St. Paul rallies for shootout win

NORWALK — Quincey Crabbs understood the instructions. But that didn't make it any easier. The St. Paul football team had scored 10 points in a 2:51 span to take a 45-44 lead over visiting Edon in a wild non-conference game at Contractors Stadium. The Flyers had the ball back and were at the Edon 15-yard line with under 90 seconds left when Crabbs found a seam. The senior running back had been instructed before the play, but the screams still came from his teammates and coaching staff to not score a touchdown. On a night the Flyers never stopped the Bombers on offense, scoring six points with a minute left wasn't the best move. Once Crabbs was tackled at the Edon 2 with 1:24 left, he hopped up and told his teammates to relax. "I went down guys, I went down," Crabbs said while gesturing to his teammates with his hands to relax. "It was hard — it was definitely hard to not score," Crabbs said. "But I had to go down so we could win the game. Everyone was yelling at me … a lot of emotions. It was a fun game." On a night the Bombers (3-1) and Flyers (4-0) combined for 970 yards of offense, it was a defensive safety that proved to be the difference in the 45-44 win for St. Paul at the Warren C. Whitney Complex. Trailing 44-35 after Edon scored with 10:35 left — the first and only two-score difference in the game — the Flyers moved 63 yards in five plays. Senior quarterback Eli Fisher found his wide open tight end, Harley Stoll, for a 35-yard touchdown on a play action pass. Forced to go for two points because of the deficit, Fisher then dropped back to pass to the 10-yard line, then saw a wide open left side and sprinted to the end zone. As two Edon defenders closed in, he leaped over one of them and crashed over the line to make it a 44-43 deficit with 8:02 left. Then an already crazy game took an even crazier turn. With kicker Tyler Perkins — an Iowa State recruit as a punter — already having a strong night, longtime coach John Livengood called for an onside kick. Perkins put it where only a diving Crabbs could recover, and suddenly the Flyers were in business again at the Edon 46. "We practice that all the time, like three times per week," Crabbs said. "Tyler couldn't have put it in a better spot." But then the game took another momentum shift. Five plays into the drive, running back Josh Pocos broke free, but when he cutback toward the middle of the field, an Edon defender stripped the ball loose. The 26-yard run resulted in a fumble recovered by the Bombers at the 2-yard line with 5:23 left. However, the Bombers called just their second rush attempt of the game on the very next play. Crabbs was the first to get to running back Henley Dye, and he was joined by Zach Pocos, Aiden Naseman and Will Stieber to keep Dye from getting out of the end zone. The safety capped a stunning turn of events and gave the Flyers a 45-44 lead with 5:04 left. They were then able to run the ball six straight times to use up the clock, capped by Crabbs avoiding the end zone and not allowing the Bombers a chance to potentially tie the game. "Quincey showed a lot of discipline going down and not scoring," Livengood said. "Because if we score with a minute left, we weren't stopping them. We hadn't done it yet." Livengood talked about the wild eight minutes and all the momentum swings. "If there was a turning point in a game like that, it was the safety," he said. "You had the letdown of them taking the lead and then us fumbling at the 2 after getting some momentum back. That was a strong emotional swing. "Coach (Larry) Fisher dialed up a blitz and Quincey got in there," he added. "Our kids didn't hang their heads, rose up and made a play. But we had good game management and great special teams play. All those things you work on in practice that you never think you'll use or happen in a game — there were a lot of situations where those things in practice came into play." With Edon's powerful passing attack and St. Paul's vaunted run game, the undefeated matchup had the potential of a high-scoring affair. It didn't disappoint. St. Paul moved 58 yards in 10 plays to open the game, with Crabbs scoring from four yards out on a fourth-and-1. The first of five extra points by Perkins put the Flyers up 7-0 at the 7:19 mark of the first quarter. Edon came right back with a 65-yard drive in eight plays, as standout Drew Gallehue — who finished 39-of-47 passing for 516 yards and 5 TDs — rushing in from a yard out. It was the only other rush attempt of the game for the Bombers aside from the safety. The conversion pass failed but it was a 7-6 game at the 4:05 mark of the first. The Flyers then drove 66 yards in eight plays, with Stieber scoring on a toss to the right side from seven yards out for a 14-6 lead with 1:07 left in the first. Edon's answer was an 80-yard drive that saw Gallehue complete 7-of-8 attempts, the last a 9-yard score to Gannon