WEST ROXBURY – Cardinal Hayes took advantage of untimely miscues to secure a 36-29 victory over Catholic Memorial in a see-saw affair of Catholic school non-league powerhouses from the Northeast on opening weekend.

Quarterback Rich Belin, a Division 1 commit to Syracuse University, came alive in the second half on 13-of-17 passing for 217 yards. He finished with four touchdowns with two through the air to Ken-G Burnham as the Cardinals scored on every possession of the second half except the final series for the kneel down with the game finally in hand. Belin also added 67 yards on the ground.

“This is my 27th year at the school and I’ve seen miracles happen at the school and how they’ve done things, and the kids just learn resilience every year,” said Cardinal Hayes head coach C.J. O’Neill. “I’m proud of them and this was a great lesson as we needed to get our butts kicked a little bit and learn how to keep fighting. That’s life. You get knocked down, you have to get back up.”

The Knights (0-1) dominated the first half of play, and it was the defense with three sacks – two from Carson Eutsay – and an interception on Cardinal Hayes’ first series from Jaiden Johnson in the end zone which initially set the tone.

Eutsay also stalled a series with one of his sacks on a fourth-and-nine play inside the red zone as the Cardinals went for it as they were moving the ball but still had nothing to show for it with 10:49 left in the second quarter.

Catholic Memorial scored twice in the first half of play on a 20-yard touchdown run from Mekhi Dodd, who returns to the Knights’ backfield after an ACL injury, and a Gavin Brown 21-yard reception from Kise Flannery, who was on the field for the Knights for the first time as the starting quarterback.

The Cardinals (1-0) trailed 14-0 with 49 seconds left before the first half but were able to force a punt for the Knights (0-1) on fourth-and-six from their own 35-yard line.

A failed snap sailed into Knights’ territory down to the two-yard line and Cardinals quarterback Rich Belin was able to capitalize for the two-yard keeper to cut the deficit in half, 14-7, much to the shock of the Knights’ faithful.

“The defense gave us a huge break and we just capitalized on it,” said Belin, who’s brother is the starting quarterback at Duke and his father played at Vanderbilt. “In the first quarter, we were in the red zone twice and could get anything, so it was just a matter of time before we got in and that sparked the change.”

Out of the lockers, Belin then led the defending New York State Catholic High School Athletic Association champions on an 11-play, 86-yard drive to open the second half and brought Cardinal Hayes back into things on Burnham’s first touchdown reception for 17-yards as Belin was on the run out of the pocket.

After the successful extra point from the foot of Belin, Catholic Memorial put together a great drive on their next series, but Tyrone Smith returned an interception 79 yards for the pick-six and a 20-14 Cardinal Hayes lead.

Dodd scored the second of his rushing scores from 27 yards out and Catholic Memorial opted to go for the two-point conversion. Christopher Sanchez hauled in the conversion from Flaherty for the 22-21 lead. Flannery was impressive under center in the loss with 22-of-28 passing for 267 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

On the next series, Burnham’s second touchdown was from 15 yards out from Belin on a floater that he hauled in as Cardinal Hayes matched the two-point conversion on their end as Reid Jones gave Hayes back the lead, 29-22.

The big defensive strand came with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter as Flannery’s pass to Caleb Garrity went for a loss on fourth down on the Cardinals’ 21 and Belin sealed things with a three-yard rush with 4:58 left in regulation.

“We had the momentum and we actually called timeout before the punt and said we have the momentum. One play changed the whole momentum of the game,” said Catholic Memorial head coach, John DiBiaso. “We shot ourselves in the foot numerous times and you can’t do that especially in high school (football). Turnovers and penalties kill you and we had a bad turnover for the pick-six, and we can’t give up big plays on defense and we gave up dozens.”

Catholic Memorial’s Mekhi Dodd (1) powers his way into the end zone with help from Timmy Rowan, left, during a 36-29 loss to Cardinal Hayes. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)