FGs — None.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_football-helmet-6.jpg.optimal.jpg

By Tom Fox

For Times Leader

Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports