St. Edward finishes unbeaten in Metro Suburban Red
From the top of the bleachers, they heard the booming sound.
Andy Cielak had just top-gear bulldozed in and blocked the punt, the football flying and bouncing 25 yards backwards. His defensive plaudit catapulted his St. Edward football team to an eventual 21-0 lead.
From there, the Green Wave tacked on 27 more points, a 48-0 victory over Ridgewood. For the second straight year, St. Edward finished the Metro Suburban Red Conference with an undefeated record (6-0), advancing to next week's Class 2A state playoffs.
That will be the major question for opposing teams all next week, how to prep for slowing the Green Wave and who to stop. Scouting films will show a diverse offensive team and a steel-tough defense, which own five shutouts this season.
In fact, it was the defensive line and backs that shut down the Rebels, the result being good starting field position for the offense.
"They (defense) bailed us out a couple times,' St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "Got us in good field position and forced a lot of punts."
Stop the pass game, the Green Wave will switch to the run as Joe Sacco did when he carried four consecutive times for first downs, six times for 66 yards, the longest of 23 yards, then scoring on a six-yard run after Cielak's blocked punt. For the game, Sacco rushed for 107 yards on eight tries.
St. Edward scored twice in the first half in 76 and 98 seconds. Sacco busted outside for 24 yards, then quarterback Anthony Holte zipped a 21-yard pass to Liam Pomeroy before Sacco scored from three yards out.
Starting near midfield, Holte connected to Zeke Rolando at the 35-yard line, then tossed a pass to Clem McCullough at the one yard line. Kevin Pomeroy scored for a 14-0 early lead.
"Every time," Mike Rolando said about scoring fast strategy on each possession. "The run seemed to be working well; trying to throw passes in there because they (Ridgewood) were staying back and defending the pass well, so we went back to the run and pounded the ball."
Those two quick St. Edward scores had Ridgewood coach Matt Walsh dejected after the game.
"That pretty much happens every week this season to us," Walsh said. "It's always that mistake, that one mistake, then it's quicksand."
While Ridgewood tried a passing attack, McCullough clobbered the Ridgewood's Jayden Williams, a flying, driving tackle for a five-yard loss. On the next play from the 50-yard line, Sacco intercepted Anthony Boccia's second pass, rumbling 38 yards. That set up Anthony Kirkwood's touchdown run, now 28-0.
"I just read his (quarterback) eyes and saw him going there," Sacco said on his pick. "Then great blocks from my teammates down the sidelines."
On one drive, Sacco rushed six times in a row for big gains. "A lot of holes great holes," he said. "I just see good downfield blocks from my wide receivers, then open holes, and I read it from there."
McCullough picked off a Ridgewood pass that led to another touchdown, also grabbing a 19-yard pass en route to the 35-0 margin.
"Our communication and being able to get to the ball, being physical," McCullough said about his teammate's defense.
The Green Wave's Luke Brier was everywhere on the field, smacking a Rebel trying to find the ball at his feet on an onside kick, which St. Edward recovered. Brier also had a tackle for a 9-yard loss.
"We put in a new blitz this week," Brier said. "We blitzed from the outside and that helped."
In the third quarter, Holte (13 of 21, 226 yards, 9 first downs) found Rolando on a 24-yard pass, then a 36-yard goal line pass that had Ridgewood's Adam Kassan, who hoisted and pulled Rolando, unable to prevent the touchdown. All night, Rolando was double-teamed. Still the junior brought down eight passes for 174 yards.
"He was really holding me down," Zeke Rolando said. "Usually one (defender) is taking the short route and one takes the deep route on me. I try to find the open window."