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Holy Cross 24, St. Mary's, Cal. 22

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) Brian Hall completed 16-of-24 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown as Holy Cross beat St. Mary's of California 24-22 on Saturday.

Holy Cross (3-3) led 21-3 before reserve St. Mary's quarterback Stephen Ratilff replaced injured starter Ryan Sauter. Ratliff completed 7-of-12 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown to lead a comeback that fell just short.

Buried deep in his own territory early in the fourth quarter, Hall tried a quick kick at his own 3. St. Mary's blocked the kick, and Ratliff threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Heath Villrreal to cut the Holy Cross lead to 24-16 with 9:32 left. But Ezequiel Arevalo missed the extra point.

Clint Wilson's 7-yard scoring run brought St. Mary's to 24-22 with 33 seconds left. But Ratliff's pass attempt on a 2-point conversion that would have tied the game was knocked away.

Holy Cross jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a 20-yard touchdown run from Ari Confesor, and pushed the lead to 21-3 on a 1-yard TD run by Gideon Akande early in the second quarter.

Wilson rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns for St. Mary's. Akande rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

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