St. Mark's Game

The St. Mark's Lions win the toss and defer to the second half giving the Mavericks first possession of the game and after a 15 yard return by Cameron Neal negated by a penalty St. John's found themselves deep in their own territory at the 8 yard line to start the series. Caldwell Flores took the first play 11 yards then Josh Winslow added 14 yards on the next play giving the Mavericks some breathing room. Stephen Firestone then went to work with some tough carries up the middle then Winslow hit Tim Otey on a 32 yard pass to get the ball down in the Lions half of the field. Another carry of 9 yards for Firestone then Flores put the ball in the endzone with a 16 yard scoring run as the Mavericks strike first for a 7-0 lead after Dan Tweardy adds the extra point. The Lions on their first possession was moving the ball at first until Will Wallace broke up a pass followed by a tackle for no gain by Daren Napier and a 1yard stop again by Napier and Ben Griffin the Lions found themselves facing a fourth and nine. After the punt the Mavericks were starting their second possession on their own 14. After four plays and a first down St. Mark's was able to force a fumble and recovered at the SJS 39. The SJS defense came in and with a holding call and two tackles for loss by Neal and Napier the Lions put it in the air on a third and 23 only to be intercepted by Tim Otey at the end of the 1st quarter. The Mavericks on the 6 yard line to start the second quarter put together a 14 play 94 yard drive that lasted over 6 minutes with Winslow, Flores and Firestone grinding it out behind the play of the offensive line which includes William Carver, Billy Rogers, John Baker, John Griffin, Walt Baker and Dan Tweardy. Firestone took the last carry 2 yards to score the touchdown and Tweardy tacked on the PAT and the Mavericks were up 14-0. Following the nice drive by the offense the defense answered their own call and held the Lions to a three and out as Jack Waller, Chris Gow and John Michael Jones stuffed the Lions. Ben Griffin then had a great punt return going 22 yards giving the ball back to the SJS offense on the St. Mark's 48. The Mavericks went to work again going the distance in 6 plays highlighted by a 20 yard pass from Winslow to Wallace and Winslow getting the score on a 17 yard run up the middle on a fourth and one. Tweardy again for the try and the Mavericks are up 21-0 at the half.
The second half started with a bang as Cameron Neal stepped in front of a St. Mark's pass on their first play and took it to the house for a score. Tweardy added the point after and the Mavericks increased their lead to 28-0. St. Mark's then got the ball back but the defense was pumped and Jack Waller and Cameron Neal gave a narry to the Lions offense. After the punt return by Wallace the second play from scrimmage Flores took a pitch from Winslow downfield a went 53 yards for a score. Another point by Tweardy and the Mavericks held a demanding lead 35-0. The next St. Mark's possession was thwarted on a 4 and 2 on the SJS 49 when Neal made a tackle for a loss to prevent the Lions from making a first giving the ball back to the Mavericks on their own 48. The Mavericks as they have done all night drove the ball 52 yards for their last score of the game highlighted by a 27 yard run by Winslow with Winslow also crossing the goal line on a 7 yard run. Tweardy being perfect going 6 for 6 on PAT's finished the scoring and the Mavericks had a commanding 42-0 lead going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth St. Mark's was able to capitalize on a fumble that gave them the ball on the 1 yard line but the defense made them run three plays before they could get across the goal line for a score. The Lions were able to put together a drive at the end of the game connecting on two long pass plays which helped them get into the endzone one more time with two seconds remaining in the game. Final score St. John's Mavericks - 42, St. Mark's Lions - 14!