VERO BEACH — St. Ed’s wound up on the short side of a 42-35 decision to Village Academy of Delray Beach in a spring football exhibition at Pirate Stadium Thursday night.
After a scoreless first period with no passes attempted by either side, the high scoring affair took off when the teams combined for 41 points over a ten minute stretch leading into halftime.
The Pirates defense took advantage of a case of butterfingers on the part of the visitors to build a quick 14-0 lead.
Aaron McGee took care of the first score all by himself. After his punt pinned the Tigers back at their own two yard line, he pounced on a fumbled handoff for six points on the very next play.
It took just nine seconds for the instantly opportunistic defense to build a two touchdown advantage. Cullen Falvey raced to pay dirt after picking up an errant snap on the Tigers ensuing possession.
Highly regarded college recruit Trequan Smith put on a one man show for Village Academy over the next few minutes. He grabbed a short slip screen pass and rambled 70 yards to make it 14-6.
Smith then converted a Pirate fumble into six more from 23 yards out. With slightly over three minutes remaining before the intermission, the talented wide receiver/running back burst up the middle untouched and went 84 yards. A jump ball two point conversion gave the Tigers a 20-14 advantage.
The Pirates regained the lead with 14 seconds to go in the second quarter. Hard-nosed running by Brock Miller set-up a 47 yard Johnny Schwerer to Brian Carter touchdown pass. Carter fought off two defenders on the north sideline before shaking loose.
The Pirates were ahead 21-20 at the break.
A Brock Miller interception and return to the Village Academy 18 yard line gave the Pirates a golden opportunity to expand their lead early the third, but a 31 yard field goal attempt wasn’t even close.
A 65 yard run and 35 yard pass gave the speedy, athletic Tigers a 34-21 cushion going into the final period, when the Pirates put together their second 70 yard drive of the evening to draw closer.
Brock Miller plowed in from five yards out to make it a one score game at 34-28, but Mr. Smith was unstoppable once again with two long runs during an offensive thrust to make it 42-28 Tigers.
The never-say-die Pirates finished the scoring barrage when Schwerer hit Tate Williams over the middle for 50 yards with 59 seconds left. The home team would actually get one more chance with 16 seconds remaining, however an interception ended any hopes for a miracle comeback.
St. Ed’s offense was sluggish in the early going before coming alive late in the second period. The running attack behind Brock Miller, Aaron McGee and Ian Leveton was particularly effective, even if not spectacular, throughout the second half.
There were some other bright spots. McGee had nice distance and height on his punts and the offensive line won the conditioning battle late in the game, even though Mason Heim missed the entire second half with ice on his right knee.
In the final analysis though, Trequan Smith was the difference for Village Academy. He was difficult to bring down when touched and he was gone with just a sliver of open space.