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Your #1 source for Flyer Football |
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-It was a return to post-season football for the Flyers in 1999 as St. Paul locked up the #2 seed following its impressive 9-1 regular season. The expanded post-season beckoned once again, and the Flyers prepared to christen Whitney Field with its first playoff game. In town were the Cuyahoga Heights Redskins; who the Flyers eliminated two years prior. From the outset the Redskins played like a team which came to win. Shocking those in attendance with a 13-7 lead at halftime, Al Martin's squad was throwing its weight around. As they had often in John Livengood's tenure, the Flyers rallied and forged ahead with a late 4th-quarter score to stretch out an 8-point lead. Aidan McDonnell was key for the winners through the air with his 113 yards passing.
-The Flyers once again found themselves trailing in a post-season game. Against third-seeded Toronto, St. Paul slipped behind 12-7 after one period and still trailed by five at the intermission. Running back Nate Walker led the attack for Toronto which was making its third consecutive tournament appearance. In the second half, key injuries to Red Knight personnel and a much stiffer Flyer defense kept Toronto off the scoreboard. A third quarter touchdown propelled the Flyers into the lead and they would ride that momentum to the 28-26 victory as both teams were blanked in the fourth quarter. It was a much different statistical story than St. Paul fans were used to as Toronto out-rushed the Flyers by over 200 yards.
-In what many consider to be the pinnacle
of the St. Paul-Monroeville rivalry, the game started scoreless until an
Aidan McDonnell pass deflected off an Eagle defender's helmet into the hands
of Jason King who scored with ease. Whether it was a sign of the miraculous
finish to come, it placed St. Paul into the lead in the second period.
Monroeville would tie the score but miss a chip shot field goal at the
halftime buzzer to keep the game deadlocked at 7-7. The teams traded scores
in the second half until the Flyers were met with the game's final play at
the Eagle 31 yard-line. With 0:06 remaining, McDonnell lined up and buried
the game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired, sending the Flyer fans
into a state of delirious celebration.
-Fresh off an emotional win against their
arch-rival, the Flyers would suffer no letdown as they took the field in
Mansfield against the Blue Devils. It was an amazing first half for St. Paul
and the second half was simply an encore as the Firelands Conference
champions moved the ball at will against bewildered Danville. Jason Pugh led
the Flyer attack as he just bulldozed Blue Devil defenders all night in
helping St. Paul to its amazing 266-yard rushing advantage. Though the win
came relatively easy for the Flyers, they had to slow down a Danville team
which was also coming off a win over a hated rival, 35-0 against Howard East
Knox. The Flyers were headed for the school's second appearance in the state
finals.
- Lightning struck twice for the St. Paul
kickoff return team as the state championship game got underway. Just as Jay
Morrow had done against the same Blue Jays two years prior, Jordan Wangler
returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. This one went for 88 yards
(state record) and lit a fire under the Flyer faithful. However, the
powerful St. John's offense was not to be denied in its quest for an
unprecedented third straight state title. It was a drastic turnaround for
the Flyer running game which couldn't be stopped the previous week. The Blue
Jay defenders hawked the Flyers all afternoon and kept St. Paul out of the
end zone offensively. Seeking points before the break, Aidan McDonnell
bounced a 35-yard field goal off the crossbar and over for his school-record
eighth of the season. |
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