ORANGE — The Mahar defense will enjoy the film session after its season-opening performance against Springfield International Charter School on Friday. 

The Senators defense dominated the game from start-to-finish, holding the Bulldogs — which were playing in their first-ever game as a program — to just 41 yards of total offense. In the first three quarters, SICS had just four plays that gained positive yards. 

With the defense holding strong, the Mahar offense was able to punch in five touchdowns to cruise to a 35-0 independent win at the Woodward Complex. 

“We knew that they were new to the sport and we could capitalize on their mistakes,” Mahar’s Xander Roberts said. “Defense was our advantage in this game. We hammered them and kept them from gaining yards.” 

The Bulldogs gained just two first downs in the game, one following a broken play on a fumbled snap on a punt and the other late in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand, as Mahar controlled the game on defense the way head coach Chris Bailey hoped it would. 

“The kids were flying to the football,” Bailey said. “We stressed flying to the football and hitting hard and that’s what they did. I’m very proud of the way the defense played. Everybody was in the ballgame and everyone played well.”

The Senators held SICS to minus-4 yards in the first quarter, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. 

That changed in the second quarter. Domanic Cacciolfi, Roberts and quarterback Kaleb Lemcke each had big runs to get Mahar into the red zone, with Roberts running it in from a yard out to give the Senators a 6-0 lead with 11:06 to play in the half. 

Following a Bulldog three-and-out, Mahar drove into the SICS red zone but Lemcke was picked off by Winston Lewis with 3:22 to go in the half to prevent any points from going on the board. 

The Senators came through with another three-and-out to get the ball back for one more possession. With 26 ticks to go until the break, Lemcke dialed up a shot downfield, throwing it up the middle where a pair of Mahar receivers and SICS defenders were converging. 

The ball found its way into Cacciolfi’s hands, with the senior bobbling it a couple times before securing it as he fell into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown. Cacciolfi ran in the two-point try to make it a 14-0 game at the break. 

“I told Kaleb, ‘be honest, who were you throwing to?’ He said I threw it to Dom.” Bailey said. “Heck of a catch by Domanic. We’ll take it every single time.” 

The Senators got the ball to open the second half and drove it right down the field after three long runs from Lemcke. Roberts ended the drive by running in from seven yards out to put Mahar up, 20-0, with 6:24 to play in the quarter. 

Following a Bulldogs punt, Roberts dashed for a 28-yard from from the 50 and Cacciolfi ran it in from 22 yards out on the ensuing play. Nate Danielson kicked the extra point to make it a 27-0 game going into the fourth. 

Roberts ran in his third score of the game with 2:22 left on the clock — his third rushing touchdown of the game — and Lemcke found David Vitello for the two-point try to close out the scoring.  

Cacciolfi led the way with 117 yards on the ground. Lemcke ran for 86 yards and Roberts tallied 62 yards rushing. 

“We did everything we needed to do tonight,” Roberts said. “We came back as a better team this year. Last year everything was new but we’re hammering it down. We feel confident.” 

The Senators now go into their Week 2 contest against McCann Tech with all the confidence in the world, though Bailey knows his squad still has a lot of work left to do to reach their goals. 

“We talked about playing physical and playing hard and that’s what we did tonight,” Bailey said. “Did we make mistakes? Absolutely. We didn’t play flawless football by any means. We have a lot to work on but also a lot to build on. We don’t get to take any points to the next game. We have to get back to the drawing board. We didn’t win the Super Bowl here.”