VERO BEACH — St. Ed’s fought off Archbishop Carroll of Miami 34-0 Friday night in one of the strangest football experiences at Pirate Stadium in recent memory.
While the game was never in doubt on the scoreboard, persistent lightning warnings delayed the action three times in the first half alone and seriously threatened to make the whole affair a non-event.
A hint of what was in store on a bizarre night occurred early on when St. Ed’s turned its first two possessions into one touchdown thrust due to turnovers by both sides on the same play. The Bulldogs pilfered a pass four plays in but fumbled on the return, enabling the Pirates offense to stay on the field.
From there, an 18 yard run by Aaron McGee and 27 yard burst by Brock Miller set the stage for a one yard sweep by Ian Leveton and a 7-0 lead before the visitors had their first snap on offense.
Immediately following another fumble recovery at the Bulldogs 21, QB Johnny Schwerer found Miller for 20 down the south sideline. McGee punched it in from the one for a two touchdown bulge.
The Bulldogs were forced to punt and with 1:39 left in the first quarter, the field and stands were cleared for the first time. The delay lasted 16 minutes but didn’t affect the Pirates offensive rhythm at all. Schwerer connected with McGee for gains of 12 and 21 yards. McGee finished it off from the 10 for 21-0 margin nine seconds into period two.
McGee would score again on the very next play when he intercepted a pass and returned it 39 yards to pay dirt for a 28-0 cushion. Trouble is, McGee’s back-to-back TDs occurred one hour and six minutes apart.
This second more extensive delay threatened to end the evening early and negate everything. An entire half must be completed before the game can be considered official.
Before the third stoppage in play, the Pirates found the end zone two more times, but only one stuck. A nine yard TD run by Leveton was called back by a penalty, but three plays later Schwerer and William Summler connected from six yards out. The kick failed, making it 34-0 and ending the scoring with 3:11 before a halftime that was conveniently made to disappear.
With 1:37 still to go in the second quarter, the weather intervened once again, clearing everyone out for another 14 minutes. When play resumed Leveton intercepted a pass, thereby giving the clock a chance to expire mercifully. When the half ended the integrity of the game itself was no longer in jeopardy.
The decision to forego halftime and continue on was wise indeed. Even better was the idea to shorten the game to a pair of eight minute quarters. The truncated second “half” was sloppy and penalty filled. Nature had wreaked enough havoc in the first half, so it was safe to say that just about everyone was thrilled with an interruption free finish.
The game can be summarized simply. Archbishop Carroll was never able to get its offense untracked. The Pirates took advantage of Bulldog turnovers and put the game to bed early. The defense was solid and the offense struck more than the lightning did in the first half.
The victory pushed St. Ed’s up to 1-1 for the regular season.
