After the handshaking and the prayer at midfield, coaches and players from the Bishop Chatard and Roncalli high school football teams looked at the scoreboard with a touch of disbelief on their faces.

With Roncalli's injuries and Chatard's talent, the Trojans were the favorite heading into the first game on Roncalli's new artificial turf. But the game was certainly not expected to be so lopsided, a 41-7 win for Chatard.

"Oh, no," Chatard coach Vince Lorenzano said when asked if this was a result he could have foreseen. "But I think they had a lot of injuries, and I think we caught them after two tough games. This really was a closer game than the score. I don't think it was that outlandish."

The game felt close for much of the first half -- the score was tied 7-7 early in the second quarter. But it quickly became clear that Chatard (3-0) was too big and too fast for the Rebels, who have been without 13 starters because of injuries and suspensions in their first three games.

Roncalli (1-2) rushed for minus-6 yards in its worst loss since 2002. Third-string running back Ben Polizzi, a sophomore, was the only Rebels player to rush for more than 2 yards, netting 31 yards on 12 carries.

Joe Holland led Chatard with 95 yards on 17 attempts, but he did not play in the fourth quarter after cramping on the field in the third quarter. Tyler Kleinschmidt added 82 yards, and Dan Kleinschmidt had 39 yards.

Trojans quarterback Rob Doyle completed 8-of-10 passes for 130 yards.

"Chatard has a great team," Roncalli coach Bruce Scifres said. "Right now I think they're hitting on all eight cylinders, and we're hitting on about four cylinders. But our kids played hard. As depleted as our ranks are, I felt our kids played hard."

It was an unexpectedly passing-heavy game. In the first half, both teams had more passing yards than rushing yards. Doyle completing 5-of-6 passes for 86 yards and Corsaro completing 8-of-10 passes for 77 yards. Corsaro was intercepted by Chatard's Kyle Dietrick as the Rebels tried to pull within a touchdown at the end of the second half.

Lorenzano said all the passing in the first half "wasn't making me very happy," but Holland said the improved passing game has made a big difference for him.

"I think it really helped open the field up," Holland said.

Holland ran for two touchdowns, Tyler Kleinschmidt ran for two and Doyle passed for one and ran for one.

"This was (Doyle's) night, there's no question," Lorenzano said. "When you can do those things, it's going to make you better."