"Special" Delivery, Flyers rout Panthers

"They are a well-coached team that plays hard. I told our kids, I think they are a lot like us. They have hard-nosed kids that play with a lot of heart and they showed that.".- St. Paul head coach John Livengood on St. Mary's.

NORWALK – Joe Graziani gave the home opener crowd at Warren Whitney Field a special teams delivery treat and in the process moved himself into a place no St. Paul player has ever been in program history as the Flyers erased the sting of last season's bitter 27-24 loss at Sandusky St. Mary by exploding for a 42-13 win to kickoff the 2007 season.

It was just a 21-13 Flyer lead at the break as St. Mary's was able to capitalize on third downs while also surprising the Flyers with an onsides kick to open the game which they recovered. However, in a span of 2:27 at the end of the third and into the fourth quarter, Graziani blew the doors off the Panthers defense and special teams.

On third-and-three at its own 41 midway through the third quarter, St. Mary quarterback Ryan Heath, who burned the Flyer defense a year ago, had his pass deflected straight into the air by sophomore Dan Tracht and senior Cory Schaffer made a diving effort to snare the ball for an interception at the St. Paul 46. A 10-play, 54-yard scoring drive followed with Graziani breaking to his right and finding a seam on an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:21 left in the third quarter and Wes Stein hit one of his six extra points for a 28-13 lead.

The sequence of the game then took place, as Schaffer this time intercepted a Heath pass in the flats and found some running room down the right sideline, returning the turnover 41 yards to the St. Mary 17. The very next play, Graziani circled around the left side and outran the Panther defense for the 17-yard score to make it 35-13 with 48 seconds left in the quarter.

"I think that was definitely the turning point of the game," St. Paul head coach John Livengood said. "We were moving the ball real well really the entire game at that point, we just weren't getting stops. But after that touchdown Cory was able to put our offense on the field with great field position, and they took advantage."

The capper had already been put on the night by Graziani, but the captain went for the exclamation point. The Panthers offense took the field again only to go three plays and out. Midway through the second quarter, St. Mary head coach Toby Notestine elected to kick to Graziani, and he paid the price as he found a seam and returned the punt 71 yards to the Panthers 3 to set up a short Matt Wilde touchdown.

Inexplicably, the Panthers punted directly to Graziani again, and the end result was similar as he bobbed and weaved his way through the St. Mary punt unit and got free for a 62-yard punt return touchdown to cap the scoring at 42-13. The punt return for six points was the fifth in Graziani's career, which now gives him sole possession for all-time career leader in the category.

He previously shared the mark with Chad Welfle and Mike Morrow, but now stands alone. He also added a 38-yard touchdown run with 8:27 left in the first half and finished with 100 yards rushing and the three scores on just 11 attempts. On 15 touches, Graziani accumulated 291 all-purpose yards. Meanwhile, after wrecking havoc a year ago, Heath was limited to 55 yards on 16 attempts and 6-of-14 passing for 71 yards.

"Joe is obviously a real explosive athlete and tonight was no different," Livengood said. "When we needed a play he stepped up along with Cory Schaffer and they made one for us. But as always its a team effort. Sometimes when a guy is getting sacked and it's someone on the inside its usually because the defensive end is doing a good job containing and that is something that is very important with Ryan Heath.

He killed us last year with his feet by scoring on a long option play and scored the winning-touchdown on a 40-yard run. So that is something we've worked hard on real week and it takes a real team effort on that. He is very dangerous and a great athlete."

After the Panthers stunned St. Paul by recovering the onsides kick to start the game, Heath led his team on a 10-play, 46-yard drive that took 4:47 off the clock and was capped on a 1-yard run by Ryan Wasylik with 7:11 left in the opening quarter. The Flyers quickly responded by moving 63 yards in nine plays with Graziani and Wilde splitting the carries, and it was Wilde crossing over from four yards out with 4:07 left in the quarter to tie the game.

St. Mary again responded, however, covering 72 yards in 13 plays that included a 34-yard pass from Heath to Travis Roth on a third-and-10 play. Wasylik again finished off the drive with a 1-yard run at the 10:06 mark of the quarter, but the kick failed for a 13-7 lead and from there Graziani scored his first touchdown and then broke off the long punt return to set up Wilde's second score, a two-yard run with 4:53 left in the half for a 21-13 lead.

"That was a tough way to start the game," Livengood said of the onsides kick. "It caught us off guard and got us on our heels a little bit and they did a nice job of converting third and fourth downs in those first couple drives, but hats off to them. They are well-coached and their kids play hard. It's like I told our kids, I think they are a lot like us. They have hard-nosed kids that play with a lot of heart and they showed that. But a win is nice any time you get it."

The Flyers held a 318-193 edge in total offense, including 273 yards on the ground as Wilde added 22 attempts for 109 yards to go along with Graziani. Sophomore Eric Schwieterman's first varsity start and stat line read 4-of-6 for 43 yards and an interception. Wasylik added 55 yards on 15 attempts as well as both scores for the Panthers.

Dan Clements had 14 tackles for the Flyers while Weston Boose contributed 11 and Schaffer and Tracht made nine stops each. The Panthers were held to 49 yards in the second half (4 passing) and have not won a regular season game at Warren Whitney Field since the 1993 opener.

The Flyers will be on the road for the rest of the non-conference portion of the schedule, starting next week at Tiffin Calvert (0-1). The two teams have gone back and forth in the decade, with the Flyers holding a 4-3 edge in seven meetings since 2000.