Spartans Circle The Wagons
Defeat Indian River 51 - 13
If there was any question as to how the Spartans would respond coming off their loss to Caravel, it was quickly answered. When St. Mark's turned the ball over on their first offensive play of the game it brought a collective groan from the nervous crowd, who obviously still had last week's proceedings fresh in mind. But it didn't rattle the Spartans, they seemed unfazed, even motivated by the fumble. They would respond by scoring the next two times they had the ball. The first on a Jelani Bryant 52 yard run, followed by Andrew Watkins 25 yard score to give St. Mark's an early 14 - 0 lead. It was a series of events that would replay itself in the second quarter.
After the teams traded a few possessions, the Spartans looked to be driving for another score but were halted by an interception. Once again, St. Mark's shook it off and went to work. Only this time it was the defense, who had been shutting down Indian River throughout the game. With the Indians pinned deep in their own territory, Will Hoffman tackled the quarterback in the end zone for a safety. Ian Noonan returned the ensuing free kick to the Indian River 21, where A.J. Poppiti passed to Matthew Tynes for the score. The Spartans would push their led to 30 - 0 moments later after the Indians fumbled St. Mark's kickoff, setting up a weaving 30 yard touchdown run by Andrew Watkins. With the game slipping away, Indian River's offense came alive, putting a scoring drive of their own together, but it was too little too late. A point made clear by Ian Noonan, when he followed up the Indian's score with his second long kickoff return of the night, that set up another Watkins scoring run.
The Spartans would put the game on a running clock a little under four minutes into the third quarter with Andrew Watkins fourth touchdown of the evening. The teams would trade scores to finish things up, with Carter Benham scoring on a 6 yard run, and Indian River's Jalen Snead with a 45 yard QB keeper. St. Mark's offense gained 373 total yards, 274 rushing led by Andrew Watkins with 152 yards on 15 carries. Victor Marcelo led the receivers with 32 yards, while A.J. Poppiti was 4 of 5 for 69 yards and a touchdown. On special teams, Ian Noonan had 3 kick returns for 125 yards, and Eric Ludman was a perfect 7 for 7 on extra point attempts. The defense held Indian River to 157 total yards, with Matt Dougherty, Carter Benham, and Brandon Holmburg leading the unit, each with 6 tackles. Matthew McGuirk recovered a fumble, while Will Hoffman had 2 sacks, and Brandon Holmburg added another.
Scoring Summary:
SM - Bryant 52 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Watkins 25 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Safety (Snead tackled in end zone by Hoffman)
SM - Tynes 21 yard pass from Poppiti (Ludman kick)
SM - Watkins 30 yard run (Ludman kick)
IR - Turner 1 yard run (kick blocked)
SM - Watkins 3 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Watkins 10 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Benham 6 yard run (Ludman kick)
IR - Snead 45 yard run (Burnshaw kick)
SM - Bryant 52 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Watkins 25 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Safety (Snead tackled in end zone by Hoffman)
SM - Tynes 21 yard pass from Poppiti (Ludman kick)
SM - Watkins 30 yard run (Ludman kick)
IR - Turner 1 yard run (kick blocked)
SM - Watkins 3 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Watkins 10 yard run (Ludman kick)
SM - Benham 6 yard run (Ludman kick)
IR - Snead 45 yard run (Burnshaw kick)
Box Score:
Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Total |
Indian River |
000 |
6 |
000 |
7 |
13 |
St. Mark's |
14 |
23 |
14 |
000 |
51 |