By: J. Daniel Pearson
In a game where both teams made way too many costly mistakes and negative plays, St. Cloud (3-4) made enough good ones to pull out a 20-6 win over rival Gateway (3-4) on Friday night.
The positives for the Bulldogs were a touchdown pass from Logan King to Gunner Freeman, an eight-yard touchdown run by TJ Griffin and a pair of field goals by Daniel Elizado to account for the Bulldogs scoring.
But it were the many weird things that happened between the Bulldogs’ 10 first quarter and their 10 fourth quarter points that will most likely have head coach Mike Shorts shaking heading into St. Cloud’s bye week.
“I knew Marlin’s (Gateway coach Marlin Roberts) team was a lot better than they have been in recent years, but we took the kickoff and drove down 90 yards on just four plays to take a 7-0 lead and then we recovered a fumble on their very first play and at that pint I’m thinking another touchdown and we’re off to the races,” Short said. “But give Gateway a ton of credit, they played solid defense, held us to a field goal and for some reason we simply couldn’t get anything going after that.”
Once he studies the film, Short will quickly diagnose the problems were. After Elizado’s 27-yard field goal staked St. Cloud to an early 10-point lead, the Bulldogs would end up self-destructing — giving up 135 yards in field position the rest of the half in a variety of weird and interesting ways.
St. Cloud was called for nine penalties for 55 yards in the half – including five false starts and a delay of game. King would be sacked three times for 42 yards in losses, Gateway would record two other tackles for 18 more yards in losses and Alex Springs would lose 12 more yards on a muffed punt. In all, 18 St. Cloud snaps resulted in losses for five or more yards in the half.
Unfortunately for Gateway and Roberts, his young and inexperienced Panther team was more than willing to return the favors of costly mistakes and penalties. Three first half Gateway drives would end up stalling out in plus territory. The Panthers were whistled for five false start penalties in the first half – including three in one four-play sequence. They lost a fumble and gave up valuable yardage on two errant center snaps in being shutout in the first half.
The closest they came to scoring came in the second quarter when a 19-yard run by Josh Fuller gave them a first down on the Bulldog 17. But an errant snap from center and a false start pushed Gateway back 12 yards and the series would end on a couple of incomplete passes.
Still, the Panthers would make a game of it.
Trailing by 10, they took over the ball on their own 25 with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter. Quarterback Aristotle Span would lead Gateway on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off with a Nydrell Thigpen 11-yard run. The Panthers showed some tenacity on the drive, overcoming three penalties – including a hold on the drive.
Sensing a shift in momentum, St. Cloud would change its tactics – moving to a hurry-up offense. After a post celebration penalty pushed the Gateway kickoff back 15 yards, St. Cloud got a good return out to its own 42. Using the no huddle, St. Cloud needed just three minutes to move 58 yards, scoring on Griffin’s 8-yard run to push the lead to 17-6. All the yards came from runs and short swing passes.
“We had some offensive lineman hurt all year and we have some pretty athletic receivers, so it has been a lot easier for us to move the ball via the pass than the run and that’s why we stuck with that plan for the first three quarters,” Short said. “But they are a young team without a lot of depth and I did sense they were getting tired. By going hurry up, I felt we could catch them out of position and we were able to do that.”
St. Cloud would get another quick stop and grind more time off the clock by picking up three first downs all by the run. Elizado capped the drive with a 29-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20-6 and leaving less than two minutes.
“We felt going in we would have to play nearly error free football to have a chance at an upset and that did not happen. At the end of the day, I really don’t believe in moral victories and I know our kids don’t either, but I was really proud of how they played tonight,” Roberts said. “We fell behind early but never gave up and it was a one score game into the fourth quarter. We had our chances, but made too many costly mistakes to win the game. But compared to the last couple of years, I think they (St. Cloud) knew they were in a fight.”
Statistically, King finished the game 11 for 24 for 215 yards and one score. Griffin rushed for 70 yards and caught 77 yards in passes. Springs caught three for 96 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury. Cameron Dalton added 50 yards on seven carries.
Thigpen led the way for Gateway, finishing the game with 108 yards rushing for the Panthers; while Fuller had 60 yards on 14 totes.
The Panthers return to action next Friday at home against Lake Placid, St. Cloud has a bye week.
