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NORWALK- Even a day or two later, those in attendance of Friday night's St. Paul visit to South Central may still be seeing points in their sleep after the Flyers (7-0, 4-0) scored every which way and then some in the first half of an impressive 78-6 win over the Trojans. St. Paul has now outscored its four Firelands Conference opponents by a combined margin of 244-6. The numbers were simply boggling, including 553 yards of total offense...in the first half. Of the eight offensive touchdowns, no drive lasted more than five plays, including a 98-yard drive. The first two quarters also saw St. Paul head coach John Livengood attempt to go for the jugular by lining up for two-point conversions. "We were aggressive in our play calling and we got what we wanted out of our special teams and defense," Livengood said. "South Central had proven to be a good football team and we wanted to establish our tempo early." Indeed they did, as a 4-play, 45-yard drive to open the game culminated in a 3-yard run by Brian Griffin and Matt Wilde added the two point conversion to make it 8-0. It was nothing but a snowball rolling down a mountain the rest of the half for St. Paul as after a three-and-out by SC, quarterback Eric Schwieterman put a pass right on the money to Justin Wilde for a 30-yard score and Wilde again added the conversion for a 16-0 lead at the 7:09 mark of the opening quarter. The defense then got in on the action, as just 16 seconds later SC quarterback Alex Uselton saw a shotgun snap sail over his head and into the end zone where Geoff Hainline and Chris Doughty were there to pounce on it, with Hainline receiving credit for the touchdown and it was Matt Wilde again for two points and a 24-0 lead with still 6:53 left in the first quarter. The Trojans (4-3, 2-2) were then able to get on the board, the first and only points allowed by the Flyer defense in a month's work of Firelands Conference action, as Josh Kirk capped a short drive with a 1-yard run to make it 24-6...but St. Paul had another two scores left in the opening 12 minutes to make it 40-6, snapping last year's record 37-point second quarter record against Western Reserve. The first play of the ensuing drive was a 74-yard pass from Schwieterman to Daniel Tracht to the SC 6-yard line, and Griffin finished the drive to cover the distance the very next play and Matt Wilde again tacked on two more points to make it 32-6, but then Wilde got in on the action on the ensuing St. Paul drive on the last play of the first quarter, as a 58-yard touchdown run and yet another two-point conversion run made it 40-6. But the smoke of a 40-point first quarter didn't even have time to clear, however, as another four first half touchdowns followed. The first came on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Schwieterman to Justin Wilde with Griffin taking over the two-point conversion duties to push it up to 48 points. South Central then drove to the Flyer 2-yard line, only to fumble and have Shawn Hemenway recover for the Flyers. But even 98 yards wasn't much of a task on this night, as a 41-yard run by Griffin and then a 47-yard touchdown run by Matt Wilde sealed the points and Griffin added the two points for 56 points, thus setting the table for the points in a half record of 58 points to fall, which was also in last year's Western Reserve win. It came in emphatic fashion, as Schwieterman got perfect blocking to his left and roared all the way through for an 86-yard touchdown run and this time Adam Pugh tacked on the two points for a 64-6 lead. Schwieterman's run was just two yards shy of the single-game record for longest touchdown run, which is 88-yards set by Matt Smiley in a 1999 showdown vs. Monroeville. St. Paul had time for one more score in the half, and the points tied the game record for points...in an entire game. Matt Wilde again got the call for a 9-yard scoring run, but this time Schwieterman got to attempt his first extra point of the night for a staggering 71-6 halftime lead. The feather in the cap then resulted in Matt Wilde returning the opening kickoff of the second half 84 yards and Jim Roth's PAT made it 78-6 with still 11:47 remaining in the third quarter, but things finally came to a halt. The kick return broke the record for points in a game, which was 71 points set in 2003 at New London. Livengood had a chance to put the Flyers over 80 points when nephew Isaac Livengood ripped off a 44-yard run to the SC 1, but for the second straight week the 18th-year Flyer coach ordered his quarterback at the time, Ian Miller, to take four straight knees inside of five minutes left to hand the ball back over to the Trojans and assure the 78-6 final. The 72-point win breaks the old record for largest margin of victory, a 67-point win vs. Mapleton in 2004. The individual numbers were just as eye-boggling, led by Matt Wilde's 191 yards in just nine attempts, all in the first half. The same went for Schwieterman, who was 3 of 5 passing for 166 yards and two TD passes with Justin Wilde leading the receiving with the two TD grabs for 93 yards. The Flyers finished with 632 yards of total offense, just 98 yards shy of another single-game mark that has stood nearly 30 years, a 730-yard effort vs. Mapleton in the AP state poll championship season of 1969. St. Paul will travel to Western Reserve (6-1, 4-0) for a key FC matchup at Bachelder Field, where the Flyers have dropped two of the previous three meetings at the venue (2002, 2006.) A great deal of computer points also awaits the winner, as Western Reserve is 7th in Division V, region 18 and the Flyers are 3rd in Division VI, region 21, unofficially. South Central
6 0 0 0 – 6 Scoring
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