St. Paul’s Wolves (2-0) rode a stingy defense to a 20-0 victory Saturday over the Archbishop Shaw Eagles before a packed house on senior day at Hunter Stadium.

St. Paul’s will look to keep its streak alive as the Wolves host the Grace King Fighting Irish tonight at 7 in Hunter Stadium.

The Wolves’ defense has only allowed 10 points in its two victories. St. Paul’s defense was dialed in during Saturday’s victory led by junior defensive end Houston Bates who recorded four sacks. He posted five tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He was credited with three solo tackles with one assist. He caused a fumble hitting the Shaw quarterback, which was picked off in mid air by senior Nick Logarbo, and returned for a 38-yard touchdown with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter.

St. Paul's senior quarterback Ricky Wendel (8) is tackled by an Archbishop Shaw defender in Saturday'€™s game played at Hunter Stadium. Tonight the Wolves (2-0) host Grace King. (File Photo by Gwen Ladner)

Wolves’ senior defensive back Greg Blasiar tallied seven individual tackles with one assist and broke up a pass.

Senior linebacker Jordan Bodenheimer turned in a solid effort, notching five solo stops with two assists. Senior defensive back Beau Trist intercepted a pass, defended three other passes and had a solo tackle.

Offensively, the Wolves got an eight-yard first quarter TD from senior quarterback Ricky Wendel. He has connected on 20-of-33 passes (60.6 percent) for 253 yards. Senior Patrick Huval, a first-year football player, is the Wolves’ leading receiver with five catches for 143 yards, averaging 28.6 yards per reception. Huval is a starting outfielder on the Wolves’ baseball team.

Huval credits his early success on the football field to hard work, and the defenses not knowing much about him. “Ricky (Wendel) has done a really good job for us. I do my best to run good routes. The offensive line has done a good job, giving him time to throw,” Huval said.

“We have had some good practices this week. We are ready for Grace King.”

Wendel has spread the ball out with three other players having four catches each, including Will Gensler, Stephon Smith and Mikhail Washington.

Junior place kicker Jake Saltalamacchia connected on two field goals against Shaw, from 37 and 27 yards out, while missing one attempt from 48-yards out on a high snap.

He continues to be an offensive weapon for the Wolves, clicking on 4-of-6 attempts on the season. The Wolves’ punting game is in the capable hands of Gensler, a junior, who is averaging 43.1 yards on eight punts. He got off a 59-yarder against Shaw.

St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears said he feels his team needs to play better offensively this week.

“We felt like we left a lot of points on the field against Shaw due to penalties and fumbles,” Sears said. “Luckily, we recovered our fumbles, which didn’t result in turnovers. They didn’t cause any big momentum shifts. We need to clean up those things this week, getting some more offensive production.”

Sears said he hopes his defense can continue to play as solid as it has in the first two ballgames. He praised the consistent play of Bates, his junior defensive end.

“Houston had a great game. He has a tremendous work ethic, and strives to get better each week,” Sears said. “Our defense is gelling, and they are tackling well. Across the board, we are getting a good pass rush. We have also been able to stop the run, while our secondary has played well,” Sears added.

He also said his special teams have turned in some strong play.

Sears said Grace King has a new coach. “Looking at their scrimmage and jamboree film, they have a couple speedy running backs. They have some players that can hurt you.”

Byron Nihart, 52, first-year head coach with Grace King, is coming off a 35-7 loss to Newman on Sunday.

Nihart said he has seen 10 games this season.

“St. Paul’s is the best team I’ve seen to this point. They spread it around on offense to the various backs. They also have a good quarterback (Ricky Wendel) despite the fact this is his first year,” Nihart said.

Despite the lopsided loss to Newman, Grace King rushed for 185 yards led by junior Brandon Scott, who gained 87 yards on 15 carries.

Senior running back Kenneth Jones contributed 76 yards on 15 rushes. The Fighting Irish run a split back veer offense. Senior quarterback Max Parish (5-7, 160) completed just 1-of-4 passes for 26 yards in the loss. Defensively, junior linebacker Jamal Griffith (5-11, 175) recorded eight solo stops with five assists.

“We just hope to be competitive. St. Paul’s is very good on the defensive side of the ball. They are very well coached, and handle their defensive assignments. No. 94 (Houston Bates) is all over the field. Nobody seems to be able to block him. Everything I see on film shows they present challenges for our offensive line,” Nihart added.

Grace King has three seniors, a junior and a sophomore along their offensive front.

“We have to try and stop their inside rushing game. They have pretty good team speed. Hopefully, we’ll have more capability to stop them on the inside, trying to keep them from getting to the outside,” Nihart said.