BROOKVILLE – In a game marred by penalties, turnovers and more three downs and out in one half than both teams may have had in their first three games combined, the Brookville Raiders topped the St. Marys Flying Dutch 20-3 at the Reservation in Brookville.

The Raiders got on the board first in the first quarter with a nifty 54-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cole Cook to Cory Santoriello. The extra point try by Brookville's third string kicker, Brent Puller, was good, and the Raiders led 7-0.

St. Marys came right back and marched to the Brookville 17-yard line before the drive stalled. The Flying Dutch had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from the Week 3 D9sports.com Player of the Week, kicker Tristan Mulcahy.

The score was 7-3 in favor of Brookville and would stay that way through halftime and the third quarter due to turnovers and drives that were repeatedly stalled by penalties.

In the fourth quarter, Brookville seemed to right the ship in front of a huge homecoming crowd after one of the riskier series of events you will see in a high school football game.

Midway through the final quarter with the score still 7-3 in favor of Brookville, the Raiders faced a fourth-and-5 at the St. Marys’ 36. Raider head coach Chris Dworek called for a fake punt. Punter Brent Puller took the snap and went around the right end for seven yards and a first down.

But hold on.

Brookville was called for holding on the play. After the officials marked off the penalty from the spot of the foul, Brookville faced fourth-and-11 at the St. Marys 42-yard line.

Puller took the snap and attempted the fake punt a second time, going around the right end once again. Only this time, Puller handed the ball off to Keith Ishman on a reverse, and Ishman got the first down and more.

Successful back-to-back fake punts at any level of football are highly unusual.

The Raiders then put the running game to work and capped off the 67-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run by Matt Gilbert. The extra point by Puller was good and the Raiders led 14-3.

You could almost hear the big sigh of relief from the big homecoming crowd as the Raiders had some breathing room for the first time in the ball game.

As St. Marys went to the air on the arm of quarterback Brandon Bennett, the Raider defensive backs picked up their game, and it paid off with an interception by Brett Berfield at the Raider 45-yard line. Berfield returned the ball to the St. Marys 39-yard line.

The Raider running game did the rest, as the final points were put on the board by Raider fullback Bill Morrison on a 3-yard plunge over the left side with 55 seconds left in the game. The extra point was no good, and the final score was 20-3.

The Raiders tallied 285 total yards (187 rushing) to St. Marys 103.

St. Marys (1-3) hosts Bradford next Friday while the Brookville Raiders (3-1) travel to Union to take on the Knights.