Bishop Guertin running back A.J. Holmes barrels through the North Middlesex defense duirng Saturday's inter-state clash in Townsend, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

TOWNSEND, Mass. – A.J. Holmes hadn’t been feeling well all week, but after his performance at North Middlesex High School on Saturday, you’d have never known it.

Holmes rumbled his way for 149 yards and two TDs on 16 carries and also had another receiving touchdown as he and the Bishop Guertin Cardinals trounced the Patriots 35-21 in a non-league, inter-state battle.

It was a breakout game for Holmes, who still came into the contest averaging nine yards a carry but yesterday was a workhorse, part of a 290 yard team rushing attack.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said. “The legs just felt good today. I was doing my warmups before the game and I just felt really good, really explosive today. And obviously I had good blocks.”

“He was fourth in the state right now in rushing before this game,” Guertin coach Anthony Nalen said. “He’s done a pretty good job carrying the load when he needs to. … He means a lot to the team.”

But the real key for Guertin was it capitalized on three crucial Patriot turnovers, turning them into 21 points. Quarterback Colin Taylor fumbled on the Pats first possession and nine plays later BG quarterback Nate Bowen tossed one of his three TDs passes, this to Sam Fayad for a 7-0 BG lead with 2:54 left in the opening quarter.

Then BG’s Cole Reeves picked off a Taylor pass at midfield and Guertin (2-2 overall, 1-2 Divsion I) later turned that into an 8-yard Holmes TD run for a 14-0 lead with 1:08 to go in the period. Fast forward to the third quarter and another Patriot fumble turned into a Holmes 27-yard TD jaunt and a 28-7 commanding Cardinal lead.

“We only had one turnover and it was against Goffstown,” Nalen said, “so to be able to get a few was nice. And if you don’t come away with points, it’s all for naught.”

“You can’t have those mistakes, especially against at team like BG,” North Middlesex coach Jordan Murphy said, his team now1-2. “They control the ball, they control the clock. They don’t make many mistakes themselves. Self-inflicted wounds, pretty hard to overcome.”

After BG went up 14-0 the teams traded second quarter TDs, Taylor hitting speedy receiver Brady Reardon for a 5-yard TD, and Guertin getting a 9-yard run by Alex Dolan and it was 21-7 at the half.

After Guertin got its three TD advantage, the Cards managed one more for the game, a Holmes 20-yard catch and run with 7:33 to play. The Patriots got a 1-yard Taylor TD and he had a scoring toss to Nick Lenart with 2:46 to go.

It wasn’t perfect in Nalen’s mind, despite the win. Guertin had numerous holding calls, which might have been expected with a few starting linemen, including junior Aaron Chmielecki and center Dominick Grande, out with injuries. They’re hoping to be at full strength vs. Nashua North on Friday.

“We fixed some mistakes that we had (last week) vs. Bedford,” Nalen said. “But now we created some mistakes that we have to fix.”