St. Paul’s Wolves found an opponent despite Hurricane Gustav, traveling to Lafayette Saturday and coming home with a heart throbbing, 13-10, come-from-behind victory over the St. Thomas More Cougars.

The stage was set for the Wolves when sophomore defensive back Stephen Smith picked off a St. Thomas More pass with 11 seconds remaining and returned the ball 41 yards. He was also in on three tackles and recovered a fumble for the Wolves.

“I looked at the clock before the play started with 20 seconds left,” Smith said. “The ball was floating in the air for a long time. Their quarterback just threw the ball up. I just ran back there and got it. Greg Blasiar and Jermaine Sams were back there with me. I was playing with two broken fingers so I wasn’t sure I would make the play. After I made the interception, I knew I had to get out of bounds quick,” Smith said.

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St. Thomas More was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul penalty after Smith was tackled out of bounds.

Smith has a broken ring finger on his right hand and a broken left hand pinkie after injuring them in practice a couple weeks ago.

Following Smith’s interception, senior quarterback Ricky Wendel then carried the ball for a three-yard gain, positioning the ball in the center of the field for a field goal attempt after the Wolves called time out. Junior place kicker Jake Saltalamacchia, a first-year football player and member of the Wolves’ soccer team, trotted on with the field goal unit. To that point, Saltalamacchia had missed his first attempt before converting on a 32-yarder.

Following Wendel’s short gainer, the Cougars were flagged for jumping off sides, moving the ball 5 yards closer. Saltalamacchia calmly split the uprights from 33 yards out with no time remaining.

“When we got that 5 yards on the penalty, I was happy about that. In my first year playing, trying my third field goal in a real game, I was really nervous. All my teammates were just saying remember your technique. So that’s what I did. I just went out there and hit it,” Saltalamacchia said.

He described the huddle leading up to the kick. “Will Gensler, our backup kicker who is also on the blocking team, just walked up to me and said don’t be nervous. Just remember your technique. You’ve got this,” Saltalamacchia added.

The kicker said it was crazy when the ball went through the uprights.

“I remember looking and seeing one of our lineman Jonathan Lilly (6-2, 260), a big dude, just running at me screaming. He pushed me. After the game, he said he almost tackled me, but he didn’t want to hurt me.”

Saltalamacchia said his teammates crowded around him, were pushing on him and screaming following the game-winning boot.

“It was an exciting moment,” he said.

The young place kicker credited field goal snapper Jordan Crane and Wendel, the holder, with doing an excellent job. He said he and his teammates watched the game film twice on the bus ride back to St. Paul’s.

St. Paul’s head coach Ken Sears said everyone on the field goal team did a great job. Sears talked about asking Saltalamacchia to come out for football.

“I knew Jake had a good leg. He attended a couple camps during the summer. He has really worked hard at becoming a place kicker. As good as the Wolves are in soccer, they are so tuned in and go year round. I broke one off from the soccer group. He’s a great soccer player as well,” Sears added.

Sears said at Sunday’s team meeting to review the St. Thomas More game film, Saltalamacchia received a couple team stickers for his performance, and he teased him about now being a football player.

Sears described Saturday’s win as a great victory against a quality Class 5A opponent.

“I believe they were ranked No. 5. I was also told that they hadn’t lost a game at their place since 2002. The way it started out, I didn’t think we were going to break that streak,” Sears said.

“They moved the ball on us to get the lead. By the second quarter, I think we made some pretty good adjustments. Our players really focused in on those adjustments. They played with great intensity from the beginning to the end.”

Sears said losing two fumbles in the red zone hurt his team.

The Wolves came back from a 7-0 halftime deficit and trailed 10-0 with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Wendel did a nice job under center, completing 11-of-19 passes for 186 yards. Senior receiver Patrick Huval became Wendel’s deep threat with three catches covering 122 yards.

The Wolves rushed the ball 34 times, picking up 126 yards and averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Sophomore running back Mikhail Washington carried the load, gaining 56 yards on seven carries, averaging eight yards per rush. Sophomore Stephon Smith ran the ball nine times for 48 yards.

Sears said his club played some really good defense. Senior middle linebacker Jordan Bodenheimer recorded seven individual tackles with an assist and caused a fumble. He also scored a touchdown on a 2-yard plunge to cut the lead to 10-7.

Senior defensive back Greg Blasiar posted eight solo tackles. Junior defensive end Houston Bates notched two sacks with two solo stops and five assists. Senior linebacker Tyler Adams contributed three solo stops, six assists and a sack. Sophomore defensive tackle Mickey Johnson chipped in with four individual tackles and two assists. St. Paul’s will host the Archbishop Shaw Eagles Friday night at 7 in Hunter Stadium.