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Football’s offense struggles with costly turnovers; defense makes key stops but comeback falls short

The St. Louis U. High football team faced off against the De Smet Jesuit Spartans under the Friday night lights of Oakland Avenue. Following Spirit Week and a successful pep rally by StuCo just hours earlier, the Jr. Bills were ready to make a statement last Friday night.

Things started well for the Jr. Bills as the first pass attempt by junior quarterback Marco Sansone went to senior tight end Zach Ortwerth for 15 yards. That early momentum would end on a third and long with Sansone scrambling out of the pocket and firing a ball down field that was intercepted. 

De Smet started off on fire despite pressure from junior defensive end Archie Carruthers. De Smet quarterback Christian Cotton drove downfield before taking it in himself for the first score of the game.

SLUH continued their slow start, going three and out and punting the ball back to the red hot Spartans. But De Smet would cool down quickly at the hands of junior receiver/cornerback Ryan Wingo as he picked off the Spartans, returning the ball 51 yards for 6 points in the other direction. 

“Ryan (Wingo) made an excellent play on the ball,” said head coach Adam Cruz. “On top of that, he played fantastic on defense and shut down their number one receiver. We asked him to do a lot on defense and he did it.”

The following drive would see De Smet gain back some momentum as they drove slowly down field, converting on multiple third downs. Senior defensive end Jaylen Morris spearheaded the defensive pressures as De Smet was forced to kick a field goal to give them a 10-7 advantage with 11:47 left in the half. 

SLUH failed to respond as a few plays into the next drive, Wingo fumbled on a double handoff which was returned for a De Smet touchdown. On the next possession, SLUH faced more pressure and went three and out. The Spartans responded quickly, scoring again, this time on a 60-yard pass. In less than four minutes, De Smet had scored 17 points and flipped the game upside down. 

The rest of the first half displayed big showings from both defenses. After a rough four minutes, the Jr. Bills responded with a 21-yard run by senior running back Kam Bailey, but eventually turned the ball over on downs. 

On the following possession, SLUH’s defense came up strong as freshman safety Jordan Taylor came up with a huge sack on third down, forcing the Spartans to punt. With minutes left in the half, the Jr. Bills couldn’t reverse the tide as a Sansone pass flew high and was intercepted. SLUH’s defense held, though, as a timely sack by senior linebacker Dillion Ramella kept the Spartans out of the end zone. The Jr. Bills headed into halftime down 24-7.

De Smet started off the second half by implementing more of a play action style offense that saw them gain yards on the ground. Their aggressive play culminated in their fourth touchdown of the game, which gave them a 30-7 lead after a missed extra point. 

The Jr. Bills failed to get anything started on the offensive side of the ball but defensively held on, causing back-to-back three-and-outs. Sansone connected with junior receiver Joe Harris for a 30-yard passing touchdown to pull SLUH to within 17 with 4:05 left in the third quarter. 

After the Spartans were stopped short on 4th and 1 when Carruthers again came up with a momentous sack, the momentum had swung SLUH’s direction. With only a quarter left they had to put up some points. 

The Jr. Bills put together a drive but it was eventually cut short as Sansone’s pass over the middle was intercepted. The Spartans went three and out on the subsequent drive, leaving a door open for a possible late comeback. But the Jr. Bills failed to convert a fourth and 3, giving the ball back to De Smet, who ran time off the clock before being forced to punt again.

SLUH received the ball back with less than 5 minutes on the clock and thanks, in part, to a barrage of flags were able to drive down and score with a Sansone pass to Harris putting SLUH down by 10 with 3:25 left in the game. The door was closed just a few plays into the De Smet drive as they drove downfield and ran it in, handing SLUH their fourth loss of the year.

Sansone completed 12 out of 30 passing attempts for 137 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Bailey led the way running the ball with 6 attempts going for 25 yards. Joseph Harris led receivers with 5 catches going for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I’ve got a lot of people around me to support me,” said Joseph Harris. “Each game is different and it’s just a blessing to play with people like that.”

On defense, Keenan Harris led the defense with 12 tackles; Taylor racked up 11 and Ramella got involved as well. Carruthers racked up 2 sacks in an impressive performance. Along with him, Taylor, Ortwerth, and sophomore cornerback Matthew Moore all totaled sacks. Additionally, Wingo’s 51-yard pick six stands as SLUH’s first defensive touchdown of the season.

“We’re still working on filling in for the injuries—losing Louis—but we’re just trying to go out there and give it our all,” said Taylor. “I don’t have much experience on the defensive side of the ball but it feels good to make an impact.”

“All things considered I thought our defense played really well,” said Cruz. “We turned the ball over five times and they were on the field for 80 percent of that game. Besides a garbage time touchdown and that four-minute stretch, we really shut them down.”

“We’ve done a good job responding to adversity this season,” said Carruthers. “I feel like we had an off week last week against De Smet. We could have taken advantage of some situations better but we’re still building and getting better each week and hopefully we’ll improve as the season goes on.”

Tonight, SLUH will face off against another MCC Rival in Chaminade (2-4) who are coming off a 58-31 victory over Vianney. The Red Devils are in the same boat with the Jr. Bills with losses against De Smet and CBC and blowout wins over Vianney; so this game will determine third place in the MCC. 

With some of the toughest games behind them, the Jr. Bills will look to pick up a win and start the last month of the regular season on a positive note.

“Each week we’re getting a little better,” said Joseph Harris. “We just need to put all the pieces together.”

“We haven’t played our best games on both sides of the ball yet,” said Cruz. “We keep having these six minute slumps in games which just kill us; we need to work to eliminate those. We have a lot of good teams ahead of us that will be looking to make a statement so we need to be ready.”

