BELLVILLE — The Clear Fork Colts played tough, but 122 yards by Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s running back Harvey Tuck proved to be too much as the visiting Irish beat the ailing Colts, 20-7.
“That Tuck is a tough kid,” said Clear Fork coach Rick Beans. “He’s 220 pounds and he comes at you from deep in the backfield. He’s a real hard-nosed kid.”
With running back Eric Kline out with an injured ankle and the rest of Colts nursing their various wounds any opponent would be tough to face, but St. Vincent-St. Mary’s is loaded.
“I’d like up to be healthy,” Beans said. “That’s a goal. I think that we’ve got a pretty good football team. If we can get over some of these injuries and stuff, I think that we put a pretty good product on the field.”
The Colts, with all their nagging injuries, had to contend with the Irish pressuring their backfield throughout the game.
“They have one of the best defenses in Division IV,” said Beans. “It good was last year and they returned eight guys off that team so I didn’t think that they would be any worse. We knew it would be tough sledding. We knew that we would have to do an outstanding job and, I think that the defense did an great job. (The Irish) are not a dynamic passing team, but they are pretty diverse.”
Even when the Colts fought back, they couldn’t erase the damage caused by a couple of key turnovers.
The Irish took the game’s first possession 87 yards for a touchdown, holding the ball for six minutes and 10 seconds and looking totally in control.
If the Irish thought that they were going to be visiting Bellville’s version of the Saint James Infirmary when they invaded the valley, they had another thing coming.
The Colts struck back quickly, getting deep into Irish territory with a pass from Colts’ quarterback Travis Hissong (5-for-12, two interceptions) to wide receiver Jake Dickerson for 33 yards and taking it down to the Irish’ 37. A few plays later, Colts running back Jordan McCune (12 carries, 51 yards) took it into the end zone to tie the score at 7 late in the first quarter.
The Colts got it back in Irish territory and took it down to the 10-yard line. With second-and-8, Hissong coughed up the ball and the Irish took it away and marched it right back downfield for a touchdown by their running back Billy Harmon.
“That first one would have been nice (to have back),” said Beans. “It’s just one of those things where any turnover hurt us.”
Lightning and strong storms delayed the second half of the game by over an hour, but the Irish were unfazed as they capitalized on another Colts’ error. A pass by Hissong, late in the third quarter, was picked off by Irish defensive back Doran Grant at the Colts’ 24 to set up another Irish score. Tuck took it in from the 23, going straight and then cutting left to up the Irish lead to 20-7 at the end of the third quarter.
“I don’t know if either (turnover) hurt more than the other,” said Beans. “Obviously, when you are turning the ball over, you are not doing very well. You cannot afford to waste possessions when you are playing a defense like (St. Vincent-St. Mary’s.) Kids don’t go out there to fumble. Their trying hard, they are dragging people and they are getting their arms pulled and those kind of things happen. They don’t go out to fumble and they don’t go out to drop passes. They are trying their hardest. That’s all you can do.”
