QB Zuppo leads Girard past Niles

The Indians whipped the Red Devils, 34-14.
By DAVE DEVEREUX
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GIRARD -- The Girard Indians' approach to the passing game is simple: If the defense is giving them room to work, they'll gladly take it.
On Friday night, the Indians receivers had the space and senior quarterback Matt Zuppo showed why he is one of the area's top quarterbacks.
Zuppo connected on 23 of 33 passes for 346 yards and a touchdown to the lead the Indians to a 34-14 victory over Niles -- spoiling the debut of Red Dragons coach Phil Annarella.
"Our offense is what you give us," Girard coach Bud McSuley said. "Matt did a great job tonight. Our offensive line did a nice job protecting him. Our receivers ran some great routes and they made some great catches.
"If we see it, we're going to take it."
Stepping up
The Indians, who are coming off an 11-2 playoff season in 2002, suffered a key loss to graduation in standout receiver, Dustin Helle. At least in the season opener, the Indians appear to have several receivers who will help fill the void.
Senior Nick Canterino caught seven passes for 112 yards, Brandon Gardner finished with seven receptions for 78 yards and junior Ryan Collins hauled in five passes for 74 yards.
Zuppo said having a number of options certainly makes his job easier.
"I can pick my poison," Zuppo said. "They're all good."
The Indians are stronger in the skill positions this season, Zuppo said.
"Our skill is really good this year," he said. "I think it's better than anytime ever. We had Dustin last year and that was a big loss but all-around we're definitely better at the skill positions."
Air attack
The Indians struck first on their second possession of the game, when senior running back Bobby Hepfner scored on a 4-yard run. The scoring opportunity came after two completions right into the heart of the Red Dragons‚ defense.
Zuppo fired a strike over the middle to Canterino, which set the Indians up at the 32-yard line, then found Collins for a 15-yard gain down to the 6-yard line.
Hepfner scored on a pass from Zuppo that went behind the line of scrimmage. Hepfner would add two short touchdown runs in the second half.
Eric Kelley busted a 53-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-7 and give the Red Dragons life, however, the score was answered with a late second quarter drive by the Indians that covered 92 yards.
Zuppo found junior Ryan Tolone near the sideline for a 33-yard touchdown with 53 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Red Dragons who were outgained 409 to 151 yards, were limited to zero passing yards on only two attempts by quarterback Kyle Leonard.
Twice in the third quarter, the Red Dragons had the ball inside Indians territory, but were unable to cut into the 21-7 deficit.
Senior linebacker, Sal Ponzio, who spearheaded the Indians defense all night, sacked Leonard on third down to stop the Red Dragons first attempt.
And on fourth down and five from the 10-yard line, Leonard scrambled but lost his footing a yard short of the first down.
"The third quarter they came out strong and were down there a couple times but our defense shut them down," McSuley said. "That was a big moment for us."