Blue Jays shut out Senecas 27-0

After scoring 55 points in Week 11, Calvert couldn't sustain any offense Saturday night in a 27-0 loss to Delphos St. John's in a Division VII playoff quarterfinal at Frost-Kalnow Stadium. "It is never easy losing in the playoffs, but the seniors and the football team have a lot to be proud of," Calvert coach Mike Lento said. "Proud of this group of kids. I'm proud of the seniors. You know, no one ever wants to lose their last game at this point in the season, but it's inevitable. No one wants to go home, especially not us, but I don't discredit these guys and what they have done this year. We know that we have made another step with Calvert football and we are going to build off of that."Being the new coach coming in, they accepted everything new that we brought to the table. They have accepted my family and that's key. We are grateful to be here and it's because of these kids. A big part of it is because of these seniors." The lone touchdown of the entire first half came on the first possession that No. 15 seed DSJ (5-7) had. The Blue Jays tallied a 37-yard touchdown pass on first down as Drew Boggs connected with Reegan Mox. Boggs added the extra point and DSJ was up 7-0. The rest of the first half was back and forth between defenses. Tucker Coleman was intercepted by Jackson Hoersten and that put the Blue Jays at the Calvert 26-yard line. "We wanted to be able to know where Logan DeMoss was most of the night and obviously it's one of their go-to guys," Delphos St. John's coach Todd Schulte said. "We wanted to be able to take away from their run game a little bit and put it back in his hands. I thought our guys played really well in the backend too." DSJ punted, but Calvert (7-5) couldn't convert as it turned the ball over on downs. "These guys never gave up," Lento said. "We have to make plays where plays needed to be made and we didn't. You can't do that in a Week 12 game. Our kids' effort was there. They never gave up."Delphos gave us a couple of looks, but we didn't execute in the red zone and you have to do that in a Week 12 game. We didn't. They did. We will take these lessons as a coaching staff and these lessons as a team and like I said, we will continue to build off of it." Calvert's defense kept pace as John Schumacher came up with a big interception for the Senecas. Into the second quarter, Calvert looked to get on the board, but DSJ had other ideas. Cameron Lucius came on for a 37-yard field goal, but it was blocked. The second quarter heated up with about five minutes remaining in the first half. On first down, DeMoss came through with an interception for Calvert. The Senecas had the ball for six plays before Coleman was intercepted by DSJ's Connor Gaynier. Cal Warnament was limited to 17 rushes for 73 yards on the ground for Calvert. "I think the game was up front on both sides of the ball. Absolutely we gave them looks," Schulte said. "Defensively, they have an outstanding running back that has 1,400 yards on the year and we were able to contain him. That took away a big chunk of their offense. Credit again to our guys up front on both sides of the ball." The Blue Jays maintained a 7-0 halftime lead, but Calvert received the second-half kickoff. The Senecas couldn't gain any steam and punted. DSJ capitalized on the opportunity. Gaynier returned the punt to the Calvert 17. The Senecas' defense was tough, but Gaynier took care of business on the one-yard line. The extra point was no good, but DSJ was up 13-0. "Once we got going in the second half, we were good," Schulte said. "We had some penalties that killed us in the first half, but the second half we played pretty clean. I thought that we wore on them a little bit. As our running game got going and we were moving the ball pretty well, long drives like that will take the will away from your opponent." Calvert was forced to punt and DSJ kept its momentum going. Boggs went for 30 yards on a carry and two plays later, Gaynier moved swiftly for 17 yards and added another touchdown for the Blue Jays. Boggs' point after made it 20-0. Coleman was intercepted on the next drive and DSJ put the finishing touches on the night. It took just one play as Boggs hit Brayden Pohlman at midfield and turned it into a 75-yard score. Boggs made it 27-0 with the extra point. The road to this playoff season has come to an end, but Lento sees a bright spot when it comes to the future of the Senecas football program. "The future is great," Lento said. "Our underclassmen are ready to go and we have kids coming up going through it. Like I said, these seniors led the way. It's their time. We will celebrate the seniors tonight, but it's the underclassmen's time to step up. I look forward to growing our numbers and the kids coming up, I look forward to them being a part of the Calvert football family." As for the seniors of Calvert, Lento could not have asked for a better group or for a better first season at the helm of the Senecas. "You know, it was a family decision to come here. It was family," Lento said. "Those guys coming in here have done everything that we have asked them to do and they have given it everything they got. The people that led me to be here, including past coaches, told me that the kids were absolutely a great group of kids. They were right."My family is in a good place and it's because of these seniors and that transition. They bought in and got all these guys behind them, believing that what we were coaching is the biggest piece. It's family and we are going to continue building from here."