Local Sports
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Irish drub Mohawkssports writer
Kory Gates was an offensive dynamo Friday, completing 17 out of 22 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 63 yards and another score as Marion Catholic defeated St. Wendelin High School 44-22 in a Northwest Central Conference game at Memorial Stadium.
The Fighting Irish (1-3 overall, 1-0 NWCC) brought an aggressive passing game that seemed to catch the Mohawks (0-4, 0-2) off guard.
On Marion's first possession, Gates scored on a 16 yard run after six consecutive passes. Josiah Sayers missed the extra point.
Gates struck again in the second quarter, this time throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Matt Shirley. Alex Severns caught a Gates pass for the two-point conversion.
St. Wendelin closed the gap through Chase Beam's 17-yard pass to Alex Shontz. Austin Reinhart ran in a two-point conversion to make the score 14-8.
Gates, however, continued to exploit the Mohawks' secondary, throwing an 11-yard pass to Evan Rimoldi and a five-yard toss to Severns, both for touchdowns. Marion failed to convert on both extra point attempts.
St. Wendelin came out of the locker room a different team to start the second half.
Shontz intercepted a Gates pass at the Mohawks 15 to stop a Marion Catholic drive, setting up an amazing 70-yard run by Reinhart, who took a handoff on a sweep and tiptoed down the left sidelines to the Fighting Irish 15 yard line. Beam then threw a 10-yard scoring pass to George Iannatouno. Clare Berry kicked the extra-point attempt.
On Marion's next possession, Shontz made his second interception of the night, returning the ball for 30 yards to the Fighting Irish 15 yard line.
St. Wendelin coach Bill Hrabak said he could sense a huge momentum shift after Shontz's second interception.
“You could see that Marion was starting to panic. Momentum was shifting and it could have been a different ball game,” said Hrabak.
The Mohawks made it to their opponent's two-yard line, but couldn't find a way to score.
“It really hurt us. We got all the way down there and consistently shot ourselves in the foot. It shows that we're still a young team,” Hrabak said.
Gates' final score came after a St. Wendelin fumble. His 21-yard pass to Sayers put the game beyond doubt. Again, Gates failed to convert the two-point try.
The Fighting Irish's backup QB Marco Comianos completed a nine-yard scoring pass to Robbie Johnson a couple of possessions later., and Rimoldi ran back a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown. Comianos couldn't complete either conversions.
The Mohawks came back with one final drive, scoring on a 39-yard run from Reinhart, who finished the game with 125 yards from seven carries.
“We saw some good things tonight,” Hrabak said. “Everything has cause and effect. If we start doing one thing well, you'll see other things open up on the field.”
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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