NORWALK - The St. Paul Flyers were backed into a corner in more ways than one Saturday night against Huron at Warren Whitney Field.

A week after losing to Tiffin Calvert, the Flyers needed a win to enter Firelands Conference play with a winning record. However, the Tigers opened the game with a 91-yard kickoff return by Jake Hillman and three penalties on the ensuing drive put St. Paul at their own 2-yard line facing third-and-13.

However, freshman quarterback Joseph Hinckley rolled out and was able to find a seam, get a key block and turn in a school record 98-yard touchdown run that proved to be a spark the Flyers needed in a 43-25 win.

Hinckley's run breaks the old mark set in one of the more memorable showdowns with Monroeville in 1999 as Matt Smiley's 88-yard run was the difference in a 21-14 St. Paul win.

St. Paul improved to 2-1 while the Tigers dropped to 2-1.

“We needed to get a first down, and I rolled out and nobody was open,” Hinckley said of the touchdown run. “I see a big gap in the middle of the field and took off. (Shawn) Dankleson made a nice block and I was able to beat one more guy and that was it.”

For the game, St. Paul finished with 306 yards rushing two touchdowns while Hinckley completed 10-of-15 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns while running for 161 yards on eight attempts. Running back Adam Smith added 113 yards and two scores on 24 attempts.

“We got schooled in every phase of the game,” Huron coach Tony Legando said. “When you are playing good fundamental teams, you have to play the whole game. We were not able to do that and the head coach better have a real gut check about his own preparation.

“I have to prepare the kids better than I did. They were able to play good, solid football like they always do. They took advantage of our inability to stop it. They were more fundamentally-strong than we were. There is no secret to what they do, we’ve all watched it long enough. It’s just good fundamental football.”

After Hinckley’s run gave the Flyers a 7-6 lead, the Tigers were able to come right back on the first offensive play from scrimmage as quarterback Brian Bollenbacher found Hillman for a 65-yard touchdown pass. He then found Sean Fantozz for two points and less than three minutes into the game, Huron had a 14-6 lead.

The Flyers came right back, however. An 8-play, 68-yard drive was capped when Smith hauled in a screen pass from Hinckley and turned it into a 23-yard touchdown. Scottie Slauterbeck’s second of five extra points knotted the score at 14-14.

After a Huron punt, Smith capped an 8-play, 65-yard drive with a six-yard scoring run while bulling over three defenders to give the Flyers a 21-14 lead with 35 seconds left in the opening quarter.

They did not trail again in the game.

“I give the kids and coaches a lot of credit for improving from last week,” St. Paul coach John Livengood said. “With the way the game started, it could have put a lot of doubt in their minds after last week, but the kids came back strong and played hard for four quarters.”

The only scoring in the second quarter came with 1:16 left in the half as Smith scored on a 3-yard run to complete a 9-play, 52-yard drive that took three minutes. Earlier in the drive, Hinckley was able to find Tyler Dilger for 18 yards on fourth-and-9 at the Huron 21. The score allowed the Flyers to take a 28-14 halftime lead.

Huron was able to get back in the game in the third quarter as a 24-yard field goal by John Dusza at the 6:29 mark and an 18-yard touchdown pass from Bollenbacher to Ryan Biddlecombe? at the 2:12 mark put the Tigers within striking range at 28-25 entering the fourth quarter.

However, the Flyers quickly shut the door just as fast with a 9-play, 59-yard drive that was highlighted by Hinckley on the run finding fullback Eric Bradt up the sidelines for a 29-yard gain on third-and-15.

The next play, Hinckley hit Kurt Walliser in the flat, and Walliser turned up field for a 9-yard touchdown catch with 9:33 left for a 35-25 lead.

Three plays later, Bradt got the third of four St. Paul interceptions and it took the offense just three plays. Isaac Livengood plowed in from four yards out and off a bad snap on the PAT, Hinckley rolled out and found Walliser alone in the end zone for two points and the final 43-25 margin with 6:57 left.

“Joe made some real good decisions,” Livengood said. “He made big runs, but more importantly he made good decisions and didn’t try to force anything that wasn’t there.”

Huron finished with just 27 yards rushing on 16 attempts while Bollenbacher was 11-of-30 for two touchdowns and the four interceptions. Of Huron’s 207 yards, 121 of it came on two completions to Hillman, who finished with five catches for 130 yards.

“We brought the pressure the whole game and felt being more aggressive was something we needed to do,” Livengood said of the St. Paul defense. “The kids responded to it and executed the game plan.

“Something we addressed this week was bringing more pressure on the quarterback and shortening the time our secondary has to stay in coverage.”

Huron hosts Edison (3-0) Friday while St. Paul hosts Crestview (2-1) in the conference opener for each team. 

Huron   14   0   11   0 – 25
St. Paul 21   7   0   15 – 43

Scoring
H – Jake Hillman 91 kickoff return (kick failed)
STP – Joseph Hinckley 98 run (Scottie Slauterbeck kick)
H – Hillman 65 pass from Brian Bollenbacher (Sean Fantozz from Bollenbacher)
STP – Adam Smith 23 pass from Hinckley (Slauterbeck kick)
STP – Smith 6 run (Slauterbeck kick)
STP – Smith 3 run (Slauterbeck kick)
H – John Dusza 24 field goal
H – Ryan Biddlecombe 18 pass from Bollenbacher (Fantozz from Bollenbacher)
STP – Kurt Walliser 9 pass from Hinckley (Slauterbeck kick)
STP – Isaac Livengood 6 run (Walliser from Hinckley)