St. Paul routs New London for FC win

NORWALK — The onslaught wasn't right away. But once the St. Paul football team grabbed momentum, it never let it go. The Flyers scored three times in each of the first two quarters en route to a 55-0 win over visiting New London in a Firelands Conference game Friday night at Contractors Stadium. With the win, St. Paul improved to 3-4 overall and 3-1 in the FC. After starting on the New London 43-yard line, the Flyers gained no yards in four plays for an early turnover on downs. But when the Wildcats (2-5, 0-4) were forced to punt after a three-and-out, the snap sailed over the punter's head for a loss of 24 yards. Taking over at the New London 5, senior Jack Stieber punched it in on the first play for the first of his team's eight touchdowns. Senior Tristan Nickoli blocked New London's next punt, and three plays later, sophomore Grant Kuhnle found junior Landon Fries across the middle for a 26-yard TD pass. The second of seven extra points by Nate Griffin made it 14-0. After the Flyers turned it over on a fumble on their next drive, they got it back after the 'Cats threw an incomplete pass on a fourth-and-17 at the St. Paul 40. St. Paul moved 60 yards in eight plays, with Landon Fries scoring on a 19-yard run at the 7:47 mark of the second quarter. Two plays later, Nate Sandor intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 25 yards for a TD and a 28-0 lead. After another three-and-out, the Flyers took over at their own 45. Five plays later, Fries scored on a 26-yard run. New London then fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the 30, with Krosby Hartman recovering for the Flyers. Three plays later, Fries had his third TD of the quarter from 22 yards and a 42-0 lead with 2:21 left in the half. "It was nice being able to take advantage of some mistakes early on," St. Paul head coach Chris Doughty said. "New London's kids came out and played us tough and they hit hard the whole game. They have to be proud of their effort, but I was happy with how we responded after we didn't start the game great on our first drive. "But the kids made some adjustments to the blocking schemes and turned it around. We ran hard and blocked hard … I'm proud of the overall effort. Our young guys really played well as well. Just very pleased." Zeke Dvorak added a 3-yard run with 7:04 left in the third, and backup quarterback Zach Roth scored on a 37-yard run with 38 seconds left in the quarter to close out the scoring. New London is fielding an 11-man team for the first time since 2020 this season. The Wildcats have had to play FC "blue bloods," Crestview, Monroeville and St. Paul in three consecutive weeks. "We called it the gauntlet of the conference," NL head coach Jon Harrison said. "It's obviously a tough stretch, but we have to keep fighting, keep competing and keep trying. Other than the score, I thought we played well physically in the first quarter, but the mishaps cost us. "We're not where we need to be to try and overcome those, and that's where this game got out of hand." Fries ran six times for 90 yards and 3 TDs and caught three passes for 37 yards and a score. He also had a 36-yard kickoff return. Stieber added 32 yards and a TD on six attempts and Brock Houck added 39 yards on just three attempts. Kuhle was 4-of-7 for 55 yards for the Flyers, who host Crestview (3-4, 3-1) on Oct. 12 in what will be a key FC and computer points game for both teams. "Crestview's record is deceptive," Doughty said. "Much like us, they had a really tough schedule this year and our kids are going to know that going in that they have a really good team. "They have a lot of key pieces that will be tough to defend and a tough defense to score on. Coach (Steve) Haverdill does a great job. We'll need a complete game plan and attack the week the right way." New London is at Plymouth (1-6, 0-4) next week. "These next couple weeks are teams in similar situations," Harrison said. "We just have to be ready to come out and play and execute. The effort was there, but we need to work on the execution. Some of these little things we should know by the seventh game. Things like that we have to fix." N. London 0 0 0 0 — 0 St. Paul 21 21 13 0 — 55 STP — Jack Stieber 5 run (Nate Griffin kick) STP — Landon Fries 26 pass from Grant Kuhnle (Griffin kick) STP — Fries 19 run (Griffin kick) STP — Nate Sandor 25 interception return (Griffin kick) STP — Fries 26 run (Griffin kick) STP — Fries 22 un (Griffin kick) STP — Zeke Dvorak 3 run (Griffin kick) STP — Zach Roth 37 run (kick blocked)