Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

Both the present and future of St. Bernard’s football was on display on Saturday.

With four starters injured by the second half of their regular season finale against Fortuna, the Crusaders were forced to go to some of their younger back-ups, and they didn’t disappoint with some big plays.

In particular, freshmen Grant Omey, Owen Shanahan and Brayden Luna.

Omey, who plays running back and linebacker, had a big day on defense, finishing with four tackles and a sack, as well catching a pivotal 17-yard fourth-quarter reception on a scoring drive that helped keep the Crusaders in the game.

The catch came on a pass from his older brother Will Omey, a senior quarterback, and was the first high school completion between the two.

Check out the play here, as well as a nice move from the younger Omey, who broke a tackle to stretch the play an extra 12 or 13 yards.

Shanahan, a wide receiver, also had back-to-back receptions for 17 yards on the previous two plays, including a key third-down conversion.

Luna completed the strong showing by the freshmen class with three tackles at linebacker.

The Crusaders lost the game 34-26, and will look to rebound when they open the North Coast Section Division-6 playoffs a week from Saturday.

St. Bernard’s will find out its playoff opponent after Sunday’s NCS seedings meeting.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.