Dylin Jackson was flagged in the opening seconds of St. Mary’s matchup with Loyola Blakefield — penalized for flipping in the end zone after his opening kickoff return touchdown.
The junior receiver never drew another flag, but he kept giving the Saints reasons to celebrate. In a must-win game, Jackson scored four times — twice on offense and once each on defense and special teams.
His performance powered No. 14 St. Mary’s to its first 50-point outing since 2019, a 50-35 home win over No. 5 Loyola Blakefield.
“Coming into it, we knew we could play with [Loyola Blakefield],” Jackson said. “Practice was great all week … we came in mentally — we were ready.”
The Saints opened the season 3-0, but dropped their ensuing three games and were outscored by 91 points. Jackson noted the added urgency to pick up wins with just four games remaining in the season leading into Friday.
Junior quarterback DJ Hitaffer said the Saints didn’t click during their losses, with players acting selfishly and trying to do their own thing. On Friday, he added, they played as one — all 11 on the field working together.
“We needed this win to stay alive,” coach Jason Budroni said. “This was a game we thought we could win. We knew we could score points on them.”
After Jackson’s opening kickoff return, the Saints (4-3) capitalized on a Loyola Blakefield fumble with a rushing touchdown from senior Jamal Epps — the first of his two scores. The Dons (4-3) kept it close through much of the half, trimming the deficit to a single score at one point.
Hitaffer struck back with two long passes: a 78-yard touchdown to junior Jordan Travis late in the first quarter and an 82-yard strike to Jackson with 4:05 left before halftime.
With seconds remaining in the half, Budroni inserted Jackson into the secondary after an injury to a regular defender. The move paid off as Jackson intercepted a desperation heave and raced 100 yards for a backbreaking touchdown, sending St. Mary’s into halftime with a 40-21 lead.
“I was kind of nervous because he doesn’t practice back there,” Budroni said. “But he just made a play and he’s a hell of an athlete. He came up big today.”
Jackson’s final score came on the opening drive of the second half after the Saints recovered an onside kick. Hitaffer connected with the junior on a jump-ball along the right sideline, with Jackson then dashing to the end zone for a 52-yard score.
Jackson finished the game with 214 receiving yards, and had over 350 total yards by the end of the first half.
“He’s a dog if I’m being honest,” Hitaffer said. “He’s all over the place … I’m blessed to have him as one of my weapons.”
Hitaffer and Jackson met as freshmen at St. Mary’s and “immediately clicked,” they said, quickly becoming best friends. Hitaffer credited their countless summer workouts for sharpening their connection on the field.
Nearly every other day, they met at 7 a.m. for team practice until 9. When the rest of the group left, the two stayed behind for another hour, working on routes and timing together.
“We just have our timing down,” Jackson said. “We bond all the time, practice all the time [and] we hang out all the time. It’s just a chemistry type of thing.”
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