Two Ohio high school football teams played their hearts out Friday night at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s John Cistone Field.
Fortunately for the Fighting Irish, they made a few more plays than rival Walsh Jesuit to earn a hard-fought 10-3 win.
Defense was at a premium for both teams, hitting hard at every opportunity and forcing the offense to no rhythm.
“You can throw that one in the classic book,” St. V-M first-year coach Marcus Wattley said. “It was two teams going back and forth. Two defenses playing their butts off. We were fortunate to make a couple more plays than they did.”
It was fitting that the only touchdown of the game came from the Irish’s defense. Senior Brandon Bischof picked up a fumble from Walsh quarterback Alex Weitman and returned it 14 yards for the score to make it 7-0 with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
The Irish have now won five of the past six in the series and inch closer to tying the all-time series. The Warriors still hold a 21-19 overall lead.
St. V-M (2-0) has held its first two opponents to nine total points, as Wattley’s defense is relentless on each snap.
“Proud of my guys that they competed for 48 minutes. I told them at halftime this is why we do those sprints, this is why you guys were running the hills and lifting weights. To prepare yourself for a game like this,” Wattley said about his team.
The Irish had to change a game plan before the game because starting quarterback Donte Taylor was out with a foot injury after hurting it in last week’s win over Firestone.
So entered freshman Luke Lindsay, who didn’t make any major mistakes and did enough for his team to win, including running for a first down on third down with less than two minutes left in the game.
“Lindsay has worked his butt off to be the backup. We had all the confidence he could win us a game. He played great,” Wattley said.
Nothing can be taken away from Walsh Jesuit, which battled for the second consecutive week against a premier team. Walsh Jesuit (0-2) forced the Irish into four punts in the second half and two three-and-outs.
The only points for the Warriors came off the foot of Quinn Saluan, a 28-yard field goal with 39 seconds to go in the second quarter.
Saluan was a big reason why Walsh’s special teams were solid all night. He averaged over 44 yards a punt and had plenty of hang time so the rest of the guys could make a tackle.
The Warriors can’t hang their heads.
“The old cliche of throwing the records out the window and just line up and play is pretty much what happened tonight,” Wattley said.