Coach Beverly sees positives in loss

St. Luke's coach John Beverly sees positives in loss, looks to region opener

Ben Thomas | bthomas@press-register.com, September 04, 2012 6:44 p.m.

MOBILE, Alabama -- First-year St. Luke’s coach John Beverly got an up close and personal look at Mobile Christian’s standout running back, Tyler Rogers, on Friday night. Maybe too personal.

Rogers ran for 248 yards and two scores as the Leopards rallied to nip St. Luke’s 37-36 in both team’s season opener.

"He’s very shifty. He’s real good about going inside and then jumping back outside real quick," Beverly said of the 5-9, 183-pound Rogers. "We really couldn’t keep him contained. It seemed like we had him hemmed up on occasion and just couldn’t get him to the ground.

"We missed some tackles along the way, but he is a great back."

Beverly saw some good things from his team. The Wildcats scored 22 unanswered points in the first half and led 29-22 at the half. Andrew Favors threw three touchdown passes and Justin Ware had two TDs.

"It was a tough loss," Beverly said. "The big thing for us now is just to keep the boys’ spirits up, especially the seniors. We did some positive things. We are going to focus on those and correct some other issues and be ready this week."

St. Luke’s opens region play Friday at A.L. Johnson.