Undefeated St. Joseph football team posts second straight shutout, Epstein stars at quarterback

Mitchel Epstein, a backup quarterback who has performed like a starter since taking over for injured junior Paul Cocozziello, continued to impress, throwing three touchdown passes while leading the St. Joseph High School football team to a 42-0 drubbing of Donovan Catholic on Friday night.

The shutout was the second straight for the Falcons, who improved to 6-0. St. Joseph has limited five opponents to a touchdown or less and has not yielded a point over the last 11 quarters of play.

Luke Yakely scored two rushing touchdowns against the Griffins (0-6), who are coached by former Rutgers University quarterback Tom Tarver. A 1,000-yard rusher last season, Yakely now leads the team with 10 rushing touchdowns.

Jon Sot was on the receiving end of two Epstein scoring strikes, while A.J. Murray had a touchdown catch at the end of the first half as St. Joseph built a 35-0 lead. Sot has converted all 30 of his extra-point attempts and is 6 of 6 on field goals.

Jordan Davis closed out the scoring with an early fourth-quarter touchdown run.

Epstein, making his third consecutive start after playing wide receiver, entered Friday night's contest having completed 12 of 17 passes for 244 yards.