South Euclid, OH- In a game that was going to be won in the trenches, Villa Angela-St. Joseph controlled the line of scrimmage and beat the McDowell Trojans 56-39. Amani Powell, and Bo Jackson, ran through holes and scored early and often as the Vikings never trailed in the game.
After the Trojans went 3 and out to start, the Vikings got the ball and within three minutes, scored on a 32-yard run from Powell. After a FG from McDowell to make the score 7-3, the Vikings moved the ball and Bo Jackson ran 18 yards for a score to put VASJ up 14-3 to end the first quarter.
Photo by Jayson Richardson
At the beginning of the second quarter, QB, Kylan Steuball and VASJ marched down and ended a drive with a 3-yard keeper from Steuball, to put VASJ up 21-3. But McDowell has been playing on the road all year. They have been down in all their games. Out of the 4 games the team from Erie, Pa. previously played, three were on the road, and in Ohio. So, the Trojans knew the crowd would be a factor, and they wanted to put up a fight. Blayze Myers the JR. QB threw a 4-yard TD to Jackson Johns and McDowell started to get their bearings. But the Vikings answered that scoring drive quickly as both Powell and Jackson got long runs, and Steuball took advantage and found Brian Kortovich for a 24-yard TD pass to put VASJ up 28-10. McDowell regrouped, and used the rest of the half to mix in runs and passes, ending with Myers throwing a 20-yard pass to Daymar Dickerson to go into halftime with the score VASJ 28, McDowell 17.
Photo by Jayson Richardson
The second half opened with VASJ starting to pull away. Bo Jackson, the stud RB popped loose for a 65-yard TD run to start the second half. But the Trojans answered right back as Stephon Porter went one play, 79 yards to match the long TD, and pull McDowell within 35-24. Naturally, since this was the direction, the game was going, VASJ responded with another big run, this time from Steuball. After breaking a couple tackles, Steuball found himself free, and running with no one in front of him on a 62-yard TD run. VASJ UP 42-24. Another Myers to Dickerson pass, this time 15 yards, pulled McDowell to 42-31, but to end the third, Powell scored his second TD of the night, a 40-yard run to open the lead for VASJ going into the 4th, 49-31.
Jackson then found the end zone again, his third TD of the night, and put VASJ up 56-31. After some back and forth, and drives stalled by penalties, McDowell got a 2-yard run from Porter, and connected the 2-pt conversion to make the final score 56-39.
In a game that featured highlight runs, and some big time passes, VASJ moved to 5-1. Speaking to coach Jeff Rotsky before the game, he said the game would be won in the trenches, and that’s exactly what happened. The Trojans came were led by Penn St recruit Cooper Cousins. A 6’7’ 315-pound lineman who plays with a mean streak. But VASJ was able to control the line for much of the game. A testament to the coaches at VASJ. The playmakers were able to find holes all night, like what they did against Gilmore last week. The Vikings will travel to Columbus next week to face Bishop Hartley as they look to make another statement and gear up for a playoff run.
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