ORCHARD LAKE — Minutes before Saturday's kickoff, Zach Stogdill of Orchard Lake St. Mary's told his teammates they had to set the tempo early against U. of D. Jesuit, a team St. Mary's lost to each of the past two seasons.
    Stogdill did his part.  He returned the opening kickoff 66 yards to the U-D 19 to set up Malcolm Arrington's touchdown run on the next play.  U-D was forced to punt after three downs, and Stogdill returned it 61 yards to the 2.  Once again, Arrington scored on the next play for a 14-0 lead.
    "We needed a quick start," Stogdill said.  "It was all open on my returns."
    The fast start was exactly what St. Mary's needed as the Eaglets opened play in the Catholic League Central Division with a 28-10 victory.
    "Zach did well for us," Arrington said.  "He made it easy for us on those first two.  We got comfortable after that.  I don't think it was a letup.  U-D has beaten us the last two years so we wanted to go out and get a win, especially us seniors who never beat them."
    Arrington's third touchdown, this one from 14 yards out, gave St. Mary's (4-0) a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
    A 59-yard kickoff return by Tom Paglia set up quarterback Aaron Conti's 3-yard touchdown run and the Cubs were within 14 points at halftime.
    U-D (3-2, 0-2) took the  second-half kickoff and drove 78 yards in 13 plays before settling for a 25-yard field goal by Timothy Deters.
    St. Mary's answered with its best drive to put the game out of reach.  The Eaglets used 14 plays and 7:38 off the clock to go 65 yards.  Stogdill's 11-yard touchdown reception from Anthony Alexander (6-10, 86 yards) completed the drive.
    Arrington carried 18 times for 110 yards.
    Conti supplied the Cubs with most of their offense as he carried 17 times for 93 yards.
    U-D was held to 127 yards, all on the ground.  Conti attempted just two passes, one was incomplete and the other resulted in defensive pass interference.
    "He's quick and moves side to side," Stogdill, a cornerback, said of Conti.  "We switched to a cover with two safeties deep to have more run support.  With him in there we knew they weren't going to throw it."