Your #1 source for Flyer Football

The  Flyers won their 17th playoff game in school history improved to 13-3 in the postseason when out-gaining their opponents in total offense in Friday's 18-15 win over Mohawk.

SYCAMORE- In baseball, a common stat shown for pennant-contending teams is their record when leading games after the sixth and seventh innings. Generally, those statistics heavily favor such teams, as they have great bullpens that are able to close the door on a lead almost every time out.

The St. Paul football program may not have a designated "closer" to win football games, but they are borrowing a page from baseball's book and shutting the door in the final quarter of postseason games. Leading 18-7 entering the final 12 minutes of their first-round playoff game at Mohawk Friday night, the Flyers were able to hold off a late charge by the Warriors (9-2) and claim an 18-15 win.

With the win, St. Paul improved to 15-0 all-time in 24 postseason games when leading after three quarters, and will now advance to play McComb (9-2) in a Region 22 Semifinal at Don Paul-Harmon Stadium in Fremont.

"I'm just real proud of the way the kids stepped up tonight," St. Paul head coach John Livengood said. "They had a great week of practice and it showed tonight. Mohawk is every bit as good as advertised. They've got a great defense and good football players with a great coaching staff, and again, I'm just real proud of our kids for getting the win."

Trailing 7-0 in the late stages of the first quarter, the Flyers attempted to get back into the game by marching 69 yards in 11 plays to get on the board for the first time. Quarterback Brad Frank completed his only pass of the game, a 20-yard hook-up with junior Mark Masser, for a key play of the drive. Frank then dropped back to pass again, but found nobody open and followed a lead block from running back Joe Stoll on his way to a nine-yard touchdown run with 10:58 left in the second quarter. A bad snap caused kicker Wes Stein's extra point to get blocked, leaving the score at 7-6, which is where things stood at halftime.

"One of the things we wanted to do was spread them out a bit because they were so big and physical up front," Livengood said. "We wanted to spread them out and use Brad running the ball a little bit with Joe lead blocking, and that worked out well for us."

The play of the game then took place on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, as Stoll was able to intercept a Jeremy Kalb pass and return it 17 yards to the Mohawk 18-yard line. Stoll carried five times, sandwiched between was a five-yard scramble by Brad Frank for a key third down pick up and the end result was a two-yard touchdown run from Stoll with 9:09 left in the quarter for a 12-7 lead. While dropping back to scramble, Frank's knee hit the ground and he was ruled down on the conversion try.

"No question about the interception to start the third quarter," Livengood said. "That was huge and got the momentum going in our direction and we were able to finish it off with a touchdown to take the lead. That was a big play by Joe, who had a great game all the way around."

Mohawk then drove the length of the field, but had to settle for a 40-yard field goal attempt by kicker David Stine, which was short of the mark. St. Paul then used that momentum to drive 77 yards in 13 plays with Stoll again getting the bulk of the carries with seven carries, while Rob Whitehurst added five carries for 39 yards on the drive to set up a one-yard scoring run by Stoll with 45 seconds left in the quarter for an 18-7 lead. Frank's pass was incomplete, but the Flyers had a commanding 18-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Mohawk then turned it over on downs, using crucial time off the clock in the fourth quarter, but the Flyers were forced to punt with just under five minutes remaining. The Warriors then put together their best drive of the game in moving 42 yards in just three plays, cultivating in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kalb to Connor Jump with 2:54 left in the contest. Kalb then found Brock Sowers on the conversion try to cut the lead to 18-15.

"I think what happened is they opened things up and went to a run-and-shoot formation," Livengood said. "They threw the ball a lot more, and we played a little bit softer too because we had a lead and tried to keep things underneath, but credit their kids and coaches because we had a two-score lead and they cut into it at the end."

Ryan Frank recovered the attempted onsides kick by the Warriors, and three plays later and just over a minute on the clock, the Flyers were faced with a fourth-and-inches to seal the game, but Livengood also had the option of pinning the Warriors deep in their own territory with no timeouts via a punt. The veteran coach went with the offense, and Stoll pushed ahead for the yard needed to seal the victory.

"I did think about punting it," Livengood admitted afterwards. "What I wanted to do was try and draw them off-sides and then call a timeout, but I thought about it again and we did what we did all night, and that was put the ball in the hands of Joe Stoll. We talked to him right before we went out, we told him to get the first down, and he said he'd get it and he did."

Stoll paced the Flyers with 129 yards rushing and two scores on 32 carries, while adding 11 tackles, one sack, and the interception from his linebacker position on defense. Whitehurst added 58 yards on 12 attempts, while Frank ran seven times for 20 yards and a score while completing 1-of-3 passing for 20 yards. For Mohawk, Kalb was 11-of-18 passing for 104 yards with one touchdown and an interception, while Jump, who was not inserted into the game until midway through the third quarter, finished with seven catches for 76 yards and a score while adding 26 yards rushing on two attempts. Fullback Jordan Cartwright added 11 attempts for 48 yards.