Chris Dworek has raved about his defense since August.
The fourth-year St. Marys head coach has plenty of playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, and Friday at Parkway Field, they took over and spoiled Bradford’s Homecoming.
The Flying Dutch defense dominated four quarters of play, allowing quarterback Charlie Coudriet and his offense ample time with which to work. Coudriet ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, as St. Marys defeated Bradford, 31-0, behind its stout defense.
“They’ve been strong all year and it starts with our defensive linemen,” Dworek said. “They get pressure on a lot of people. The coaches came up with a great game plan and the kids executed it perfectly, so it was fun to watch.”
The Dutch turned the ball over five times, but it didn’t matter, as Bradford’s offense struggled to move the ball all night. St. Marys led just 12-0 at half, as the Owls defense turned in a spirited Homecoming effort, but the Dutch pulled away with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns as their defense continued to dominate.
“They really stifled us from the get-go; we couldn’t get any rhythm and nothing was really going our way,” Bradford head coach Jeff Puglio said. “I’m really proud of the effort though; we never gave up.”
St. Marys fumbled the ball away on each of its first two possessions, resulting in a scoreless draw after a quarter. Justin Dornisch capped the Dutch’s third drive with a 4-yard rushing score early in the second, however, before Coudriet added an 11-yard touchdown run with 2:27 left before halftime.
The Dutch maintained their offensive versatility, using a mix of Dornisch and Matthew Davis out of the backfield while spreading out passes to Carter Chadsey, Collin Reitz and others. Perhaps their best rushing weapon, however, was Coudriet.
“(Coudriet) is a great athlete and one of the fastest kids in the area, so he’s just getting more comfortable with the stuff we’re running; knowing when to keep it and when to give it,” Dworek said. “The plan is to be as balanced and versatile as we can. To actually do it… Bradford is a tough football team and they play hard all the time, so to do it against a team that is playing hard is a nice goal to achieve.”
Coudriet added a 12-yard rushing touchdown midway through the third quarter. After another short Bradford possession, a deep completion to Chadsey set up a three-yard TD pass back to Chadsey, who had a big game stepping up in absence of leading receiver Logan Mosier.
Davis added the Dutch’s final score on an 84-yard touchdown run with 8:43 left in the game.
St. Marys was down both of its starting offensive tackles, as well, but had the size and speed advantage to make up for it against the Owls. Bradford’s defense played better against the run than it has recently, but St. Marys simply had the ball too often and in too good of field position.
“We have a great one-two (receiver) combination, so if (Mosier) isn’t around, (Chadsey) is ready to step up,” Dworek said. “Our tackles we had in there, Alex Lukaschunis and Connor Smith, played great games and both really worked hard.”
Bradford QB Talan Reese completed 19-of-23 pass attempts for 73 yards. Lucas Laktash led the defensive effort with 14 tackles and two pass deflections, and the Owls didn’t turn the ball over in addition to recovering five Dutch fumbles.
“We need to be proud of (forcing turnovers) but we couldn’t capitalize and turn any of them into points,” Puglio said. “That’s really the story of the night for us; we need to find something offensively.”
St. Marys improved to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in District 9 Region 1 play. The Dutch have won three of their last four, but will host D9’s only remaining undefeated team next week in Central Clarion (8-0).
Bradford fell to 0-8 overall and 0-6 in league play. The Owls have now been shut out for five consecutive halves, and were also shut out at last year’s Homecoming game by DuBois.
“Settle down,” Puglio said of what his team’s offense needs to do to improve. “(Reese) is having problems getting through some of our concepts because we are not giving him any time to throw. He has three or four reads on a play but only has time for one. We need to do a better job up front.”
Bradford hosts Karns City next week before wrapping up its season with a trip to Kane.
“There’s obvious improvement going on,” Puglio said. “People probably don’t see it or don’t care to see it, but we’re seeing it and we’re on the verge of turning the corner here. It might not happen this year, but the kids are working really, really hard and we should be proud of that effort.”
