Flyers dismantle Trojans, 63-13

"I thought our kids executed well and came out ready to play. We were real physical on both sides of the ball and played with a lot of energy and determination."- St. Paul head coach John Livengood after a 63-13 win over South Central.

The St. Paul Flyers marched 75 yards in just six plays on its first possession of the game and added another two scores all within the opening 10 minutes of the game on the way to an impressive 63-13 rout over South Central Saturday night in the annual homecoming game at Warren Whitney Field in a game that when it ended didn't even seem THAT close.

"I thought our kids executed very well and came out ready to play,” St. Paul coach John Livengood said. “We were real physical on both sides of the ball and played with a lot of energy and determination."

With the win St. Paul is now 6-1 overall and still perfect in Firelands Conference play with a 4-0 mark, which is tied with Monroeville for first place. South Central fell to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the FC with the loss. It also marked the 17th straight win over the Trojans for St. Paul and the Flyers have not lost at home to South Central since a 16-0 setback in the 1982 season.

Also of note, the last time the Trojans were the Flyers homecoming opponent, St. Paul scored a 70-6 victory back in the 2001 season.

Joe Graziani opened the scoring on a 28-yard run at the 6:54 mark of the first quarter and after a South Central punt Graziani raced 21 yards to the Trojan 20-yard line and on the next play Matt Wilde covered the distance with 4:20 left and a 14-0 lead. Looking to pass downfield to create some offense, Trojan quarterback Alex Uselton was instead intercepted by Graziani, who used his speed to race up the right sidelines for a 66-yard interception return with 2:08 left in the quarter.

The Flyers then broke open the rout in a big way in the second 12 minutes, as four touchdowns around a South Central score made it a commanding 49-7 halftime lead. Eric Schwieterman started things off with a 29-yard run after he found nobody open at the quarterback position and the sophomore punched it in the very next play from a yard out. On a fourth-and-5 at the St. Paul 41, South Central answered on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Uselton to Austin Millis with 5:25 left in the half that made it a 28-7 deficit.

The very next play from scrimmage, Graziani followed a block and raced 65 yards untouched and after another three-and-out by the Trojans, Schwieterman threw a 15-yard touchdown to Dominic Dellisanti to give the Flyers a 42-7 lead. After Cory Schaffer recovered a fumble at the South Central 26, Wilde closed out the first half scoring with 33 seconds left in the half on a 25-yard run.

"After reading reports in the paper and seeing we were in second place, we knew we were a half of a game behind Monroeville and played with a sense of urgency," Livengood said of his team's efficiency and focus in the first half.

Graziani just missed out on a kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half, but nonetheless he got a 62-yard return to the Trojan 21 where four plays later Wilde scored on a 3-yard run at the 10:06 mark for a 56-7 lead. The teams then traded punts as Livengood again began to start working substitutions in early in the quarter and after an Uselton fumble was recovered by Mark Masser at the Trojan 37, The Flyers got on the board quickly for a final time when Adam Pugh ran for 18 yards and Brian Griffin scored on a 19-yard run with 4:30 left in the quarter.

Senior Wes Stein converted 7-of-8 extra points in the game and in the process passed former kicking standout Aiden McDonnell for career extra points, breaking the old mark of 124. Entering the final three games of the regular season, Stein now has 129 extra points.

On just four attempts, Graziani picked up 131 yards and two touchdowns while Wilde carried 10 times for 73 yards and three scores. Zach Blair added seven carries for 48 yards while Griffin picked up 36 yards and a score on just two attempts and Seth Ratliff added five attempts for 23 yards. Schwieterman finished 3-of-4 passing for 61 yards and score with Dellisanti catching two passes for 45 yards.

As a team, the Flyers ran 47 times for 404 yards while the Trojans ran 37 times for 118 yards and passed for 169. Also of note, on just 90 touches in a little over five games of work, Graziani has eclipsed the 1,500-yard mark in all-purpose yardage.

"I’ve never ever in all my years seen a team come off the ball that hard," South Central head coach Jeff Cook said of St. Paul. "Their kids just get after it from the very beginning to the end and that’s the thing you have to respect about them. It doesn’t matter if they weigh 150 or 250, they put all they have into it and that’s a very good football team, there is no doubt about it. Coach Livengood does a fine job and I have nothing but good things to say about them...I don't like getting beat that bad, but there is nothing bad you can say about that program and staff."

The Flyers will host Western Reserve (3-4, 1-3) next Saturday night back at Warren Whitney Field. The Roughriders had FC title hopes to start the year but have been simply decimated by injuries.

"They have been running a few different looks then what they normally have done in the past due to their situation," Livengood said of the 'Riders. "We will have to play our best game of the season to date to be in position to win."