Ripke with 9:51 left in the half. The try for two again failed for a 14-12 deficit. The Bombers then got their only stop of the night aside from the fourth quarter fumble recovery and forced Perkins to punt. Edon then went 80 yards again, this time in 13 plays as Gallehue was 9-of-13 and connected with Ethan Steinke on fourth-and-goal from the 8 for six points. The senior QB then found Henley Dye for the 2-point conversion and a 20-14 lead with 4:43 left in the half. But the track meet continued. St. Paul needed 10 plays to cover 62 yards, the last a play-action 10-yard TD pass on third-and-6 as Fisher found a wide open Stieber for the score. The PAT put St. Paul ahead 21-20 with 2:20 left, which is where things stood at halftime. But not for long. On the second play of the third quarter, Gallehue faked a screen to his right — then launched a deep ball to Steinke, who beat his defender and caught it in stride for a 67-yard TD pass and catch. Caden Nester caught the conversion for a 28-21 Edon lead. St. Paul's response was a 12-play, 52-yard drive that saw sophomore Ben Burger score from five yards out to tie it at 28 at the 5:39 mark of the third. The Flyers converted three third downs on the drive. Edon then covered 67 yards in eight plays as Gallehue was a perfect 8 for 8, the last a 9-yard TD pass to Nester, who added the conversion catch again for a 36-28 lead at the 2:25 mark of the third. Pocos ripped off a 45-yard run on the first play of the ensuing drive for St. Paul. Five plays later on third-and-goal, Stieber found the end zone again with 11:22 left in the game. Livengood opted to keep his kicking unit on the field and the Perkins PAT cut the deficit to 36-35. Edon wasted no time responding. The Bombers needed just 47 seconds, as Hayden Dye caught a 6-yard TD from Gallehue one play after he connected with Ripke for a 52-yard gain. Ripke then caught the conversion, and just like that it was a 44-35 Edon lead, which set up the wild final eight minutes. "We went back and forth the whole night," Edon coach Bob Olwin said. "But when we missed the early conversion passes and then the safety, they got penetration on us … those plays right there you can say did us in. "St. Paul is a very good team. They have tradition. John has been here a long time and won everything you can win. We're trying to build the tradition here to get to that yearly level. We only have seven seniors and I've been here two years and we don't understand it yet. But I'm proud of our kids. Offensively we executed pretty well, but they are really hard running backs to tackle. They do that to a lot of teams though, not just us tonight." Ripke caught 13 passes for 213 yards and a TD to pace Edon's receivers. Hayden Dye had nine catches for 93 yards and a score, while Steinke had seven catches for 105 yards and 2 TDs. Livengood knew what his team was up against, and didn't find out until almost 3 p.m. on Tuesday the Flyers would host the Bombers. The game was hastily scheduled as a result of Edon's Toledo Area Athletic Conference game at Northwood and St. Paul's Firelands Conference game vs. South Central both getting canceled because of COVID issues. "It's precise. He's a great quarterback, just an absolute stud player," Livengood said of Gallehue. "And every one of his receivers are very good. A lot of teams have one or two — Edon has five. And they are big and fast. They execute their offense with precision. "I know we give up 500 yards passing or so, but I thought we did a lot of things pretty well coverage-wise," he added. "But they are that good. Two great teams played a one-point game. Both offenses executed pretty well. We talked to the kids about key moments in the game, and we were able to stay focused and did a great job." Stieber ran 25 times for 120 yards and 2 TDs, while Crabbs ran 17 times for 116 yards and a score to pace the Flyers. Pocos totaled 139 yards on 15 attempts. Fisher threw just three times, but completed all three passes for 64 yards, including the two TDs. "Our backs ran really hard and Eli hit some key passes in play action," Livengood said. "There were just so many key plays in this game and our kids really did a great job." Edon 6 14 16 8 — 44 St. Paul 7 14 7 17 — 45 Scoring STP — Quincey Crabbs 4 run (Tyler Perkins kick) ED — Drew Gallehue 1 run (pass failed) STP — Will Stieber 7 run (Perkins kick) ED — Gannon Ripke 9 pass from Gallehue (pass failed) ED — Ethan Steinke 8 pass from Gallehue (Henley Dye pass from Gallehue) STP — Will Stieber 10 pass from Eli Fisher (Perkins kick) ED — Ethan Steinke 67 pass from Gallehue (Caden Nester pass from Gallehue) STP — Ben Burger 5 run (Perkins kick) ED — Nester 9 pass from Gallehue (Nester pass from Gallehue) STP — Stieber 5 run (Perkins kick) ED — Hayden Dye 6 pass from Gallehue (Ripke pass from Gallehue) STP — Harley Stoll 35 pass from Fisher (Fisher run) STP — Henley Dye tackled in end zone (safety)