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BRIDGEPORT -- After a week away from the gridiron, the Madonna football team moved to 3-0 on the season with a 41-20 win on the road at Bridgeport Saturday night.
The Blue Dons scored first and never trailed in compiling another big night on offense, racking up 492 total yards on that side of the ball.
"Anytime you win a varsity game, it’s big," Madonna head coach Dan Rovira said on Sunday. "To be undefeated right now is great."
Madonna opened the scoring with a 47-yard Santino Arlia pass to Chase Littleton, with Mason Thompson adding a two-point conversion to make it a 8-0 Blue Dons lead less than four minutes in.
Bridgeport answered to pull within 8-6, but less than a minute later Arlia used his legs to add another score -- Evan Quering adding the conversion to make it a 16-6 lead, and the Blue Dons would not look back.
After the initial Bridgeport score, Madonna scored the next 27-straight points.
Arlia connected with Quering for a 43-yard score in the second quarter, then, on the final play before the halftime break, the duo connected again for a 25-yard score.
"We had a very good first half," Rovira said. "I cannot complain about our first half. I was worried we would be a little rusty, but it was quite the opposite."
The Arlia-Quering combo put a third six-pointer on the board in the third quarter, this time a 90-yarder, to make it 35-6.
The Bulldogs added a couple of scores to get within 15 at 35-20, but Arlia connected with Thompson for a 9-yard score in the final minute of the third for the game’s final points.
Alria finished with 350 passing yards and five touchdown passes, adding another 35 and a score with his feet.
Quering racked up 200 yards and three scores on seven catches, while Seth Humberson compiled a 100-yard night on the ground on just 13 carries.
"It was a nice little hometown atmosphere," Rovira said of playing in Bridgeport. "It was a nice field, nice people, I really liked it. I like those small town games."
WVTailgatecentral.com has the Blue Dons ranked fourth in its unofficial Class A standings.
The Blue Dons are set to face Mathews, who lost at Edison this past week, on Friday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium.
"We have some big games ahead of us," Rovira said. "Our schedule is going to continue to pick up. Mathews is a very improved team, I got to see them play against Edison. We have to get better every week."
Madonna 41, Bridgeport 20
Madonna 16-13-12-0 -- 41
Bridgeport 6-0-14-0 -- 20
SCORING
FIRST QUARTER
M: Littleton 47 pass from Arlia (Thompson conversion) 8:41
B: Tarr pass from Alberts (conversion failed) 3:55
M: Arlia 9 run (Quering conversion) 2:56
SECOND QUARTER
M: Quering 43 pass from Arlia (Diertrich kick) 4:05
M: Quering 25 pass from Arlia (kick failed) :00
THIRD QUARTER
M: Quering 90 pass from Arlia (kick failed) 7:39
B: Tarr 45 run (conversion failed) 4:06
B: Tarr 97 run (Alberts conversion) 2:27
M: Thompson 9 pass from Arlia (conversion failed) :30
FOURTH QUARTER
None
RUSHING: Madonna 23-142-TD (Humberson 13-100; Quering 2-14; McKay 2-3; McAllister 1-(-1); Arlia 5-35-TD); Bridgeport 37-233-2TD (Pyle 14-34; Marshall 5-6; Alberts 10-19; Tarr 8-174-2TD).
PASSING: Madonna 15-22-350-5TD-INT (all by Arlia); Bridgeport 12-14-89-TD-INT (all by Alberts)
RECEIVING: Madonna 15-350-5TD (Quering 7-200-3TD; Thompson 1-9-TD; McKay 2-39; Littleton 1-47-TD; Burdine 3-46; Dietrich 1-9); Bridgeport 12-89-TD (Tarr 6-70-TD; Pyle 3-8; Marshall 3-11).