The St. Louis U. High football team faced off against the De Smet Jesuit Spartans under the Friday night lights of Oakland Avenue. Following Spirit Week and a successful pep rally by StuCo just hours earlier, the Jr. Bills were ready to make a statement last Friday night.

Things started well for the Jr. Bills as the first pass attempt by junior quarterback Marco Sansone went to senior tight end Zach Ortwerth for 15 yards. That early momentum would end on a third and long with Sansone scrambling out of the pocket and firing a ball down field that was intercepted. 

De Smet started off on fire despite pressure from junior defensive end Archie Carruthers. De Smet quarterback Christian Cotton drove downfield before taking it in himself for the first score of the game.

SLUH continued their slow start, going three and out and punting the ball back to the red hot Spartans. But De Smet would cool down quickly at the hands of junior receiver/cornerback Ryan Wingo as he picked off the Spartans, returning the ball 51 yards for 6 points in the other direction. 

“Ryan (Wingo) made an excellent play on the ball,” said head coach Adam Cruz. “On top of that, he played fantastic on defense and shut down their number one receiver. We asked him to do a lot on defense and he did it.”

The following drive would see De Smet gain back some momentum as they drove slowly down field, converting on multiple third downs. Senior defensive end Jaylen Morris spearheaded the defensive pressures as De Smet was forced to kick a field goal to give them a 10-7 advantage with 11:47 left in the half. 

SLUH failed to respond as a few plays into the next drive, Wingo fumbled on a double handoff which was returned for a De Smet touchdown. On the next possession, SLUH faced more pressure and went three and out. The Spartans responded quickly, scoring again, this time on a 60-yard pass. In less than four minutes, De Smet had scored 17 points and flipped the game upside down. 

The rest of the first half displayed big showings from both defenses. After a rough four minutes, the Jr. Bills responded with a 21-yard run by senior running back Kam Bailey, but eventually turned the ball over on downs. 

On the following possession, SLUH’s defense came up strong as freshman safety Jordan Taylor came up with a huge sack on third down, forcing the Spartans to punt. With minutes left in the half, the Jr. Bills couldn’t reverse the tide as a Sansone pass flew high and was intercepted. SLUH’s defense held, though, as a timely sack by senior linebacker Dillion Ramella kept the Spartans out of the end zone. The Jr. Bills headed into halftime down 24-7.

De Smet started off the second half by implementing more of a play action style offense that saw them gain yards on the ground. Their aggressive play culminated in their fourth touchdown of the game, which gave them a 30-7 lead after a missed extra point. 

The Jr. Bills failed to get anything started on the offensive side of the ball but defensively held on, causing back-to-back three-and-outs. Sansone connected with junior receiver Joe Harris for a 30-yard passing touchdown to pull SLUH to within 17 with 4:05 left in the third quarter. 

After the Spartans were stopped short on 4th and 1 when Carruthers again came up with a momentous sack, the momentum had swung SLUH’s direction. With only a quarter left they had to put up some points. 

The Jr. Bills put together a drive but it was eventually cut short as Sansone’s pass over the middle was intercepted. The Spartans went three and out on the subsequent drive, leaving a door open for a possible late comeback. But the Jr. Bills failed to convert a fourth and 3, giving the ball back to De Smet, who ran time off the clock before being forced to punt again.

SLUH received the ball back with less than 5 minutes on the clock and thanks, in part, to a barrage of flags were able to drive down and score with a Sansone pass to Harris putting SLUH down by 10 with 3:25 left in the game. The door was closed just a few plays into the De Smet drive as they drove downfield and ran it in, handing SLUH their fourth loss of the year.

Sansone completed 12 out of 30 passing attempts for 137 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Bailey led the way running the ball with 6 attempts going for 25 yards. Joseph Harris led receivers with 5 catches going for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I’ve got a lot of people around me to support me,” said Joseph Harris. “Each game is different and it’s just a blessing to play with people like that.”

On defense, Keenan Harris led the defense with 12 tackles; Taylor racked up 11 and Ramella got involved as well. Carruthers racked up 2 sacks in an impressive performance. Along with him, Taylor, Ortwerth, and sophomore cornerback Matthew Moore all totaled sacks. Additionally, Wingo’s 51-yard pick six stands as SLUH’s first defensive touchdown of the season.

“We’re still working on filling in for the injuries—losing Louis—but we’re just trying to go out there and give it our all,” said Taylor. “I don’t have much experience on the defensive side of the ball but it feels good to make an impact.”

“All things considered I thought our defense played really well,” said Cruz. “We turned the ball over five times and they were on the field for 80 percent of that game. Besides a garbage time touchdown and that four-minute stretch, we really shut them down.”

“We’ve done a good job responding to adversity this season,” said Carruthers. “I feel like we had an off week last week against De Smet. We could have taken advantage of some situations better but we’re still building and getting better each week and hopefully we’ll improve as the season goes on.”

Tonight, SLUH will face off against another MCC Rival in Chaminade (2-4) who are coming off a 58-31 victory over Vianney. The Red Devils are in the same boat with the Jr. Bills with losses against De Smet and CBC and blowout wins over Vianney; so this game will determine third place in the MCC. 

With some of the toughest games behind them, the Jr. Bills will look to pick up a win and start the last month of the regular season on a positive note.

“Each week we’re getting a little better,” said Joseph Harris. “We just need to put all the pieces together.”

“We haven’t played our best games on both sides of the ball yet,” said Cruz. “We keep having these six minute slumps in games which just kill us; we need to work to eliminate those. We have a lot of good teams ahead of us that will be looking to make a statement so we need to be ready.”

 

 


 

 

 

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