St. Paul seeks third straight win

NORWALK — The timing couldn't be better. For just the second of three times this regular season, the St. Paul football team will play a home game at Contractors Stadium. The Flyers (2-2, 1-0) host Mapleton (3-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Warren C. Whitney Complex for their homecoming game. But they also enter the game with all sorts of momentum after routing Tiffin Calvert (2-2) and South Central (1-3) by a combined 87-26 score over the previous two weeks. "We're looking forward to playing at home, as every one does," St. Paul head coach John Livengood. "It's nice to have a Saturday night game, with our homecoming, alumni coming back, and alumni marching band at the game. A lot of things in conjunction with the game. "For us, our main focus is the game," he added. "We're trying to play our best. We have to continue to improve. We're pretty pleased with our improvement in a lot of areas, but there is plenty of room to grow as the season goes on." The Mounties enter the game with junior quarterback Kollin Cline in his third year as the starter. He is 23-of-39 passing for 420 yards and 5 TDs through four games. His top target is Kyle Sloter, who has just seven catches — but for 239 yards (34.2 yards per catch) and 4 TDs. On the ground, fullback Luke Pryor has ran 47 times for 325 yards and 4 TDs, while Cline adds 126 yards on 31 attempts with 2 TDs. "They rotate a lot of kids in with their line and they are fast at their skilled positions," Livengood said of the Mounties. "They run a unique, shotgun Wing-T with a ton of misdirection. It's not something you see a lot of. They have size, talent and a tough scheme to defend. They are a good team. "Cline feels like he's been starting forever and he's only a junior," he added. "But the kid who stands out is Mark Miller at right guard and defensive end (28 tackles, 13 for loss). He is a really good two-way lineman who really stands out to me." Defensively, the Mounties will play multiple fronts. In last week's 55-21 loss to Lucas, Mapleton was in five different defensive looks. "They jumped in a lot of different fronts trying to stop Lucas' run game," Livengood said. "A lot of multiple looks and things you need to prepare for." In last week's win at South Central, the Flyers followed the perfect script. St. Paul scored twice in its first 11 plays for an early 14-0 lead, then added three TDs via special teams in the 34-point victory. Livengood noted it was key the Flyers did not allow many big plays by the Trojans. "I thought the defense played pretty well against a very good offense that had talented players," he said. "South Central had to earn their yards. When we went down and scored twice to start with a 14-point lead — that situation was something we talked a lot about during the week. "Getting those early stops on defense to create some separation was our goal," Livengood added. "Because you knew offensively they had the ability to score in one play. It felt like they had really great catches and throws to move the chains. That was one of our better defensive efforts." St. Paul is led by the running back combination of Quincey Crabbs and Ben Burger. Crabbs has rushed for 624 yards and 4 TDs on 87 attempts, while Burger is averaging 10.3 yards per carry with 454 yards and 6 TDs on 44 attempts. Quarterback Drew Kuhnle is 15-of-35 passing for 211 yards and a TD. Andy Meyer paces the St. Paul defense with 39 tackles and a fumble recovery. Crabbs adds 32 tackles, while Josh Pocos has 29 tackles with a fumble recovery and an interception. AJ Meyer also has 26 tackles and has broken up five passes. Mapleton opened the season with wins over Chippewa (32-10), Wellington (38-6) and Rittman (59-19) before the loss to the perennial power Cubs. Saturday will be the FC opener for the Mounties. "We have a big challenge this week," Livengood said. "Mapleton is a very good team. What kind of got away from them in the second half with some turnovers against Lucas is not an indication of how well they played. We will need to play very well."