Paint It Black

By Dan Ward

It was a blackout night in St. Johns, and the home bleachers were packed with fans dressed in black to back the Redwings. The team got off to a slow start, but once they figured things out, the game took a turn. These two teams have had some close battles over the past three years, with St. Johns winning 26-23, 21-14, and last year’s nail-biter, 27-26. Friday night, though, was a different story. The Redwings found their rhythm, the defense kept Fowlerville from getting anything going, and the offense started putting points on the board. By the final whistle, St. Johns had turned a slow start into a 43-0 shutout. The Redwings painted it black.

Fowlerville Stats

 Hot Dog Report

• Dog: 5/5 — Outstanding
• Bun: N/A — I don’t eat bread.
• Toppings: 5/5 — Ketchup and mustard in packets.
• Value: 5/5 — Average price.
• Game-Day Factor: 5/5
• Overall: 5/5 — “Home cooking is the best cooking.”

First Half

The Redwings won the coin toss and elected to receive. Right away, they found themselves facing a different look from the Gladiators. Fowlerville came out with a six-man front instead of the three-man front St. Johns had prepared for. Add in some uncharacteristic penalties, and the Redwings went three-and-out on their first possession.

Tyler Priest punted, and Fowlerville took over at its own 47. The Gladiators moved the ball to the St. Johns 38 but went for it on fourth-and-seven and came up short. The Redwings’ defense held, and St. Johns took over.

The Redwings started at their own 32. A roughing penalty moved the ball to the 47, and Archer Gurski, back from injury, picked up a first down. Conner Kurncz then used the hard count to draw Fowlerville offsides on back-to-back plays, picking up 10 free yards. Kurncz moved the ball to the Gladiators’ 25, but the drive stalled. Myles Jones came on for a 31-yard field goal and put it through the uprights. St. Johns led 3-0.

Jones sent the kickoff through the end zone for a touchback. Fowlerville started at its own 20 and broke off a big run before Brody Pratl brought the runner down.

The second quarter opened with the Gladiators facing second-and-five at the St. Johns 47. They drove to the 18, but once again, the Redwings came up big on fourth down. An incomplete pass turned the ball over to St. Johns.

The Redwings went to work on the sideline, studying the iPads and figuring out how to handle Fowlerville’s six-man front. The adjustment paid off as the passing game opened up. Kurncz connected with Conner Barber, then found Priest. Ian Smith carried the ball before Kurncz went back to Priest on second-and-three from the Fowlerville 28. Priest took the pass 28 yards to the end zone. Jones added the extra point, and St. Johns led 10-0 with 3:07 left in the half.

Jones sent another kickoff through the end zone, giving Fowlerville the ball at its own 20. The Gladiators managed to get to the 35 before punting. Things went wrong on the punt, though, as Fowlerville fumbled, and Cody Carn recovered at the Gladiators’ 32.

Kurncz connected with Priest on two more passes, and with 22 seconds left, Lucas McCastle found the end zone. The extra point was blocked, leaving St. Johns with a 16-0 lead.

Jones put the kickoff through the end zone again, and Fowlerville took a knee to end the half. The Redwings headed to the locker room up 16-0.

Halftime

The dance team took the field first and put on another great performance. Then the band took the field for its classic rock tribute.

They opened with Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” followed by Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero.” Here’s a bit of trivia: the song was written by Jim Steinman, who wrote much of Meat Loaf’s music. If you listen closely, you can hear his signature style. The band followed that with Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” and wrapped things up with “Cheer” by Potlicker.

Second Half

Jones kicked off to start the second half, and this time Fowlerville returned it. Johnny Infante stopped the Gladiators at the 24.

Fowlerville put together a drive and moved the ball to the St. Johns 32. The Redwings stuffed the Gladiators on third-and-three, then stopped them again on fourth-and-four from the 33. St. Johns took over, but the next play didn’t go as planned. The Redwings fumbled, and Fowlerville recovered.

The Gladiators finally found a little room to work with and drove to the St. Johns 26. On second-and-eight, Logan Finn stripped the quarterback, and Corwin Scheidler recovered the fumble. The Redwings had the ball back.

St. Johns started at its own 30. McCastle picked up four yards, and Kurncz powered ahead for a first down. Kurncz then found Priest for another first down. A personal foul against Fowlerville moved the ball to the Gladiators’ 39, and Kurncz connected with Priest again to keep the drive moving.

Gurski carried the ball down to the five. On second-and-goal from the three, McCastle punched it in for the touchdown. Jones added the extra point, and with 42 seconds left in the third quarter, St. Johns led 23-0.

Jones sent another kickoff through the end zone for a touchback. The Redwings’ defense was starting to make life difficult for the Gladiators, and an interception felt like it was coming. On first-and-10 from the Fowlerville 20, Ian Smith picked off the quarterback.

A few plays later, Smith found the end zone from 16 yards out to extend the Redwings’ lead. The extra point was blocked again, but St. Johns led 29-0 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jones kicked another touchback, and Fowlerville started at its own 20. The Gladiators couldn’t get anything going and punted from their own 20. The return got the ball to the Fowlerville 42, and Cody Carn finished the drive. On the very next play, Carn took it to the house. Jones made the extra point, and the Redwings were up 36-0.

At this point, the kickoff routine was becoming pretty familiar. Jones sent the ball through the end zone, and Fowlerville started at its own 20. This time, the Gladiators fumbled on the first play, and Pratl came up with the ball.

St. Johns moved down to the three-yard line. On third-and-three, No. 3 Johnny Infante found the end zone. Jones added the extra point, making it 43-0.

Another kickoff, another touchback. Fowlerville was running out of chances to get something going, but the Gladiators still had to finish the game. On fourth-and-15 from their own 15, they punted. The punter hit one of his own players in the back, and St. Johns took over at the Fowlerville three-yard line.

The Redwings took a knee to run out the clock, closing out a 43-0 win.

After the game, Coach Schmitt said, “We came out a little slow tonight, credit to Fowlerville. We were able to make some adjustments and get things going in the right direction again. Again, our guys played extremely hard, and it was a great win to finish out conference play!”

Next Up

Next Friday, the Gaylord Blue Devils come to St. Johns. Gaylord is 3-4 this season, and the Redwings will have last year’s 32-28 loss fresh in their minds.

St. Johns sits at 5-2, and the playoffs are within reach. Winning one of the final two games would put the Redwings in a strong position, and finishing 7-2 is well within reach. They’ll need to keep playing hard and take care of business, starting next Friday at home.

Around the Program

Here’s how the rest of the St. Johns football teams did this week:

• 7th Grade: Stayed undefeated, beating Williamston 46-12.
• 8th Grade: Fell to Williamston, 33-6.
• JV B: Beat Grand Ledge, 34-8.
• JV A: Took care of Fowlerville, 60-12.
• 4th Grade: Stayed undefeated, beating Springport 32-0.
• 5th Grade: Beat Springport, 24-8.
• 6th Grade: Picked up its first win, 16-8.

This Week’s Schedule

• 7th and 8th Grade: Home against Ionia.
• JV B and JV A: On the road at Gaylord.
• SJYAA 4th, 5th, and 6th Grade: Take on DeWitt.