In a classic conflict of styles, ground and pound won out over run and shoot as the DeKalb Middle School Saints beat Avery Trace Thursday night on a soggy field to advance to the conference championship this Saturday with a 40-22 win.

The Saints remained perfect on the season with the hard-fought win which ended up being a much higher scoring re-match of their season opener that DeKalb Middle won on the Avery Trace field, 16-14. The story line remained the same as the Raiders ended up getting a heavy dose of Saints runningbacks Josh May and Colby Barnes while DeKalb battled to keep up with Avery’s speedy receivers on the slick field.

The scoring got underway early when Josh May romped into the endzone from five yards out at the 4:18 mark of the first quarter, capping the opening drive of the night. The conversion made it 8-0. However, celebration was short-lived as Avery Trace returned the resulting kickoff for a touchdown. The conversion failed making it 8-6.

The Raiders returned to their air game but were intercepted on the third play of their drive. The turnover was capitalized on five plays later with a 10 yard run by Barnes. A May conversion make it 24-6.

The Raiders went back to their air game, turning the tables with a 70-yard bomb to make the score 24-14, which was the halftime score.

Avery Trace made their last bid for a contest by mounting a drive on their first series of the second half. They scored with 2:27 left in the third to make it 24-22.

The Saints then mounted a five play drive that culminated with a two yard dive by May on the first play of the fourth. The score was 32-22 at that point.

A last gasp by the Raiders failed when they were stopped on downs. The Saints salted away the win with an eight play drive that ended with another Barnes touchdown with just 45 second left in the game.

The Saints will play in the conference championship on Oct. 6 in Baxter. Their opponent is to be determined as is the game time.