Ashtabula St John defeated Windham 38-12

Photo by Elena Sweet

When I looked at the Bombers schedule back in August, I spotted what I thought would be a soft spot, midseason games against Mathews and St. John.

Mathews beat the Bombers 40-14 for their second win.

St. John, carrying a 1-4 record, prepped for Windham by beating Grand Valley, which had whipped the Bombers 68-8.

Don’t call me Nostradamus.

But, excepting our lone victory over Cardinal, the first quarter of Saturday’s game on the Lakeside High School turf was the best 10 minutes of the second half of the season. No one could have predicted a drive that occupied almost the entire first stanza, especially since the temperature on the artificial surface on October 4 registered nearly 90 degrees.

After Bryan Smithberger returned the initial kickoff to the Bomber 30, Coach Jake Eye threw a surprise wrinkle by making the first play a pass to little-used Cam Batterby. Two short gains added up to a third and four, but St. John commenced shooting themselves in the foot with a series of penalties to give Windham a first down.

Then a Smithberger marathon began. Successive quarterback sneaks brought another first down. A delayed end sweep by Batterby gained nine, and Smithberger added six to move the ball to the St. John 32.

Alex Eye joined the ground brigade with a four-yard gain, and the interior line, which has had growing pains all season, combined with Matt Kolaczek, the old man out at end, for some lethal blocking to lead Smithberger to the St. John 21.

Two thwarted DeJuan Ramsey runs threatened to grind the drive to a halt, but a brilliant call for him to scoot around right end saw him fly 19 yards for a touchdown.

A yellow flag on the field for an illegal formation called it back, and the next three plays barely moved the pigskin. On fourth and nine on the St. John 20, Smithberger held his ground behind a sturdy pocket, spotted Ramsey near the end zone, and delivered the mail for a first down on the five-yard line.

Two quarterback keepers was all Smithberger needed, and the seventy-yard drive climaxed after nine and a half minutes for a hard-earned Bomber tally. The extra point attempt failed, leaving Windham with a rare 6-0 lead.

The ensuing Loudon Collins kickoff soared to the five, but the Bomber tacklers looked like they were playing Blind Man’s Bluff on the return, and the Heralds thus started at the 50-yard line.

St. John commenced a drive that saw the first quarter end with the Heralds on the Bomber 17. The main problem, as it has been since I began going to Windham games in the 1950’s, was a lack of containment on the outside.

St. John took almost four minutes to finish their drive, primarily due to sterling defense from Kolaczek and Alex Eye, still learning the ropes after joining the team at mid-season. On fourth and goal, the Bomber tackler crumpled over with an injury, allowing the St. John runner to stab the ball over the goal line. The Heralds kick all their extra points, and the score moved to 7-6.

On the ensuing drive, several incomplete passes lulled the Heralds, and Smithberger jumped on their lethargy to nail Kolaczek with a great reception, which he held onto despite a crunching tackle that simply reaffirmed his intrinsic toughness.

Negative yardage on the next few plays called for the Bombers to punt, but Coach Jake Eye decided to emulate a Old West gambler, and it backfired. A reverse to Ethan Thornton lost even more ground, and the ball reverted to St. John on the Windham 34.

Heralds running back Severino, who resembled former Bomber and NFL star Don Nottingham when he was young, then took the handoff and scampered up the gut of the Bomber line untouched to score the second St. John touchdown, making the score 14-6.

The next drive ended with a pooch punt by Smithberger, one of several on the evening, punts that didn’t go far enough to flip the field. The Heralds quarterback tried his first passing attempt on second down, and Gavin Kiser, back on the football team after a two year hiatus, snared his very first interception.

This gave the Bombers new life, and they were quick to take advantage. Eating up most of the rest of the second quarter, and with the running game mostly stymied, Smithberger threw two of his best aerials of the year. One went to Matt Kolaczek for his second great catch of the night, and the other pass would have made the Sports Center Top 10.

Surrounded by three defenders, each at least six inches taller than him, tiny DeJuan Ramsey rose as if on springs to snatch the ball from their midst on the two yard line. A Smithberberger rollout met no opposition, and the Bombers found themselves trailing by only two points, 14-12, to usher in the intermission.

And then the game fell apart.

It took only 20 seconds of the third quarter for Severino to duplicate his earlier up the gut run for a touchdown, this time for 68 yards, making the score 21-12. Sadly, this was the beginning of the end for Bomber hopes.

A bad snap, admittedly one of the first of the year for the Bombers’ center, turned the ball over on the Heralds 42, and despite a sack by sophomore Devin Sherman, for the third time Severino demonstrated EXACTLY the same scenario, an untouched romp through the heart of the Bomber line. His mother wouldn’t have to wash his uniform that night, since there wasn’t a single Bomber pawprint on his pants.

And the rout was on. Almost predictably, the penchant for Smithberger pooch punts from the shotgun position, instead of the normal 15 yards gap, backfired, and this third pooch attempt fell victim to a St. John block.

The Heralds took over on the Windham 25, and desperation tackling by Azeon Davis and Zach Schultz forced the St. John kicker to attempt a 32-yard field goal. He’s good, and so was the kick, the longest this fan has seen in Division 7 football in years.

DeJuan Ramsey bobbed and weaved like a featherweight boxer on the ensuing kickoff, bringing the ball to the St. John 40 as the third quarter ended. The following drive, though, filled with predictable play calling and incomplete passes, turned the ball back over.

A pass interference call and an accidental facemask ushered St. John into the end zone again, upping the score to 38-12.

A series of swapped drives concluded the game, with the Heralds retreating into victory formation at the final whistle.

This game did showcase some positives. The Bombers were flagged for far fewer penalties than recent times (although once again, some players forgot they were on special teams, running on the field with seconds left before a delay of game penalty).

The passing game was more advanced than previous games but still has miles to go before it becomes truly competitive.

These are some gems that need a lot of polish before Pymatuning Valley arrives next Friday. Against the Lakers, the Bombers will need to stay hydrated and healthy,

That’s because a decidedly winnable game comes the next week against new foe Richmond Heights, a game that could make everyone feel a whole lot better about a season meant more for rebuilding than triumph.