August 26, 2000
Calvert upends the Stritch Cardinals
By Matt Steiner
Sports Writer
In contrast to Calvert's convincing offensive performances of last year, the Senecas rallied behind their special teams and defense to upend the Stritch Cardinals.
Calvert scored 28 points in the first half and never looked back, beating Stritch, 35-13, at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.
Senior outside linebacker Ryan Schumm sparked the Senecas with a blocked punt on special teams and led the Calvert defense, grabbing an interception, recovering a fumble and simply acting as the thorn in the Cardinals' sides the entire night.
"We're counting on (Schumm) to do things like that all year," Calvert coach Toby Hammond said. "He didn't play well in our scrimmage against Liberty-Benton. (Tonight) he took it upon himself and did what he had to do. We had to stop their toss play. The number one thing we concentrated on was not letting them get outside. He's the fastest kid we've got, and he made plays. That's what we got him there for."
The biggest play Schumm made came early in the first half. After Calvert punted on its first possession of the game, Stritch faced a fourth-and-5 at their own 48. The Cardinals' Doug McCoil took the snap and before he could send the ball downfield, Schumm was in his face.
After rejecting the punt attempt, the Seneca linebacker chased the ball down before it reached the sidelines, carrying it 43 yards to open the scoring.
"It seems like every time we come down here, they block a punt on us," Stritch coach Bill Hrabak said. "And, we had preached to the kids all week that we can't let that type of thing turn the game around."
That play proved to be the catalyst for the Senecas' defense.
Following another Calvert offensive sputter, the defense came through again in the first quarter. The Senecas punted and three plays later, Russell Hall came charging through the middle of the Stritch line. Cardinal quarterback Pat Manders barely got the throw off down the middle of the field. Calvert linebacker Adam Reinhart stepped in front of the pass for the interception.
"Our defense has got to keep doing this until our offense gets even with them," Hammond said. "I knew coming into the game that we'd have to be able to put pressure on them. If we didn't put pressure on them, we were going to be in trouble."
Reinhart's pick put sophomore Eric Baugher and the Seneca offense on the enemy's 11-yard line. Baugher hit Derek Wise, who went out of bounds at the 2. Wing back Kyle Shearer then took the ball off tackle, plunging in for Calvert's second touchdown and a 13-0 lead.
Stritch cut the lead to 13-7 on a Manders-to-Matt Jaksetic pass over the middle for a 24-yard touchdown. Derek Wise made a similar catch for Calvert and went 35 yards for the TD. Baugher went around the end for the two-point conversion, boosting the lead to 21-7.
On the ensuing Stritch possession, Schumm and the defense came through again. Manders handed off to Mike Worden on the first play from scrimmage, Schumm met the running back in the backfield, jarred the ball loose and pounced on it.
Dan Snyder took a pitch from Baugher on the next play, spun free of a tackle at the 10 and rambled 15 yards for the score, giving the Senecas another touchdown off a big defensive play, taking a 28-7 lead into the intermission.
Stritch abandoned the run in the second half after totaling minus-nine yards on the ground in the first half. Several times, Manders went downfield after the intermission only to have the ball soar over an open receiver's head or have it slip through their fingers. Many of those receivers would have had a wide open run to the end zone.
"It seemed that we missed them when they were open or when they did connect their would be a penalty or something that would bring us back to the line of scrimmage," Hrabak said. "We didn't execute. We didn't do the things we needed to do to be successful."
Snyder had the best performance for the Calvert offense with 12 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Baugher ended the day 4-for-13 passing for 56 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Wise led pitched in with 42 yards receiving on two catches.
Manders was 10-for-29 for 108 yards but was picked off four times. Jaksetic led the Cardinals with just 15 yards rushing while Pete Dobes had two catches for 56 yards.