Senecas stun unbeaten St. Joe

FREMONT - Perhaps not many people predicted St. Joe's victory over state-ranked Hopewell-Loudon in Bascom.

Probably fewer people foresaw Calvert turning the upset tables Saturday when playing unbeaten St. Joe at home.

At least, not on the scale it happened.

Calvert's Dillon Kwiat scored five touchdowns for the second week in a row and piled up 188 of his team's 285 rushing yards as the Senecas evened their record at 3-3 with a 52-14 demolition at Don Paul Stadium.

"We came out ready to play," said Calvert coach Jim Kubuske, whose team also moved into a second-place tie in the Midland Athletic League at 2-1. "I'm sure St. Joe's kids were ready to play, too, but we set the tone early with those big turnovers and stuck 'em in the end zone before people could get in their seats."

Fans who found their seats 2 minutes in missed the first score, as Calvert's Adam Zahner intercepted a tipped Garrett Walker pass on the first play from scrimmage and returned to the St. Joe 24.

Kwiat, one of the wingbacks in Calvert's double-tight, double-wing set, ran 13 yards on his first of 23 carries and scored from 8 yards out two plays later at the 10:36 mark.

Just 2:35 later the lead was 14-0, after Brandon Ritzler intercepted Walker on third down and Kwiat plowed across from a yard out to cap a five-play possession.

"We did a nice job [in] the secondary with our coverages," Kubuske said. "The quarterback, he had trouble reading and so on, finding receivers. They gave our D-line a chance to get the pressure there."

After St. Joe turned it over on downs at Calvert's 24, the Senecas showed they could drive for scores, too.

A 13-play, 76-yard march culminated with another 1-yard Kwiat plunge at the 7:50 mark of the second period. Not to be forgotten in the run-based offense, quarterback Vinny Pardi had third-down completions of 22 yards to Zahner and 26 to Brandon Ritzler on the drive.

Chase Turner's sack then forced a St. Joe punt, and a third 1-yard Kwiat dive capped a nine-play drive at the 1:20 mark.

Sean Brawley's 54-yard kick return gave St. Joe a chance to score before halftime, but on fourth down from the 8 Walker got harassed by blitzing Jeff Stover, and his tipped pass got picked easily to finish the half.

St. Joe coach Todd Drusback didn't want to say his team suffered a hangover after its overtime win over Hopewell-Loudon, but he did acknowledge the Streaks (5-1, 2-1) started poorly for the first time Saturday.

"I thought we had a good week of practice," Drusback said. "We talked about (a hangover) a little bit, but you don't want to overkill it; you don't want to plant the seed. I'm not gonna make any excuses for what Calvert did tonight because they played really well."

Calvert put the game away quickly in the second half, scoring six plays after the kickoff. Kwiat patiently broke off his two longest runs, 23 and 29 yards, to set up his 13-yard touchdown on a double handoff.

Drusback said Calvert's offense, which converted seven third downs in a row and scored on every possession but the game-ender, is difficult to stop when it gets on a roll.

"We knew they wanted to put a lot of hats at the point of attack," he said.

"When you get in that offense, they have that tendency, when they motion that wingback, they could always run it away - they bring it back, they'll play-action pass. They pull the guards on some passes, too, so if you're safety's filling hard ... they hit a big play."

Calvert's other scores came when Rush Arbogast hauled in a pass tipped by Walker and sprinted down the sideline for a 58-yard touchdown; Spencer Kerr's field goal capped a 12-play, 79-yard trek; and Taylor Smith ran 59 yards with the reserves in.

Walker was just 7-of-16 passing in the first half and finished with 152 yards, including a 16-yard score to Brant Reardon in the third period.

Jacob Brodman had Calvert's other sack, and the Senecas allowed league-leading rusher Zak Bowman just 5 yards in the first half and 65 overall.

As for the offense that at times can resemble a rugby scrum, the line of Derek Lutz, Brodman, Turner, Colin Behm and Joe Fowler, plus tight ends Arbogast and Ritzler and fullback Stover, certainly had their best game blocking.

"We've shown signs, and we kind of got it rolling last week, and this week they really took it upon themselves, the o-line," Kubuske said. "Dillon and the running backs did a terrific job running the ball, and they're starting to take a lot of pride in that stuff, and I appreciate that.

"(Dillon) is learning - it's not always the first guy that gets through the hole. With our offense we need to have a little patience and let our blockers get there. We're learning that. Hopefully we'll continue to improve that as we finish the season."