The 2022 season has been full of ups and downs for the Saints’. There were times when everybody counted this team out in the beginning of the season. After being a preseason favorite to win the state title, the Saints’ started off with a tough loss to their rivals at Nolan Catholic. After that game, the Saints’ largely struggled during the rest of their non-conference battles. They finished the non-conference part of their schedule with two wins and three losses, which was a very disappointing start after being highly praised in the preseason.
After a disappointing start, the season did not get any better for the Saints’ at the start of their divisional matchups. They suffered a tough loss to Midland Christian. This is when people really started to count this team out. All Saints’ had the talent, but there was clearly something wrong, and it did not seem like it was going to be fixed. They had been suffering a lot of injuries but it did not seem like they would ever be healthy.
The next game was Homecoming, where the Saints’ faced off against Southwest Christian. All Saints handled SCS well and got their first division win. Things were finally starting to look up. However, just when things were looking good, they played a very tough Liberty Christian team and got blown out 31-0. At this point the season looked to be hopeless; however, after a close win over Fort Worth Christian, the Saints were going to the playoffs with low expectations from fans. They knew they had to switch something up to make a run.
They started off the playoffs hot with a fairly dominant win over Grapevine Faith and something about the team truly did seem different. They seemed to be confident and worked more as a team. For the first time, All Saints’ actually looked like the team that they were supposed to be. Their next matchup was Liberty Christian, who had blown them out earlier in the season. Nevertheless, the players stayed confident leading up to the Liberty game. They knew that they had the talent to beat Liberty, and they just had to play their game. That is just what they did. The defense dominated Liberty’s high powered offense and the offense finally found their rhythm. All Saints’ played a near perfect game en route to a 38-20 win over the Warriors. They looked like the new team to beat after knocking off the 1-seed.
The next test was Fort Worth Christian, who the Saints had beaten earlier in the year. Now All Saints’ was really clicking, though. They started off the game hot and dominated on both sides of the ball from the first whistle. The defense seemed to have an answer for everything and the offense looked unstoppable. The Saints’ dominated and won 35-8, only allowing one touchdown.
The Saints’ have looked as good as anybody could hope in the playoffs so far, but they have one final test in the championship game. They are playing Fort Bend Christian, who have looked just as good in the playoffs and have some of the best talent that the Saints have seen this year. It will definitely be their toughest challenge, but it is a winnable game for sure. As long as All Saints’ does their thing in this game, they should be able to come out on top. However, these players from Fort Bend will make you pay for mistakes so there is not much room for error.
It will surely be a great championship game that either team can win. It will 100% come down to which team wants it more. Both teams unquestionably have the talent, but that is not what wins games like these. Games like these come down to execution. Whichever team has the better gameplan and whoever executes their gameplan will most likely win this game.
