St. Paul’s remains the top team in the Deep South HS league after beating one of the stronger programs in the region, Archbishop Shaw, 17-10 Saturday.

The victory means St. Paul’s is now 5-0 with three games left in the regular season.

Derek Drago paced St. Paul’s with two tries, while Sam Gartman added one and Jacob McDonald kicked his team’s lone conversion.

The St. Paul’s defense has been superb, allowing just five points in the team’s first four games, but Shaw was able to double that amount, dominating phase play and wearing down the St. Paul’s D.

"Tim Falcon, the coach for Shaw, always has a hard hitting scrum,” said St. Paul’s captain Christian Jarrett. “They executed their game plan, but they couldn’t handle our backs."

Even in the muddy conditions, it was St Paul's speedy back line that proved the difference. A quick pass from St Paul's scrumhalf , Kyle Gardner, soon got the three quarters on the front foot. Freshman Jacob Courtado was a standout, and he helped set up Gartman’s try, although Gartman, who broke two tackles and raced in from long range, did some work himself.

Both teams welcomed the tough game as playoff loom. There is still much rugby to get in the books, especially for Shaw, which drops to 1-2 but still has plenty of games to fit into the next month.

Also this weekend, Brother Martin improved to 3-3 with a 42-17 defeat of West Jeff.