ERIE, Pa. – Christian Santiago scored five rushing touchdowns as the McDowell Trojans captured their fourth consecutive District 10 title, 40-21 over Butler in the 6A championship.
Santiago scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter on runs of 15 and two yards, as McDowell took a 13-0 lead.
Butler, which lost to the Trojans 38-21 in the regular season, battled throughout the night and cut the deficit to 13-7 on Mac Schnur’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Baxter.
The Trojans scored a pair of touchdowns to take a commanding 26-7 lead into the half.
First, it was Artis Simmons scoring on a 13-yard run and then Santiago with his third touchdown of the half, a 6-yard scamper.
The Golden Tornado came out in the third quarter and made it a 26-14 game on Braylon Littlejohn’s 24-yard touchdown run.
Things got interesting later in the quarter, as Littlejohn scored again on a 2-yard run and to make it a 26-21 game.
McDowell put to bed any thoughts of a Butler comeback in the fourth, however, as Santiago scored from a yard out on the first play of the fourth and then put the finishing touches on his brilliant night with a 4-yard run later in the quarter.
With the win, the Trojans advance to play Allderdice on Friday.
