By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
AMANDA — An inability to establish its running game and three interceptions thrown inside St. Charles territory on Friday translated into a 14-9 non-league loss for host Amanda-Clearcreek.
“When you can’t control the line of scrimmage offensively and then compound that by turning the football over, it makes things difficult,” A-C coach Steve Daulton said.
Pete DeSocio scored both touchdowns for the Cardinals and finished the game with 39 carries for 173 yards. DeSocio carried the football on all 25 of St. Charles’ offensive plays during the second half.
“St. Charles leaned on DeSocio a lot, especially in the second half, and they were able to do that because we weren’t able to put the football in the end zone,” Daulton said. “Defensively, I felt like our kids settled down after the start we got off to and competed.”
DeSocio closed a 71-yard drive on the Cardinals’ first possession of the game with a 27-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one to make it 7-0.
The Aces countered by driving down to the St. Charles 22 before settling for a 39-yard field goal off the foot of Jonathan Weaver to make it 7-3.
St. Charles (1-2) drove down to the A-C six-yard line on its next possession, but a low snap was mishandled and Zach Julian made the recovery for the Aces.
Amanda-Clearcreek came away with two more takeaways in the second quarter on a fumble recovery from Robert Rowland and a diving interception courtesy of Grant Guiler that set the Aces up on their own 44-yard line with 48 seconds left before halftime.
The Aces drove inside the Cardinals’ 30-yard line, but threw an interception to end the half.
In a bid to get his offense going, Daulton called a fake punt early in the third quarter that failed, giving the Cardinals the football on the A-C 35.
DeSocio used six totes to cover the remaining real estate, capped by a nine-yard run to put the Cardinals ahead 14-3 with 3:44 left in the third quarter.
While the Aces were held to just 58 yards rushing, they were able to pass for 198 yards and drove down to the St. Charles 16 and 27 yard line, only to have both possessions end with an interception.
A late second drive finally resulted in the Aces crossing the goal line on a four-yard run from Tayvon Miller as time expired, leaving the final at 14-9.
Nate Hunter completed 15 of 32 passes for 198 yards in the loss. Miller made seven grabs for 87 yards.
The Aces (2-1) open Mid-State League Buckeye Division play next week at Liberty Union (2-1).
“There are no excuses after this one,” Daulton said. “We didn’t play our brand of football and that resulted with a loss. We need to get back to our brand of football and our identity next week.
“We open up the league with a county game, against an opponent that always plays us tough and battles.”
St. Charles 14,
Amanda-Clearcreek 9
Score By Quarters 1 2 3 4 F
St. Charles 7 0 7 0 14
Am.-Clearcreek 3 0 0 6 9
First Quarter
SC — Pete DeSocio 27 run (Garret Hoffman kick), 8:03.
AC — Jonathan Weaver 39 field goal, 2:34.
Third Quarter
SC — Pete DeSocio 9 run (Garret Hoffman kick), 3:44
Fourth Quarter
AC — Tayvon Miller 4 run, 0:00.
TEAM STATISTICS
SC AC
First downs 16 14
Rushing yards 47-215 25-58
Passing yards 27 198
Comp.-Att.-Int 5-7-1 15-32-3
Total yards 242 256
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties-Yards 8-70 1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – St. Charles — Pete DeSocio 39-173. Amanda-Clearcreek — Tayvon Miller 4-7, Nate Hunter 14-41, Landon Covell 6-10, Grant Guiler 1-(-2).
PASSING – Amanda-Clearcreek — Nate Hunter 15-32-3-198.
RECEIVING – Amanda-Clearcreek — Tayvon Miller 7-87, Kansas Rhymer 1-3, Peyton Cassley 1-11, Brady Sharp 2-26, Bobby Pieratt 1-9, Cade Young 1-15, Grant Guiler 1-4, Landon Covell 1-43.
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