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"This is the best defense I've seen in a long, long time. You can
not move the football on them unless you play your absolute best,
and we didn't do that. And offensively, when they hit the
corner, it's over, and we let them do that tonight." -
Crestview head coach Sean Conway
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By
Mark Hazelwood
NORWALK
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Something had to give in Saturday night’s state-ranked showdown between
Crestview No. 10 (Division V) and St. Paul No. 6 (Division VI) at Warren
Whitney Field.
It gave alright.
Much had been made of the Cougars defense, which hadn’t allowed a single
point this season and had five straight shutouts dating back to week ten of
last season, facing off against an explosive St. Paul offense that was
averaging 46 points per game through the first four games.
It wasn’t even close.
The Cougars were no match for the Flyer offense and mainly the passing game
behind quarterback Eric Schwieterman, as St. Paul (5-0, 2-0) used a 30-point
second quarter to cruise to a 47-0 win over Crestview 4-1.
And while the Cougar defense got most of the attention during the week, it
was the St. Paul defense putting together its second straight shutout while
limiting Crestview to just 69 yards of total offense.
Furthermore, it's now been 110-0 in the Flyers two Firelands Conference
victories and the sixth consecutive victory over the Cougars, who have
solidified themselves as a top-tier FC team over the past decade.
“Our defense made plays, created turnovers early on and got us field
position,” St. Paul head coach John Livengood said. “The defense getting
turnovers and getting three-and-outs was huge for us tonight. That was a
great defensive effort.”
A 30-yard field goal from Schwieterman was the lone score of the opening
quarter, but the flood gates quickly opened in the second as less than a
minute in the junior quarterback found Geoff Hainline for a 69-yard
touchdown pass at the 11:02 mark of the second and Schwieterman’s first of
six extra points made it 10-0.
"Getting the field goal early was big to kind of
get that off our backs and get things rolling," Livengood said. "We were
fortunate enough to get the field position and get some big plays."
After a Cougar punt, Rob Kunisch ran through a gaping hole made by the
offensive line for a 32-yard touchdown run to make it 17-0 with 8:34 left in
the half. Again the Cougars punted, and although a couple of penalties
forced the Flyers into a first and 33 situation, it was no matter as
Schwieterman threw a 76-yard perfect strike to Justin Wilde in stride to
make it 24-0 at the 5:11 mark.
“Eric is capable of doing stuff like that,” Livengood said. “The thing I
really liked about it, he let it fly, but the way Justin Wilde went after it
— the way he ran under it and got it —he had to hit an extra gear there.
That was something I was happy to see.”
Crestview was forced to punt again but the snap went back into the end zone
for a St. Paul safety and a 26-0 lead. Off of the free kick, the Flyers
tacked on the final score of the half on a 4-yard pass from Schwieterman to
Justin Wilde again for a 33-0 halftime lead.
In the first half, Schwieterman was 7 of 10 for 210 yards and three
touchdown passes.
In the second half, a Daniel Tracht interception set up a short field and
Matt Wilde finished off another scoring drive with a 4-yard run with 2:56
left in the third quarter for a 40-0 lead then Wilde returned a punt 40
yards for a score after Crestview had to punt out of its end zone that made
it 47-0 with 8:20 left in the game to wrap up the scoring.
Crestview head coach Sean Conway talked about the Flyer defense.
“This is the best defense I've seen in a long, long time,” he said. “You can
not move the football on them unless you play your absolute best, and we
didn't do that. And offensively, when they hit the corner, it's over, and we
let them do that tonight.
"John Livengood's a good football coach, St.
Paul's a good football team, and the mark of a good football team is
capitalizing on mistakes, and that's what they did.
St. Paul is not a
flashy team, they're good because
they know what they're supposed to do, their kids are disciplined and they
play assignment football."
The Flyers, who finished with 431 yards of total offense, were led by
Schwieterman as he finished 9 of 13 for 225 yards and three touchdowns while
Justin Wilde caught three passes for 93 yards as the leading receiver.
Matt Wilde ran for 59 yards on 15 attempts and Kunisch had 56 yards on seven
attempts to lead the Flyer rushing attack.
“The only thing we worried about was getting the win,” Livengood said. “From
a team standpoint, our offense especially looked at it as a challenge,
because (four straight shutouts) is no small feat.”
Crestview 0 0 0 0 — 0
St. Paul 3 30 7 7 — 47
Scoring
STP — Eric Schwieterman 30 field goal
STP — Geoff Hainline 69 pass from Eric Schwieterman (Schwieterman kick)
STP — Rob Kunisch 32 run (Schwieterman kick)
STP — Justin Wilde 76 pass from Schwieterman (Schwieterman kick)
STP — Team safety
STP — Justin Wilde 4 pass from Schwieterman (Schwieterman kick)
STP — Matt Wilde 4 run (Schwieterman kick)
STP — Matt Wilde 40 punt return (Schwieterman kick)
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