LYNN — Two-time defending state champion St. Mary’s hosted its first flag football game at Manning Field in more than two years Thursday. The Spartans defeated Essex Tech, 33-16, and Malden, 32-0, to sweep the action.

“It’s great to be at home and have our family and our school community come out and support us,” said St. Mary’s coach Terrell Patterson. “It’s tough having all your games on the road, so it feels great to have a home game.”

St. Mary’s made sure to take advantage of familiar turf. In its first game against Essex Tech, after the Spartans turned the Hawks over on downs, quarterback Sophia Lafontant connected with Janae Holmes to make it 6-0. Kaileigh Patterson took a shuttle pass to convert the point-after try.

Essex Tech drove the ball downfield, but on first-and-goal, St. Mary’s Eleni Echevarria intercepted a pass in the end zone and raced down the sideline for a score (13-0).

“Eleni is a special player. She’s the varsity goalie in soccer, so she has great lateral quickness and lateral movement, which is why I think she plays the corner position really well,” Terrell Patterson said. “She jumps a lot of passes and makes a lot of interceptions. It’s something invaluable to have on the team. She’s a great multi-sport athlete, great kid, and one of our captains.”

You could say there were plenty of highlight-worthy plays. The first came when Lafontant, from her own end zone, connected deep with Holmes for a touchdown (21-0).

“I saw an open field and whenever I see my receiver parallel with the defender, I have so much confidence in my receivers that they’re going to beat them, so I just have to throw it up to them,” Lafontant said. “I have a lot of trust in her to beat the defender every single time. I know she can get out there and get open.”

Right before halftime, Lafontant threw to Kaileigh Patterson, who juked three defenders and split between them before being tackled at the 1-yard line. 

“Every time I touch the ball, I give it everything that I have, knowing the defenders are trying to grab my flag. I try my best to avoid them,” Kaileigh Patterson said. “It’s a team effort and I feel like if everyone has good energy, we all are fueled by the good energy.”

Lafontant threw two more touchdown passes in the second half to keep the Spartans ahead.

Against Malden, a first-year program, both teams found success. Lafontant threw touchdown passes to Echevarria, Andrea Basta, Rianne Fondi, Kaileigh Patterson, Jayna Pena, and Angelica Munoz.

Terrell Patterson was pleased with what he saw on both sides of the ball.

“Offensively, it’s great that we have some experienced offensive players that can lead the way as we prepare for the second half of the season. We have the best quarterback in the state and on this side of the country in Sophia Lafontant,” he said. “Surrounding her, we have some dynamic and explosive players in Kaileigh and Eleni. Defensively, we played great team defense with everyone flying to the football. It was a great collective effort.”

Kaileigh Patterson and Lafontant acknowledged other teams are improving, and know their team needs to keep improving if it wants to bring another championship to Tremont Street.

“This team gets better and better each year. We practice so much and we’re all committed to the sport. The sport is growing and we know it’s going to get more competitive, but that’s not going to set us back. We keep going 100 percent every practice and game,” Kaileigh Patterson said. “It’s amazing. I think this is the most fun season so far, and hopefully, we get the third state championship.”

“I think all the teams out here are getting better, including us. It just means that we need to step it up ourselves so we can make sure we get ourselves another championship,” Lafontant said.