One quarter of football can be misleading.
Just ask St. Vincent-St. Mary coach Dan Boarman and his Fighting Irish.
A three-point deficit after the first quarter to visiting Walsh Jesuit was quickly erased Friday night and St. V-M dominated the final three quarters to earn a 49-10 victory before an overflowing crowd of 5,427.
Seniors Clayton Uecker, Fransohn Bickley and Jordan Hargrove were just a few of the Irish (2-0) players who baffled the Warriors (0-2) on John Cistone Field in Green Street Stadium.
“I expected another tight one going down to the wire, and somebody kicking a field goal to win it,” Boarman said as Irish players rang the “Victory Bell,” the memento his team received for the rivalry win.
“I like this one better, though. My heart survived this one. They are a good football team. I think we just caught them on a down night, and give our kids some credit, too. We were clicking. Uecker had a great game, our backs had a great game and our offensive line did a tremendous job.”
St. V-M’s 49 points is the most Walsh has allowed in its program’s history, surpassing the 48 the Irish scored last year in a 48-46 victory over the host Warriors. It is also the most lopsided margin in the series since 2004 when Walsh won 21-6.
“All week, coach was saying we were having great practices,” said Hargrove, who had seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. “We were excited [for this game].”
Walsh led 3-0 after one quarter with the points coming from a 23-yard field goal by junior Mike Knoll.
St. V-M scored three consecutive touchdowns to take a 21-3 lead with 3:54 to go in the second quarter. Hargrove caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Uecker, sophomore Vince Lockett rushed for a 9-yard touchdown and Bickley took a punt 81 yards for a touchdown.
“I had great blocks on that punt return,” Bickley said. “It wasn’t all me on that run.”
Walsh countered with a touchdown when junior Bryan DiCillo ran 59 yards to the end zone to make it 21-10.
The Irish took a 28-10 lead into halftime when Bickley caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Uecker with 14.9 seconds on the clock.
“It is amazing [throwing to Hargrove and Bickley],” said Uecker, who completed 12-of-15 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns. “They do everything. They get open and catch everything. It makes my job very easy.”
The Irish extend their lead to 42-10 in the third quarter with two touchdowns. Junior Parris Campbell Jr. scored on a 7-yard run and Hargrove caught a 60-yard pass from Uecker.
Senior Mike Pruiett scored St. V-M’s final touchdown with 6:21 to go in the fourth quarter. Senior Dylan Labbe converted his seventh point after kick.
Uecker also praised the Irish offensive line, which features seniors Nick Karipides, Derek Pierog, Tom Paolucci, Bryan Wisor and Kevin Alexander and junior Derek Whiddon.
The Irish defense was equally as impressive with junior Dante Booker roaming as a linebacker. Junior Nathan Bischof snagged an interception, and Lockett and junior Newman Williams each had a fumble recovery.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
