St. Michael's seemed determined to obliterate the memory of last season's disappointing finish in Saturday's season opener at Christian Brothers Athletic Complex.

The Horsemen came out of the gate in a big way, riding a solid running game anchored by the 1-2 punch of Michael Lamb and George Dominguez to unanswered touchdowns on their first three possessions, en route to a 38-14 victory over Bloomfield.

Lamb finished with 136 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Dominguez had
110 yards and three touchdowns, to go with two interceptions.

All told, the Horsemen rushed for
291 yards, despite the absence of starting running back Russell Disch, who injured his shoulder in practice Tuesday.

The win helped ease the memories of the slump that plagued the end of the Horsemen's 2009 season, which saw them go 2-3 in their final five games and fail to make it to the Class AAA state semifinals for the first time since 2002.

Lamb, a 6-foot-1, 213-pound senior fullback, set the tone on the Horsemen's first play from scrimmage, as he scampered 63 yards to the Bloomfield 11-yard line.

St. Michael's scored two plays later, when senior quarterback Michael Wiegel hit receiver Joel Fernandez across the middle for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 7 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first.

Lamb's opening run would prove to be a sign of things to come, as St. Michael's mixed its balanced running attack with its passing game to keep the Bobcats' defense off balance.

"Mike's such a big kid, he runs hard, and it's always going to take a few guys to bring him down," said St. Michael's head coach Joey Fernandez of Lamb. "But we've got five or six good backs this year and each of them brings something different to the table."

The speedy Dominguez, a 5-6 senior tailback, was the lightning to Lamb's thunder on Saturday. He had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs to cap scoring drives on the Horsemen's second and third possessions as St. Michael's took a 19-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Horsemen added a fourth touchdown on their opening possession of the third quarter, as Lamb finished off a seven-play, 64-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.

A successful point after by Travis Ish made it 26-0 with 9:06 to play in the quarter.

Bloomfield finally got on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter, when Bobcats senior signal-caller Mike Archibeque hit wideout Ben Martinez on a 58-yard touchdown along the left sideline to cut the
St. Michael's lead to 26-7 with 6:39 left in the period.

Wiegel answered back less than three minutes later, however, hitting senior receiver Matt Cantu for a
22-yard touchdown strike to make it 32-7 with 3:50 left in the third.

Dominguez capped the final St. Michael's scoring drive of the day when he scampered in for a 2-yard touchdown with 6:27 remaining in the game.

The score gave St. Michael's a commanding 38-7 lead — in the midst of a rain-soaked fourth quarter — before a late Bobcats touchdown provided the game's final margin.

"It's great to be able to run the ball, especially when you get whether like this," said Lamb, standing in the post-game drizzle. "We were able to throw the ball a lot, too."

Wiegel had a good day overall, finishing 8-for-14 with 117 yards passing, two touchdowns, and an interception. The only blip was a string of five consecutive first-half incompletions, that included his lone turnover of the game.

"I thought that Wiegel threw the ball really well and that he made good decisions," coach Fernandez said of his quarterback. "Some of his reads were a little slow, but we're going to work with him on that."

Archibeque was hassled all day by a tenacious St. Michael's defense.

He finished 11-for-20 with 165 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions.

Contact Jon Sward at jsward39@gmail.com.