Althoff blows things open early in rout of Collinsville Kahoks

A dominant first quarter Friday left little doubt about the outcome as the Althoff Crusaders overwhelmed the Collinsville Kahoks.

New Althoff starting quarterback Trey Mosley tossed five touchdown passes in the first half, including two to St. Louis University basketball recruit Jordan Goodwin, as the Crusaders hung up a 58-15 victory in the season opener for both schools.

Three of Mosley’s five TD passes were set up by turnovers by his defense.

“To be honest with you, our offense gets all the pub because of what we did last year but we’ve really got more guys coming back on defense,” said Althoff coach Ken Turner, whose team won 13 straight games last season before losing to Chicago Phillips in the Class 4A state championship game. “I was excited to see these guys get on the field and we’ve got a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, starting with the defense.”

Key performer

With former Althoff quarterback Jordan Augustine watching from the sidelines, Mosley completed 10-of-15 passes for 161 yards and five TDs while playing only the first half.　

“It will be a shock to everyone else but not to me,” Turner said of Mosley, who was making his first varsity start. “He’s been that way, he’s been throwing the ball well as a backup and he just had Jordan Augustine in front of him. He’s been waiting for this moment for two years, to just go ahead and be what he can be.”

Key sequence

A punt snap sailed over the Collinsville punter’s head on the Kahoks’ first possession and resulted in an Althoff safety. Things quickly deteriorated from there for the Kahoks surrendered eight first-half touchdowns to the Crusaders.

The first came on a 53-yard run by Althoff’s Miami (Ohio) recruit Jaylon Bester, who found an opening on the right side and outran everyone to the end zone.

Then it was Mosley’s turn to shine as he kept taking advantage of his many receiving targets.

“My line did a great job, I was just chilling in the pocket,” said Mosley, a senior. “The receivers are an amazing group of guys, it’s just like playing Madden (the football video game) out there. I dont even think we started behind the 50-(yard line). The defense played phenomenal, we’ve got a great group of guys.”

The Althoff defense pumped up the offense by contributing four turnovers, including interceptions by C.J. Coldon, Edwyn Brown and Justin Strong.

Coldon’s interception led to his own 27-yard TD reception. Strong’s pick preceded a 65-yard TD pass from Mosley to Goodwin, with Goodwin adding a 4-yard TD catch before the first quarter ended. Goodwin had four catches for 95 yards and two TDS in the first half.

“He’s a stud, all-around,” Mosley said. “I think he can play any sport, in my opinion.”

Althoff scored four TDs in a span of 7 minutes, 6 seconds of the first quarter. Bester finished with 118 yards on 10 carries.

Collinsville broke the shutout on a 69-yard halfback pass from Trevor Sanders to Rhett Romanik early in the second quarter.

Brown returned an interception 20 yards for a TD late in the first half before Justin Strong tacked on a 7-yard TD run that pushed Althoff’s halftime lead to 58-7.

The lone score in the second half was a late 15-yard TD pass hauled in by Collinsville’s Anthony Robinson.

This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Althoff blows things open early in rout of Collinsville Kahoks."