While never wanting to forget the experience of winning a state championship, the 2010 edition of Lancaster Catholic's football team appears poised to create its own identity.

A team can't do that much better than it did Friday night in its home opener at Rossmere Stadium.

Getting his first start at quarterback, senior John Roda displayed the poise of a veteran, throwing four touchdown passes to lead the Crusaders to a 35-7 nonleague victory over Trinity.

Roda completed 11 of 12 passes, including his first 11 in a row, for 202 yards. He hit four different targets for touchdowns.

"Before the game, I thought I was going to get nervous but it really didn't hit me," Roda said. "I tried to stay cool and calm and things turned out well."

Roda got the start instead of junior Sean Gibbons, who had one game's experience at QB, for two reasons. One, Roda won the camp/scrimmage battle, and two, Gibbons dinged his elbow in practice last week.

"We went with the hot hand," said Crusaders coach Bruce Harbach. "We told John that he didn't have to be spectacular, then he was."

Anthony Juliano recovered a fumble by Trinity's Adam Geiger on the Shamrocks' first play from scrimmage and Brandon Hollister cashed in the miscue on an 11-yard reception from Roda.

Five minutes later, Catholic sophomore receiver Sean Titus ran under a Roda pass down the left sideline, the play going for 32 yards and a score. The play was partially set up by a 39-yard run by sophomore running back Roman Clay, who rushed for a game-high 102 yards.

After Catholic freshman Jerry Aument pancaked Trinity kick returner Logan Houck, the Shamrocks embarked on their only scoring drive of the game. Going with the no-huddle and having abandoned the Wing-T for the spread offense, Trinity went 79 yards in 11 plays with Geiger scoring on a 6-yard run.

Catholic scored once more before halftime, turning a Hollister interception into a TD on Roda's 61-yard strike to Charles Sweigert.

While many Catholic fans worried about how the loss of several of last season's skill players would affect the team, the one place the Crusaders had experience was the offensive line, and that made Roda's debut go a bit smoother.

"Our offensive line dominated up front," Harbach said.

Catholic scored on the opening possession of the second half as Roda rolled right and spotted Greg Kirchner in the back of the end zone. In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders turned Carmelo Cruz's fumble recovery into Hollister's 15-yard TD run.

Roda's performance shouldn't be a surprise. It's in the genes. Four of his uncles, Joe, Steve, Frank and Dave all played quarterback for the Crusaders.

"We really wanted to set a tone and say we're a new team," said John Roda. "I think we did that."

Notes: Catholic WR Rhys McCall sat out with a shoulder injury. Harbach expects he'll play next week. ... Trinity played without running back Jack Miller, a returning Mid-Penn All-Star, who is out with a toe injury. ... Catholic K Stephen Schober was 5-for-5 on PATs.