Indians Slay the Dragons
The St. Francis Indian football team earned their first victory of the 2011 season by defeating the Holyoke Dragons on September 16th. The Indians won the contest 36-6.
St. Francis received the kickoff and set up offense on their own 18 yard line. The Indians moved the ball well on the drive, mixing plays and ball carriers. Dylan Wolaver had several good runs during the drive. The Indians advanced the ball to the Holyoke 25 yard line before committing two consecutive penalties that slowed the drive. The Indians faced 4th and 5 on the Holyoke 28 yard line. Wolaver carried the ball to the 19 1/2 for an important Indian first down. Unfortunately, on the next play, the Indians fumbled the football and the Dragons recovered on the 14 yard line.
The Indian defense kept the Dragons from gaining a first down on their first possession of the game. The Dragons punted the ball back to the Indians.
St. Francis began their offense on the St. Francis 49 yard line with good field position. Cade Bracelin ran for an Indian first down on the first play of the series. On second down, the Dragons intercepted a pass from Jon Butler that was intended for Dylan Peter.
Holyoke set their offense up on their own 15 yard line. The Dragons faced 4th and 17 as the first quarter closed and were forced to punt.
The punt was short, and St. Francis began their next drive on the Holyoke 45. The Indians lost the ball on downs.
Holyoke began their next possession on the Holyoke 44 yard line. The Dragons were not successful in moving the ball and punted again.
The Dragons punt was another very short punt. The Indian offense took over on the Saintly 35. On third down, the Indians fumbled the ball and Holyoke recovered on the St. Francis 42 yard line.
Again, the St. Francis defense caused the Dragons to turn the ball back on downs at the Indian 28 yard line.
The Indians soon faced 4th and 1 at the St. Francis 37 yard line. The Indians went for it and gained a first down with 2:11 left in the half. Shortly, the Indians were looking at 3rd and 17 from the Sainty 31. Holyoke called time out with 1:10 left. The Indians lost a yard on the play and had 4th and 18 yards to go with 30 seconds left in the half. St. Francis called time out and then punted to the Dragons.
With 20 seconds left, the Dragons set up on their own 40 yard line. A pass completion moved the Dragons to the Indian 45 yard line with 9 seconds left. The next Dragon pass attempt was incomplete. Four seconds remained on the clock. On the final play of the first half, the Dragons completed a pass that advanced all the way to the Indian ten yard line before the receiver was bumped out of bounds. The first half ended with the score tied 0-0.
St. Francis kicked off to the Dragons to open the second half of the homecoming game. The kick was short and went out of bounds. Holyoke set their offense on their own 35 yard line. Three plays later, the Dragons had 4th and 9 on their own 37 yard line and elected to punt. The punt snap was high. Thomas Douthit tacked the Dragon ball carrier on the St. Francis 10 yard line. The Indians were getting close to paydirt!
On first down, Cade Bracelin ran for 6 yards to the Indian 4 yard line. On third and four, Bracelin pounded up the middle to score. The conversion try was unsuccessful. The Indians led 6-0 with 10:08 left in the third period.
After the kickoff, the Dragons set their offense on the Holyoke 30 yard line. On second down, Dylan Peter sacked the Dragon ball carrier for a good loss. On third down, the Dragons committed a procedure penalty and then faced 3rd and 17. The Dragon pass attempt was incomplete and the Dragons punted again.
The next Indian possession began on the Sainty 35 yard line. On second down, Wolaver ran for 28 yards to the Holyoke 30 yard line. A few plays later, Thomas Douthit scored on a 28 yard touchdown run with 7:43 left in the third. Wolaver ran for the conversion points, and the Indians moved out to a 14-0 lead.
The Indians had good kickoff coverage on the ensuing kick, but were called for a horse-collar tackle. The penalty allowed the Dragons to begin on the Sainty 34 yard line. A pass completion moved the ball to the Holyoke 48. On 4th and 10, on the Dragon 48, Holyoke gained a first down to the Indian 40 yard line with 6:10 remaining in the third period. On the next play, the snap sailed over the head of the Dragon running back, and he picked up the ball deep behind the line of scrimmage and eluded all Indian defenders to score on a touchdown run of approximately 60 yards. Jon Butler intercepted the conversion pass attempt. The Dragons trimmed the lead to 14-6 with 5:28 left in the third period.
Wolaver returned the kickoff to the Indian 21 yard line. On 4th and 1 on the Indian 30, the Indians "went for it." Bracelin pounded forward to the 33 and gained the necessary first down. Thomas Douthit scored on a 62 yard run with 2:00 left in the third to cap the drive. The conversion try was unsuccessful. The Indians led 20-6.
Holyoke returned the kickoff to the Sainty 45. The third period ended with the Dragons advancing the ball to the Indian 31. On third down, the Dragons scored on a touchdown pass, but a holding call on the Dragons erased the TD. After two more incomplete passes, the Indian offense took over on the Indian 40 yard line.
Cade Bracelin made a nice 13 yard run to the Dragon 47 yard line. On the next play, the Indians were called for holding. The following play resulted in a Wolaver run for 60 yards to paydirt. Bracelin ran for the conversion. The score advanced to 28-6 in favor of the Indians with 10:59 left to play.
Holyoke returned the kickoff to near the 45 yard line. The Dragons faced 4th and 1 near the Holyoke 45, but were called for a delay of game penalty. Zach Gienger made a nice tackle to prevent the Dragons from gaining a first down and the Indians took over on downs on the 45 yard line with approximately nine minutes to go.
The Indians turned the ball over on downs. Holyoke began at their own 40 yard line with 6:58 to go. The Dragons fumbled the ball, and Dylan Wolaver recovered the ball for the Indians.
St. Francis began the next possession on their own 49 yard line. A few plays later, Douthit rambled 40 yards for another Indian touchdown. Jon Butler passed to Dylan Peter for the conversion points. The Indians were looking good - leading 36-6.
Holyoke began on their own 35 yard line after the kickoff. The Indian defense held, and the Dragons turned the ball over on downs at the Dragon 40 yard line.
St. Francis advanced the ball downfield, but the clock expired with the Indians on the Holyoke 25 yard line. The Indians had earned a sweet 36-6 victory in the 2011 homecoming game.
The Indians will play in Wray, Colorado on Friday September 23rd.
