DELPHOS ST. JOHN’S RALLIES FOR HUGE MAC ROAD WIN AT ANNA
By Tim Langevin
Anna dominated 21-7 at the break, but Delphos St. John’s stormed back with 22 unanswered points in the second half for a covetous 29-21 MAC road win at Booster Stadium Friday night.
It was supposed to be a down year for the Blue Jays. After all, several bullets (21 seniors) were missing from the 2010 state championship team’s loaded gun. Laugh out loud. We are talking St. John’s football, winners of six state and nine MAC titles since 1997. A team that boasts a 44-7 playoff record.
When Anna started varsity football in 1999, St. John’s was amidst a 57-game win streak, the longest in state history. Back then, these kids were learning to ride bicycles with training wheels.
We are talking about head coach Todd Schulte, architect of four state and four MAC titles with a 129-34 record in his 13th season. A man who is 102-26 in conference play and 34-5 in nine playoff appearances. Get serious.
St. John’s suffered two tough, seven-point losses to bigger schools to start the season, but that BLUE GRIT surfaced and the Blue Jays find themselves perched atop the MAC standings with a 2-0 mark. So much for a down season.
“It was a gritty team performance,” said Schulte. “I’m proud of these kids. They stayed with it and it went down to the wire in a typical MAC game. Nothing is easy, especially not at your place. There is something about these kids. No quit.”
As for Anna, the Rockets entered the 2011 season with high expectations, including a first-ever MAC championship since joining the conference in 2006. And for good reason, Anna returned seven starters on offense, including big playmaker RB Cole Furgason, and six starters on defense.
Head coach Bryan Rioch has been with the program since its inception 13 years ago. He owns a 93-34 record and a 30-14 mark in MAC competition.
The Rockets blasted out of the gate with two impressive wins to start the season, but since then, suffered two MAC losses to Coldwater last week and St. John’s this night. And find themselves at the bottom of the standings with a visit to Marion Local (3-1, 2-0) week five.
Rioch said, ” I don’t know what happened in the second half. We had control of the game, but once again, turnovers hurt us. I think we had three turnovers in the second half if you count the safety…I don’t know. We had high expectations. We are faced with the same opportunity as last year. We started 3-2 after five weeks and made a nice run…That’s OK. We have Marion Local next week. I’m tired of their shenanigans. We will be ready for them.”
The opening possession of the game, Anna stretched together a 13-play, 75-yard drive. Cole Furgason accounted for 45 yards, mostly on Jet Sweeps, including a 25-yard gain on third and three. But the play of the series was a fake punt on fourth and four. Maverick Long took the snap and bolted up the middle for five yards and the first down. Rioch wasted no time with some razzle, dazzle.
Seven running plays later, Furgason edged the sideline for a five-yard TD run with 5:46 left in the quarter for a 7-0 lead. Furgason finished the game with 108 yards on 24 carries and the one score. He has 446 yards and six TDs on the season.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Jays moved the ball 35 yards and was forced to punt. Anna took over and scored again with 9:30 left until half for a 14-0 margin. The Rockets marched down the field in nine straight running plays and Dustin Noffsinger capped it with a two-yard blast on fourth and goal. The drive covered 85 yards, but 64 yards of the real estate came via Wes Wolters brilliant run up the middle on a draw play.
St. John’s scored on its third possession of the game, taking advantage of a short field. The Jays covered 46 yards in three quick plays with 4:17 until half to slice the lead 14-7. Jordan Bergfeld busted for eight yards and QB Mark Boggs rambled 27 yards before Tyler Jettinghoff scampered 11 yards to the zone.
It was a break-out performance for Boggs. The junior QB completed 9-of-15 passes for 149 yards and one TD with no picks. He ran hard nine times for 46 yards. Not bad considering it was just his second start. Starting QB Alex Clark was injured in week two and Boggs stepped in.
Obviously, it took some time for Boggs to adjust to the speed of the game. He entered the contest 6-of-14 for 71 yards with one TD and one interception. Now his confidence and season totals are rising as evidenced by 15-of-29 passing for 220 yards and two TDs on the season.
Schulte praised Boggs performance, “He grew up a lot tonight. He made some great throws and had some great reads on the option. He is a hard-nosed, gritty kid. He fits the definition of this team.”
