Sunday, October 22, 2000

3-peat for Calvert

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

For about a month now, Toby Hammond has had to listen to the repetitive question.

"Who'd have thought you'd be in this position?"

Finally, after his Calvert Senecas clinched a share of their third consecutive Midland Athletic League championship with a 28-14 win over Fremont St. Joe, Hammond shared his true answer.

"We told the kids in the locker room before the game, that the only people who would have believed we'd be in this position are in this locker room," Hammond said. "The fact that we won the league and are in a position to be in the playoffs, nobody would have believed that but the people in this room.

"All the credit in the world goes to our kids and our coaches," he said. "We're just really, really proud of our kids and our coaches. After the St. Mary's game these kids could have quit, but they came back, worked hard and have gotten better every week."

And more balanced.

Weekly improvements in passing and running games culminated Saturday night when the Senecas grounded out 199 yards and threw for another 153.

Fullback Dan Snyder logged 36 carries and finished with 181 yards and two touchdowns while quarterback Marc Baugher completed 11-of-19 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown.

But even those two efforts were dwarfed by the performance of Ryan Schumm, who caught six passes for 101 yards on offense, intercepted a pass on defense and had the game's most pivotal play on special teams.

St. Joe had taken the initiative by storming 63 yards on eight plays to take a 7-0 lead on Wade Kuns' 17-yard TD run.

But any momentum the Streaks' (3-6, 1-5) may have earned, drifted away when Schumm returned ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown to knot the game, 7-7.

"I was happy with the way our kids played, but that damn kickoff really hurt us," St. Joe coach Rick Wonderly said. "Nothing good came out of that, I'll tell you."

Calvert (7-2, 6-0) took off from there, punching in two more touchdowns before halftime.

The first came when Baugher navigated a nine-play, 61-yard drive. Snyder ran six times for 31 yards on the march, and Baugher hit Schumm (8 yards) and Jon Perry (16 yards) through the air before finding Perry from 6-yards out for the score. Peter Lucius' second PAT gave Calvert a 14-7 lead with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.

Baugher again mixed in the pass with the run on Calvert's next scoring drive. He completed 4-of-6 while Snyder hit the line six times for 23 yards, including the final yard for the score and a 20-7 lead.

"Not taking anything away from St. Joe, but they're just not as good on the line of scrimmage as they have been in the past," Hammond said. "So we thought we could pound 'em. And defensively, we thought we could get pressure on (St. Joe quarterback Zack) Sanchez, and that was key because when Sanchez had time to throw he made plays."

Sanchez, running a new-look St. Joe offense that featured three wideouts, completed 14-of-22 passes for 165 yards, and one beautiful touchdown pass to Ross Reineck (five catches, 67 yards).

A punt by Calvert had St. Joe set up at the Senecas' 35, and on the second play Sanchez lofted a pass for Reineck, who made a diving, fingertip grab for a 25-yard touchdown.

That trimmed Calvert's lead to 20-14, and St. Joe got the ball back with a chance to take the lead, but Schumm picked off Sanchez at the Senecas' 17-yard line with 1:33 left in the third.

On the next play, Snyder broke free for a 56-yard run to set up his own 5-yard touchdown four plays later.

Derek Wise and Nick Lucius also picked off Sanchez, and Russell Hall had three sacks.

"I think (after the St. Mary's game) these kids realized they couldn't just show up and win," Hammond said. "These kids have worked very hard, and they're just a great group of kids. The last two years we won because we just had better talent than everybody. They, too, were a great group of kids; they just had more talent than the rest of the league.

"We've got some good players, but they key is that they're playing well as a team," he said. "It's been a team effort on offense and defense and on special teams."

For this group, it's a championship formula.