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NORWALK - The game was more competitive than the score would indicate. St. Paul's 42-13 win Saturday night at Warren Whitney Field over Western Reserve included two lost fumbles, while Western Reserve landed several big plays in the game but never managed to capitalize on needed conversions due to several big plays by the St. Paul defense. It is the 24th consecutive regular season victory for St. Paul, including the 19th straight in Firelands Conference play. "They really did a good job of keeping us off balance when we were on defense," said St. Paul head coach John Livengood. "Western was opening up some nice holes and had some nice runs." Justin Wilde appeared to have set the tone early for St. Paul, as the senior returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. However, the Flyers needed several additional plays throughout the game to offset Western's lethal ground game. Trailing 7-0, Western began its first drive with the services of senior quarterback Brett Pickens, who had yet to play this season. St. Paul entered the game without preparing for his presence in the game, something Western used to its advantage to gain several long plays on offense. "He kept us on our heels for the most part with what he was doing offensively," Livengood said. "[The spread offense with Pickens] wasn't something that we got to gameplan for." Pickens engineered the Roughriders' opening drive which took just one play to reach St. Paul territory before Western pinned the Flyers at their own 15 yard line with a punt. The Flyers then drove to the Western 5 yard line in 13 plays. Dan Tracht caught four passes on the drive, extending the drive twice with third-down catches for first downs. St. Paul faced a 1st-and-goal following a 10-yard completion. The Flyers came away without points, however, as Brian Griffin fumbled, giving Western possession on its 4 yard line, still trailing 7-0. The turnover wouldn't prove costly, however. St. Paul forced a three-and-out, Western punted, and the Flyers took over inside midfield at the Western 40 yard line. After three plays St. Paul again reached the 5 yard line, facing another 1st-and-goal. This time Griffin secured the football and punched into the end zone to give St. Paul a 14-0 lead with 0:50 left in the first quarter. The next series Pickens led Western back into the ballgame. Western quickly gained two first down with runs of 22 and 11. And then following an incompletion, he capped the four-play drive with a 42-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was the first allowed by St. Paul since Week 4 versus Crestview. A holding penalty killed St. Paul's next drive, as the Flyers were unable to overcome a 1st-and-19 from their own 38 yard line. The teams would exchange punts, and St. Paul regained possession on its own 37 with plenty of time to score before half. On the third play of the drive Griffin fumbled again, but St. Paul retained possession when the officials ruled he was down, though Griffin appeared to be standing when the ball was knocked loose. Eight plays later, with 2:45 left in the second quarter, Griffin scored on a three-yard touchdown run. The PAT attempt was good, and St. Paul led 21-7. Western broke another big play on the first play of its next series. Sophomore Blake Buckhannon raced down the left sideline only to be caught from behind by Wilde on a touchdown-saving tackle. The 58-yard gain set Western with a 1st-and-10 on the St. Paul 12 yard line. Facing 4th-and-3, Western called a timeout to discuss whether to try to convert the first down or kick a field goal. The field goal unit remained on the sideline as Western decided to attempt a fourth-down conversion. A sweep play wasn't enough for the first down. Sophomore defensive tackles Isaac Livengood and Hayden Service combined on the tackle, ending the Western red-zone threat. With 0:34 left St. Paul chose to kneel the ball, heading into halftime with a two-touchdown lead, 21-7. Livengood was thankful for the effort Wilde showed on the 58-yard run and for the resilience the defense showed with Western threatening to score before halftime. "That was huge. That was a big stop," Livengood said. "A compliment there too to Justin Wilde for ... running the play down, making the tackle, and not giving up." Western went three-and-out on the opening series of the second half. After a net 26-yard punt St. Paul was set with 1st-and-10 on the Western 37 yard line. Following a two-yard loss on first down, Tracht caught his sixth pass of the game, juked a defender, and raced 39 yards for a touchdown. The Flyers couldn't convert the PAT attempt as a result of a high snap. With almost four minutes gone in the third quarter St. Paul extended its lead to 27-7. With thoughts of a soon-to-be blowout on the minds of many, the Roughriders certainly had other intentions. Western responded with a 11-play, 65-yard drive punctuated by a 1-yard touchdown run by Pickens. The PAT was unsuccessful, and St. Paul led 27-13 with 3:32 left in the third quarter. Western attempted an onside kick, but St. Paul recovered on its own 44 yard line. Seven plays later, after gaining two first downs, Griffin fumbled yet again, giving Western a chance to make the contest a one-score game for the third time. Griffin was taken off the field after the play for remainder of the game with an apparent shoulder injury. The Roughriders started the ensuing drive from their own 10 yard line. Six plays later, after already picking up two first downs on the drive, Western was penalized for holding. Western would never recover. Pickens was sacked for a 5-yard loss the next play, and then Ian Welch, Griffin's replacement at safety, intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Western 30 yard line, ending the Roughriders' comeback efforts. St. Paul scored four plays later on a 3-yard touchdown run by Zach Service. On a 3rd-and-7 on Western's next series, senior Brian Roberts sacked Pickens for a 10-yard loss, truly ending Western's last hope of completing a comeback against the Flyers. St. Paul appeared to have scored on its final offensive series when Schwieterman connected with Tracht for a touchdown, but an illegal block in the back negated the score. Three plays later Schwieterman found Jared Fries for a 10-yard touchdown. St. Paul led 42-13 with 0:56 left in the game after the Fries touchdown, the final scoring play of the game. Livengood noted playing a tough opponent allows him to see where his team stands when facing adversity. "Whenever you play a very good opponent like Western, you find out a lot about your team ...You find out the areas you need to continue to improve," he said. "One area we know we need to improve on that we don't seem to be improving on is ball security. I thought we were moving the ball pretty well in the first half. We just kept turning the ball over." He also mentioned several players whose individual efforts helped aid the Flyers in victory. "Something positive I'd like to mention is Zach Service and the way he really stepped up and carried the load when Griffin did get hurt. Eric Bradt stepped in and made some nice runs and some nice blocks," Livengood said. "Ian Welch stepped in at safety and got a nice interception." Griffin tallied 95 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Service ran for 96 yards on 14 attempts with one touchdown. Schwieterman was 12-of-16 for 152 yards and one touchdown to Tracht, who caught nine passes for 135 yards. Western outrushed St. Paul, 236-202. St. Paul more than doubled Western's passing yardage, 152-72. The interception was Western's lone turnover, while St. Paul lost two fumbles. St. Paul improves to 7-0 overall on the season. The Flyers travel to New London (2-5, 2-2 FC) Friday for its last road game of the regular season.Western Reserve 0 7 6 0 -- 13 St. Paul 14 7 6 15 -- 42 Scoring STP -- Justin Wilde 85 yard kick return (Jim Roth kick good) STP -- Brian Griffin 5 yard run (Roth kick good) WR -- Brett Pickens 42 yard run (Good kick good) STP -- Griffin 2 yard run (Roth kick good) STP -- Dan Tracht 39 yard pass (Roth kick failed) WR -- Pickens 1 yard run (pass failed) STP -- Zach Service 3 yard run (Eric Schwieterman-to-Service pass good) STP -- Jared Fries 10 yard pass (Roth kick good)