Mustang victory more than an opening-season win

St. Vincent’s 18-0 win over McKinleyville more important than just an opening-game victory.|

St. Vincent High School’s season-opening 18-0 football win over McKinleyville Saturday was deceiving. Not in terms of score. The score was appropriate given St. Vincent’s aggressive defense and pass effective offense. What was deceiving was the importance of the game. The contest was much bigger than just an opening game against two non-league foes.

“It is amazing,” said St. Vincent quarterback Trent Free. “It is a great feeling, especially for the seniors who have been here for the last two years.”

During those two years, St. Vincent won a combined total of three games. The win at Yarbrough Field was the Mustangs first at home since Nov. 5, 2016 when they beat Portola, 35-32.

Saturday’s game was essentially a second-half contest. The first two quarters were periods of feeling one another out with miscues and defensive aggressiveness leading to not much offensive success by either side.

Each team did cross the goal line once in the half, but there was a difference. The St. Vincent touchdown counted, the McKinleyville score did not.

With about five minutes remaining in the half, the Panthers sprang speedster Caleb Martinez loose on a short swing pass and he zipped 56 yards for an apparent score. Unfortunately for the visitors, one of Martinez blockers had preceded him down field and the score was nullified.

St. Vincent’s score, coming just 1:25 from a much-needed halftime break, held. The touchdown was counted by Rory Morgan who grabbed a 31-yard pass from Free. The counting score was set up by a 34-yard connection from Free to Marcus Mathias.

Although the Mustangs led at the half, the teams were playing pretty much even, a situation that tilted in the Mustangs’ favor in the second half.

It was the defense that turned things around, forcing a fumble (one of three recovered by St. Vincent on the day) that was recovered by A.J. Fetter at the McKinleyville 27-yard line.

A pinpoint pass from Free to Fetter got the Mustangs to the 3-yard line and Daniel Burleson stepped in from there.

Midway through the final quarter, Mathias pilfered a Panther pass and raced 20 yards for a touchdown that was erased by an illegal block.

A disappointment for Mathias turned into a momentary delay for the Mustangs who quickly scored on a 29-yard text-book pass play from Free to Ryan Nalducci.

St. Vincent had a PAT kick blocked, missed one wide right and threw an incompletion on a two-point try.

While the offense did more than enough to win, the real story was written by a defense that recorded the first shutout for a St. Vincent team in 34 games dating back to 24 games.

Giovanni Antonini didn’t build the shutout by himself, but he did pretty much lay the foundation, put on the siding and fashion the roof. A 6-foot, 3-inch 240-pound junior, he seemed to make it his personal mission to stop a potentially strong McKinleyville running game, finishing with 13 tackles, four for loss with one shared tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.

“He had a great game on both sides of the ball,” Herzog said.

Other notable defensive contributors were Fetter (eight tackles, a sack and a shared sack), Andrew Kohler (8 tackles), Mathias (six tackles and the pass interception, Morgan (five tackles) and Connor Yowell(a tackle for loss and another shared tackle for loss, a shared sack and a fumble recovery.

Herzog said the shutout was based on fundamentals and preparation. “We have been preparing for their offense and we executed well on defense,” he said.

“Offensively we didn’t execute in the first half, but we had a good second half.”

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