One glance at the boxscore of Friday night’s (Sept. 1) football game between Fox and Rockwood Summit would pretty much indicate that the Warriors had their way with the Falcons.
The Warriors rushed the ball 51 times for 401 yards, and got 168 yards from Dominic Monti on 23 carries, 132 on nine by quarterback Gavin McGinnis, and Bobby Neibert contributed 101 yards on 19 carries.
McGinnis scored four touchdowns for the Warriors, and Monti added a score and a two-point conversion that put Fox up 36-30 after they had erased a 30-14 Summit lead. But an ill-timed penalty late in the game, followed by a judgment call rarely seen in high school football, allowed the Falcons to escape with a 37-36 win.
Monti’s 31-yard scoring run and subsequent two-point success came with 2:24 left in the game. That’s when major misfortune struck the Warriors. On a fourth-down pass by Summit quarterback Andrew Klump, Fox was called for a personal foul on the intended receiver.
On the next play, with a minute to go in the game, Klump connected with Danny Hopkins in the end zone. Both Hopkins and Fox defensive back Cole Elwood had possession of the ball. But dual possession in high school football is awarded to the offensive player.
The Warriors made one final push, hoping to at least get into position for a potential game-winning field goal try. But with 30 seconds left, McGinnis was picked off deep in Summit territory by Deandre Knox.
“It’s heartbreaking, it really is,” Fox head coach Brent Tinker said. “We were there in the right place to make the play, but it was the correct call by the officials. And that was a great play their kid made. They’re tough as nails, but if we don’t take that last big penalty at the end, we’re most likely talking about a win. Obviously, I didn’t see what the call was a result of, but if it was an effort penalty, I can live with that.”
Penalties and fumbles were once again costly for the Warriors. And Tinker is ready for them to end. The Warriors are 1-2 and travel to Mehlville Friday night (Sept. 8) for the annual Huddle Up For Heroes salute to the military.
“My kids play so hard, and so tough, but we should know better,” Tinker said. “It’s the extra possessions we give teams that come back to haunt us, and we have to clean things up. We got beat, but we’re unconquered, physically, mentally and spiritually. Tonight hurts, but we do go home unbelievably proud of what would have been our first ever win over Summit (in seven tries now).”
Tinker complimented the Fox offensive line who have opened holes for 785 yards of rushing in the last two games, including 401 against Summit.
“That speaks of one tough offensive line,” he said. “Guys like Landon Wilson, Drew Knese and Mason Latimer, and those are our seniors. But our offensive line is flat getting off the ball. We couldn’t get the win tonight, but I fully believe we’re going to play our best game every time after this one.”
Comets fly past Jags in second half
At Seckman on Friday (Sept. 1), the Jaguars were looking to start a winning streak after scoring their first victory since 2015 the previous Friday night against Affton.
But the visiting McCluer Comets broke a 14-14 tie with a pair of touchdowns in the second half and won 30-14.
“Unfortunately, that was not to be,” Seckman head coach Doug Baker said. “I don’t think it (the loss) diminishes anything (from the win over Affton), other than it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the things we did well, and what we need to improve on. (McCluer) is a very athletic team that executes well, and we did not play as well as we did in the win.”
Seckman quarterback Seth Lounsbury threw a TD pass to Blake Fritz and Lounsbury ran for a score. Lounsbury had to leave the game after taking a hit to a knee, but Baker said he was doing a lot better on Saturday. Beyond that, the news wasn’t as good for two other key players.
“The thing we have to do now is regroup, and that may be an understatement,” Baker said. “Mason Ambrose (a running back) suffered a spiral fracture of his fibula, and (lineman) Anel Demirovic has either a partially, or fully, torn Achilles. We’ll have to do a little bit of shuffling as a result of those injuries and see if some of our younger kids are ready to contribute at the varsity level.”
McCluer scored touchdowns on a kickoff return that followed a Jaguar TD, and returned a Seckman fumble.
“Overall, our defense gave up 14 points,” Baker said. “That’s something we can focus on.”