St. Clair Gets The Final Bite Against Eagles Football, Defeating Them 46-41
The rivalry between red and black clashed on Friday, Sep. 15, as Sullivan football suffered a 46-41 loss on St. Clair territory. Both teams now hold a 3-1 record.
Sullivan head coach Eddie Haar believed that this defeat will be a pathway for improving, stating, “St. Clair is a well coached team that plays hard. This week we will be ironing out some of our own mistakes and focusing on better execution on offense, defense and special teams.”
On Friday night, St. Clair’s message was to “Beat Sullivan,” which was seen plastered on shirts worn by Bulldog fans, signs held by fans, and chalked onto the pavement. Sullivan last faced their Four Rivers Conference rivals in the district championship, where the Eagles handed the Bulldogs a loss they had not forgotten.
Eagles quarterback Robert York passed for a season-high of 200 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The rushing game produced a total of 231 yards. Frankly Erxleben led the team with 109 yards, followed by York with 82, Dominic Ransom with 20, Jeremiah Rodriguez with 15 and Aidan Cain with 5.
Sullivan had 200 receiving yards, wide receiver Seth Valley led the team with 121 yards, followed by Colton Brendel with 41, Erxleben with 23 and Ransom with 15.
Their defense forced one turnover which was a sack fumble recovery by defensive back Brendel, who recovered it for a touchdown.
The game kicked off with Skylar Sanders from St. Clair driving through the right side of the field for an early 6-0 Bulldogs lead. St. Clair continued to utilize sweeps and outside runs, boosting their score to 12-0 with 1:00 left in the first quarter.
Sullivan’s coaches were screaming at the team to wake up. The Eagles did just that as York sailed a spiral down to Valley, who pushed into the endzone.
Still trailing behind at 12-7, Brendel broke St. Clair’s confidence by strip-sacking the quarterback, recovering the ball and running about 40 yards to give Sullivan a lead of just 2 points.
The Bulldogs had advanced nine yards away from their endzone, but Sullivan shut them down on a fourth and short. The Eagles then drove down the field and took a 21-12 lead with a hand off to Erxleben.
Sullivan continued their dominance as they recovered an onside kick. York slung a pass to Brendel at the 4-yard line and Ransom powered through the endzone for a touchdown.
But, with just 1 minute and 27 seconds until halftime, St. Clair marked the scoreboard with two touchdowns, narrowing the score to 27-25, trailing just behind.
Erxleben kicked off the third quarter with a 76-yard run, moving Sullivan down to Union’s 1-yard line. York drove in a 1-yard touchdown, diving through the defensive line and then sneaked for two points, securing a 35-25 lead.
With some short runs, St. Clair slowly moved the chains and scored with a 3-yard touchdown run, bringing their score to 35-32.
It wasn’t long until the Bulldogs seized a 4-point lead over the Eagles, St. Clair’s fans roaring while the Eagles’ sideline fell silent.
Sullivan wasn’t going to exit quietly. With 1:49 left in the game, York threw a 64-yard pass to Valley, who escaped pressure from two Wildcats and reached the end zone for a 41-39 lead.
But, St. Clair had one last punch left, as Sanders escaped the Eagles and ran down the field to score the final points of the match for a Bulldogs victory.
Despite the devastating defeat, Eagles and Bulldogs action never seems to disappoint. This rivalry is far from over, and Sullivan will look to seek vengeance against St. Clair if they face them again at districts.