The momentum shifted as the Jay defense forced a three and out for Anna. St. John’s went on the attack. Boggs hit Tanner Calvelage for a 21-yard gain. Three plays later, Boggs found Calvelage again for a 10-yard gain to the Anna 36-yard line, but a vicious hit forced a fumble and Eric Schlagetter pounced on it.
Anna took advantage of the momentum shift and marched 74 yards in six plays to take a commanding 21-7 half-time lead. QB Jay Meyer completed two passes for 30 yards, including a 10-yard TD strike to WR Chandon Williams. But the play of the drive was Furgason’s 30-yard toss to Williams on a halfback option. Rioch has more tricks up his sleeve than magician Chris Angel.
Rioch said, “Going up two scores at halftime was pretty important. We had a good week of preparation on both sides of the ball and we carried that into the first half.”
Schulte said, “I told the kids at halftime to stay calm and stay in the game. We made some adjustments on the defensive side.”
Those adjustments paid off as St. John’s held Anna scoreless in the second half. But it wasn’t without trepidation as the Jays took the second-half kickoff and marched 63 yards before fumbling on the two-yard-line. Schlagetter recovered it for his second fumble recovery of the game.
“I thought, here we go again,” Schulte said. “We kept moving, kept moving, getting first downs and then a turnover.”
The agony was short-lived. Two plays later, Meyer recovered the snap in the endzone for a safety. Anna still led 21-9 with 9:04 left in the third quarter.
After a penalty and short kick, St. John’s was in excellent field position, starting from Anna’s 36-yard-line. Boggs wasted no time, finding WR Dylan Krendl for a 25-yard screen pass. The next play, Jettinghoff jetted 11 yards for the score. The Anna lead dwindled 21-16.
Anna responded mixing the run with the pass for 48 yards. Furgason ran for 20 yards on five plays and Meyer was 2-of-2 for 31 yards, including a circus catch by Wolters. Wolters had two touches this game, a 64-yard run and a 23-yard catch. Then on fourth and inches, Furgason was stuffed for a three-yard loss. End of threat.
Rioch said, “That fourth down play just killed us. Give their defense credit. It was my fault. That was a bad play call.”
St. John’s siezed control of the lead 22-21 with 7:50 left in the game. The Jays strung together nine running plays by committee. Chris Will ran for 11 yards, Jettinghoff covered 14 yards, and Bergfeld plowed for nine yards. On the 11th play of the march, it was second and goal from the 12-yard-line and Boggs connected with Calvelage on a nifty screen pass.
Calvelage was the offensive star of the game with six receptions for 109 yards and one TD.
With 3:05 left in the game and 87 yards from paydirt, Anna would not “Go gentle into that good night” as the Rockets hurried down the field. Meyer completed 4-of-8 passes for 47 yards. On third down and 10 from the Jays’ 37-yard-line with 1:04 remaining, Meyer tossed it to Williams, who pitched it to Furgason for a 13-yard gain. The perfect hook and ladder play. Just another trick by Rioch during crunch time.
The roar of the train arrived on cue, but this night, it wasn’t meant to be for Anna. Two plays later, Ryan Densel stepped in front of WR Chandon Williams and took it all the way to the “HOUSE” 98 yards with 34.8 seconds left.
The roar of the visitors side was louder than the train. End of threat. End of game.
Outside a noisy locker room, Densel recalled the play of the game, “We were playing a cover two zone. I saw the quarterback throw it and hurried over and jumped in front of it and took it down the sideline. All I saw was open space and ran as hard as I could. I saw out of the corner of my eye that a kid had an angle on me, so I cut back into the endzone.”
Schulte said, “It was a fitting end for our defense. They have played tough all season. It’s about time we got some breaks going our way. Now we just have to keep moving forward. We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Both teams displayed balanced offensive attacks. Anna collected 16 first downs and rushed for 257 yards and passed for 168 yards for 425 total yards. Meyer was 13-of-20 for 138 yards with one TD and one interception. Williams caught four passes for 65 yards.
St. John’s recorded 12 first downs with 174 yards on the ground and 149 through the air. Bergfeld rushed for 44 yards on eight carries and Jettinghoff led the way with 57 yards and two scores.
And so, for the second straight week, MVPHD followers have been served another instant classic.
