October 11, 2009
Ford comes through for Friars
Josh Ford's sack in the final minute helped preserve a St. Anthony victory.
Click Here for more photos from St. Anthony at Marist.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
BAYONNE – Josh Ford may have been one of the last players to arrive at Veterans Stadium, but when the game was on the line, he was the most important player on the field.
Ford, who according to St. Anthony head coach Sean Fallon arrived just minutes before kickoff due to the SATs, recorded a pivotal sack in the final seconds and scored the game-winning touchdown to give the Friars a 14-6 victory yesterday over Marist.
“Josh is one of our best players,” Fallon said. “He comes everyday, he’s got a great attitude and he pushes the younger players. If we had to name most valuable player, it’d be him”
In the game’s final minutes, the Royal Knights (1-4) embarked on a potential game-tying drive, taking the ball all the way down to the St. Anthony (3-2) 5-yard line. On 2nd-and-Goal from the 10 with 26 seconds left, Ford blew past the offensive line and sacked Marist QB Maurice Dunn. The play resulted in a loss of nine yards, but most importantly for the Friars, decimated the Royal Knights’ scoring threat.
“Their tackle tried to block me, I made a (rip) move on him,” Ford said about the play. “I saw (Dunn) break a tackle and I followed up, just like in the pursuit drills.”
Dunn spiked the ball with 3.1 seconds left to give Marist one last shot. St. Anthony’s Robinson Beneche tackled Jalen Shelton well short of the end zone to preserve the victory.
Strong winds limited the effectiveness of both team’s passing games. But in the last minute of the third quarter, Ford hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Slyvester Wright to snap a 6-6 tie. The Friars completed just two passes all afternoon, both were to Ford, who had 28 yards receiving.
Ford’s exploits proved to be enough for the Friars in a game that featured nine turnovers. Marist was victimized by five turnovers, including a fumble at their own 27 that set up the game-winning touchdown.
“You can’t turn the ball over (five) times like that,” Royal Knights coach Larry Arico said. “For it to even be that close is a testament to these guys.”
St. Anthony committed four of their own. Early in the fourth, the Friars appeared poised to put the game away until Shelton stripped the ball away from a St. Anthony runner at the 1-yard line.
“This might have been the sloppiest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Fallon said. “We have to protect the ball better.”
Daryl Wilson led the Friar running attack with 105 yards rushing on 14 carries. Dave Coleman and Jidamon Sparkman added 40 and 36 yards on the ground respectively. Sparkman opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown and later converted a two-point conversion.
Shelton led Marist with 21 carries for 74 yards and he added two catches for 18 yards. Shelton also had a 48-yard kickoff return to open the second half that set up an Isaiah Berryman touchdown. Berryman had 46 yards rushing and 20 more receiving. Dunn completed six passes for 81 yards.
Maurice Dunn had 81 passing yards, 38 of them in the fourth quarter.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Anthony (3-2) | 6 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
14
|
| Marist (1-4) | 0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
6
|
| SA: Jidamon Sparkman, 1 run (kick failed) | |||||
| M: Isaiah Berryman, 1 run (run failed) | |||||
| SA: Josh Ford, 15 pass from Slyvester Wright (Sparkman run) | |||||