No Joy for St. Joe in Mudville as Mounties Cruise By
 The Mounties contiuied their record winning streak as the Crusaders defense was overrun on a wet and muddy John T. Allen Field. See more photos here. |
The Mounties' stifling defense held the Crusader offense to just 123 total yards and one touchdown as they cruised to a 44-6 victory, pushing their win streak to 33 straight.
"It was a great prep week for us," said Mount Greylock head coach Shawn Flaherty, "We had a great scouting report on them and really stayed focused in on stopping what they do best."
The one-two punch of running backs Lavante Wiggins and Tank Roberson has been St. Joe's (4-2 Berkshire County, 5-2 overall) main attack this year as they have combined for nearly 800 yards of rushing and 117 points.
This game was a different story though as the two backs could find no running room, totaling just 27 yards of rushing combined on the night. Junior defensive lineman Nick DiSanti returned after three weeks on the sideline with a high ankle sprain and played a big role in stopping any of the Crusaders' advances.
"I was dying to play those past few weeks. Finally got to let it go tonight and it felt great," said Disanti. "Coach prepared us extremely well, we practiced really hard this week, we knew almost every single play that was coming at us, and just came out ready to play tonight and that was key."
Mount Greylock (7-0, 7-0) senior running back Ethan Ryan always comes to play and Friday night was no different as he outgained the whole Crusader team with 229 yards of rushing to go along with three touchdowns. Late in the second quarter, Ryan busted out a 49-yard touchdown scamper, matching St. Joe's total rushing yards in just one play. The 229 yards put Ryan over the 1,000-yard mark for the season after playing just seven games.
.jpg) |
|
 |
 |
The Mounties' offensive line moved the Crusaders all over the field, leading their running backs to a whopping 355 total rushing yards. Junior fullback Daivon Clement accounted for 60 yards and a touchdown while sophomore Mike McCormack totaled 57 yards and two touchdowns as he sealed the game off in the fourth quarter for the Mounties.
With rain pounding the county all day long, the playing conditions were not ideal and St. Joe struggled in the first half, fumbling and slipping on multiple plays. Their first drive turned out to be their best of the night as they compiled 24 yards and two of their four total first downs. Things got worse in the second half, when starting quarterback Jonny Bianchi went down with a back injury forcing sophomore backup quarterback Nate Stump to take over.
Stump got his team on the scoreboard on the first play of the fourth quarter, hitting Roberson on a swing pass and letting him do the rest of the work as he dashed 74 yards to pay dirt. The Mounties answered right back with a seven-play, 27-yard drive, that was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run from McCormack.
St. Joe will look to get back on track next week when they host Monument Mountain (1-4, 1-5) at 7 p.m. on Friday at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield.
The Mounties face another formidable opponent next week when Wahconah (5-1, 5-2) travels to Williamstown on Friday; kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
"Wahconah is going to be huge," said Flaherty, "They are a great team, they are well coached, and I think it's going to be a real battle. So it's back to work on Monday."