Calvert defense shines in win at St. Paul

NORWALK — The frustration at times was hard to hide.But ultimately, the scoreboard told the story for the Calvert football team.The Senecas had a tough night on offense with 145 yards and just one touchdown that came on a 2-yard run on a fourth-down play. But the Calvert defense also did its part, holding host Norwalk St. Paul to 62 yards in a 10-6 win on Saturday at Contractors Stadium in Norwalk."I'm proud of our guys because they showed a lot of fight," Calvert head coach Mike Lento said. "The defense played hard and had a great game plan. But we have to clean some things up offensively. We shot ourselves in the foot too many times and we feel like we left points on the board. "But like I told our guys, this is St. Paul and Tiffin Calvert. It's probably one of the last Northwest Ohio small catholic school rivalries that is still happening. You throw the records and past scores out, and it's going to be a fight — and it was. I'm so happy how our kids responded to get the win at the end of the night."Calvert (2-1) intercepted a St. Paul pass on the third play from scrimmage, then put together a 10-play drive that included two fourth-down conversions to cover the 33 yards.Cal Warnement scored on a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the St. Paul 2-yard line with 4:34 left in the first quarter. Seven plays prior, quarterback Tucker Coleman found John Schumacher for a 14-yard gain on a fourth-and-13 from the St. Paul 36.The extra point gave the Senecas a 7-0 lead — and the score remained that way until the final play of the third quarter. The teams traded the next 10 possessions after the score to end the first half. The lone scoring threat came on a 42-yard field goal attempt by the Senecas that was blocked by St. Paul on the final play of the first half.On their first possession of the second half, the Flyers (0-3) tried a fake punt that went for no gain from the Calvert 45. The Senecas then turned it over on downs with a sack for a loss of six yards from the St. Paul 41. But consecutive turnovers by the Flyers — the last a fumble that cost them 12 yards and possession — finally led to more points for Calvert.The Senecas recovered the loose ball at the St. Paul 30 with 2:23 left in the third quarter. Three straight runs by Warnement totaled 26 yards. But on third-and-goal from the 5, a bad pitch led to a fumble and the Senecas recovered for a loss of 10 yards.Sophomore Cameron Lucius then converted a 31-yard field goal on the final play of the quarter for a 10-0 lead.The Flyers immediately answered. Junior Landon Fries found an opening and returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. The first TD of the season, via special teams, cut the deficit to 10-6 with 11:47 left in the game, but the extra point was blocked.Fries then recovered a fumble on the Senecas next drive, which gave the Flyers prime field position at their own 48 with 8:57 left in the game. However, a fourth-and-7 pass from Grant Kuhnle to Connor Lindenberger was ruled just short of the marker at the Calvert 43 with 7:28 remaining to end the threat.After forcing yet another punt, the Flyers had a third-and-1 at their own 42 with under five minutes left. But a bad snap resulted in an 18-yard loss and a punt. The Flyers again got the ball back from the Senecas, but Stultz came through with a 59-yard punt to the St. Paul 2 with 2:36 left in the game.Forced to go 98 yards, the Flyers got one first down, but then turned it over on downs from the 12 with 1:01 left in the game."A lot of credit to Calvert's defense," St. Paul head coach Chris Doughty said. "They played aggressively and they played well. They had a really good game plan coming in. "They used their athletes where they needed to use their athletes, and they made it really tough for us to move the ball. They played lights out."Lento said his team's defense is progressing well and playing fast with a ton of confidence."They trust each other," he said. "Now we have to do the same thing offensively. We have to help our defense out."It goes back to the old saying of defense wins championships. But our offense is going to have to help out throughout the year because our schedule doesn't get any easier. We have to clean up our mistakes that hurt us in big moments."Warnement ran 19 times for 67 yards and the lone TD for Calvert. Coleman was 10-of-20 passing for 108 yards with Xavier Kimmet catching three passes for 33 yards. Carter Wolph added two catches for 30 yards.The Senecas are at Lakota (1-2) on Friday in the SBC River Division opener for both teams. It also marks Lento's return to a school where he was the head coach for the previous eight seasons before being hired at Calvert in February."Yeah, absolutely," Lento said when asked if he was excited for the game. "But at the end of the day, it's not about me. It's about our kids and their kids playing … we'll celebrate this one and get ready for Lakota."