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It’s no secret that their running game has been pivotal to their success and early on in the senior high school football season, the Korah Colts have relied on it to open the year unbeaten.
Korah moved to 2-0 on Friday night thanks to a 31-7 win over the St. Mary’s Knights at Superior Heights in game that saw the team run for three majors.
“We played really tough,” said Korah coach Tom Annett. “That’s a really good team. They’ve got some explosive athletes. Our O-line, especially in the first half, it took a series or two to find our groove, but once we did, we were really moving.”
Much like in their opening week win over Superior Heights, the run game was crucial for Korah on Friday night. The team ran the ball 51 times against St. Mary’s for 373 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
“That’s been our MO for the last four or five years,” Annett said. “People know we want to run the ball and eventually when we get everyone in the box, we get that touchdown at half. You have to pick your poison. It’s what we do and I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone. We’re daring people to bring everyone in the box and then we can look for the explosive play.”
For the Knights, it was a tough game from the start.
“We were absolutely terrible in the first half,” said Knights coach Jim Monico. “I don’t think we can play worse than we did in the first half.”
Monico added that the Knights were able to make some adjustments at halftime but added that the game “was a big chance for us and I don’t think we showed up in that regard.”
“The whole half, we were out of sync,” Monico said of the start. “We talked (at halftime) about how you react to events. We talked about playing really poorly in the first half and we reacted well. We played better in the second half, but I think we’re a better team than we played tonight.”
Korah got on the board first late in the opening quarter when Kaylob Thibodeau scampered in from 14 yards out. A convert by Ty Koski made it 7-0 Colts.
Just over five minutes into the second quarter the Colts extended the lead as Jesse Burella ran the ball in from four yards out. With the convert by Koski, the Colts extended the lead to 14-0.
Burella picked up his second major of the night with just over two minutes to go in the quarter as he ran the ball in from 11 yards out. Combined with a convert by Koski, Korah took a 21-0 lead.
Korah quarterback Gabe Byron hit Ethan Scott for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 11.8 seconds to go in the quarter. With the convert by Koski, Korah took a 28-0 lead into the half.
St. Mary’s got on the board for the first time in the third quarter as Daniel Bumbaco ran a punt return back 42 yards for a touchdown.
Koski kicked a 14-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to make the final 31-7.
Burella finished the day with 184 yards rushing on 21 carries for Korah while Thibodeau had 114 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Defensively for Korah, Lucas Malcolm had five tackles and a pair of batted balls. Ethan Carchidi also had five tackles for the Colts.
Knights quarterback Matti Tucker completed six of 24 passes in the loss, throwing for 161 yards and a pair of interceptions.
Bumbaco caught six passes for 161 yards for the Knights.
Grant Mattewson had eight tackles for St. Mary’s defensively while Brandon Vecchio added seven. Nick Carter had 6.5 tackles and Cian Derbowka had six.
The Knights return to action next Friday night as they face the Superior Heights Steelhawks in a 7:30 p.m. start at Superior Heights.
Korah is on a bye week but will face Huron Heights in an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at Superior Heights.