St. Vincent-St. Mary football runs to 49-21 win over Cleveland Heights
Photo by Tim Wilson
AKRON, Ohio – St. Vincent-St. Mary didn’t get caught in a trap game between their two rivalries, defeating Cleveland Heights 49-21 last Friday night at Green Street Stadium.
A week after a 28-14 loss to Archbishop Hoban and a week before making the trek to Cuyahoga Falls to battle Walsh Jesuit, the Fighting Irish handed Cleveland Heights (8-1) its first loss of the year.
STVM (7-2) used a steady running attack to defeat the Tigers, as running backs D’Anthony Kelker and Santino Harper each went over 100 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns apiece, and quarterback Markelle Carter added two touchdowns on the ground as well.
With STVM trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Kelker took a handoff and went 55 yards to the house. Harper and Carter each followed suit in the second quarter – Harper from seven yards and Carter from one yard out – to give the Fighting Irish a 21-7 lead at the half.
After the Cleveland Heights defense forced an interception to start the third quarter, Tigers quarterback Darreon Fair scored from six yards out on a run to cut the lead to 21-13.
But Carter bounced back after his interception to give STM a 28-13 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run and then finished the third quarter with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Blake Kane.
Fair hit John Gordon for a 10-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 34-21 early in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Tigers could get the rest of the night.
Kelker scored on a 55-yard run and Harper followed that with a 48-yard run of his own to ice the game. Kelker led the Fighting Irish with 158 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Harper added 124 yards on 15 carries.
After losing four fumbles in the loss to Hoban, STVM put an emphasis on ball security and turnover margin leading up to the game. They put that practice to good uses, as they forced eight fumbles by the Tigers and recovered four of them.
Cleveland Heights (8-1) was led by Fair, who ran for 131 yards on 17 carries and Owen Bisker with 110 yards on 17 carries.
The Tigers will try to bounce back in Week 10 as they host Shaker Heights to finish out the regular season.
Photo Gallery (photos by Tim Wilson)
