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Another football
season came to an end for the Shoremen as a field goal on the game’s last play gave
Toledo St. Francis DeSales a hard-fought 13-10 victory. It was a tough physical game from start to
finish against the hardest hitting defense the Shoremen faced all season. Mike Mansnerus closed out his stellar career
with 159 yards rushing on 35 carries, giving him an unofficial season total of 1,821 yards. The defense came up with big stops again and
again, but three fourth quarter turnovers proved to be the Shoremen’s undoing.
Avon Lake received the opening kickoff and started at their own 28. Mansnerus
first carry was stopped for a two yard gain, and Toy picked up two more on a
scramble on second down. On 3rd&
6, Toy rolled right & hit Mansnerus in the flat, and Mike ran over a St.
Francis defender for the first down. The
Shoremen managed to grind out a couple more first downs, mostly on three and
four yard gains by Mansnerus. On 2nd
& 5 from the 35, Mike ran right on a counter, dodged a tackler at the
line, and dove past one more at the
three for the score. Brad Brill’s PAT
made it 7-0 with 7:27 to play in the first quarter. The rest of the opening period was a punting
contest. The Shoremen opened the second
period with another sustained drive, keyed by more strong
running by Mansnerus and pass completions to Nick Marinkov and Kevin Morissette. The drive stalled at the 13, and Brad Brill
drilled a 30 yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.
St, Francis came back with a sustained drive of their own as QB Tyler
Johnston found some running room and hit
a couple of key third down passes.
But after a big sack by Brian Walborn, Johnston tried to throw a screen pass in the
right flat, Dan Schneider batted the ball down, and
then made a diving grab for an interception to preserve a 10-0 halftime lead.
St. Francis put
together another nice drive, with Johnston
again hitting some key passes to move inside the Shoremen 20. But again, the defense stiffened, and the
Knights settled for a 38 yard field goal by Patrick Dyer with 6:30 left in the
third period. The rest of the quarter
flew by as both teams stuck to the ground game and neither mounted any serious
threat. Early in the fourth, St. Francis
punted to the Avon
Lake 13. Toy rolled to his right under pressure and
his pass was picked off by Scott Loy at the 27.
Loy dodged a tackle at the twenty, cut to the left sideline, and went in
for a touchdown to tie the game at 10.
Craig Goodwin made a nice return on the kickoff to the Shoremen 31, and
the offense began to show some life, moving to the Knights’ 34 on a series of
toss sweeps to the short side of the field and a late hit called on St.
Francis. But on 3rd& 4
Mansnerus was hit as he tried to throw a halfback pass, and the Knights took
over at their 29. They moved to a first
down at their 40, but then Ronnie Willoughby intercepted a Johnston throw at the Shoremen 32. Again the Shoremen stayed on the ground to
pick up a couple of first downs. Then,
facing 4th & 3 from the 39, Toy faked play action and set to
throw to Willoughby,
who had broken behind the defense. But Trent was hit hard before
he could get the ball away, fumbled, and the Knights recovered at their
49. A sneak by Johnston on 4th & 1 kept the
drive alive, and a bootleg pass to the fullback on third down moved the ball to
the 26. Johnston carried to the 17, and with three
seconds left, Dyer booted the game winning field goal.
Notes:
·
Mansnerus
finished as the Shoremen’s #2 all-time rusher behind Jon
Schroeder. Mike’s unofficial
career total is 3,835 yards. Mike’ 45
career TD’s is third behind Schroeder and Bobby Doyle, and his 270 points tie
him for third with Dave Horton on the all-time list.
·
Many thanks to
the coaches and players for all the hard work you guys put in to make this
another great season. After the 1-3
start, most everyone was writing you off and crying for your scalps. But you stuck together, stuck to the plan,
and made believers out of a lot of people.
Special thanks go out to the seniors.
You’ve been a great group to cover these four years, and I sure will
miss you.
(Home) (Photos)
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Avon
Lake
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7
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3
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0
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0
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10
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Toledo St Francis
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0
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0
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3
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10
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13
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S. F.
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A.L.
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First downs
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13
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12
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Rush Yds
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110
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171
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Pass Yds
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69
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32
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Passes att-comp-int
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22-7-2
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6-3-2
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Fumbles-lost
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3-0
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2-1
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Penalties
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2-20
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4-45
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AL – Mansnerus 35 run (Brill kick)
AL – Brill FG
30
SF – Dyer FG 38
SF – Loy 27 interception return
SF – Dyer FG 34