Girard edges Kennedy in an offensive thriller

Brett Dutton's touchdown proved to be the game-winner for the Indians.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
GIRARD -- Were the offenses that good?
Or were the defenses that bad?
Actually, it was a little bit of both as Girard and Warren JFK combined for 19 touchdowns and 126 points in a once-in-a-lifetime shootout that probably broke a host of statistical records Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
In the end, after both Trumbull County rivals virtually took turns scoring, Girard survived a last-ditch Warren JFK comeback to emerge with a 64-62 victory to remain undefeated before a jammed-pack house that probably witnessed the game of their lives.
Brett Dutton's 8-yard TD dash with 3:05 left gave Girard a 64-55 lead that stood up as the winning score. Tony Elzy countered for JFK with a 7-yard dash and Jeff Jenkins kicked the extra point to cut the gap to 64-62.
Huge performances
But there were several huge statistical performances by both teams, which battled to a 34-34 tie before Girard took a 52-47 lead entering the final period.
Girard quarterback Bobby Ovesny was involved in seven touchdowns. He completed 34 of 45 passes for 469 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran for three TDs.
His targets: Ryan Tolone had 11 catches for 176 yards and two TDs of 27 and 20 yards, while Ryan Collins added six catches for 356 yards and TDs of 55, 20 and 18 yards.
Dutton rushed for 114 yards in 16 carries and wound up with two TDs of 18 and 8 yards as Girard finished with 191 net yards rushing in 26 attempts and had 27 total first downs.
Meanwhile, Elzy was virtually the entire offense for JFK. He rushed for 417 yards of the Eagles' 505 yards in 22 carries and seven touchdowns on runs of 75, 9, 47, 34, 54, 49 and 7 yards.
Eagles' quarterback Eddie Campana completed 5 of 8 passes for 76 yards, and rushed for TDs of 4 yards and 1 yard.
JFK got its 505 yards rushing in 36 attempts and had 17 total first downs.
Coaches are impressed
"This was unbelievable," said Girard (3-0) coach Bud McSuley. "These were the most points that Girard scored since I have been coach, but not the most scored against us. Struthers scored 67 points against us in 1997 in my first year."
Coach Tony Napolet of JFK (2-1) said the game was a first for him, too. "These are the most points scored against me in 40 years of coaching. I have never been in a game like this. But I saw one like this," said Napolet. "But we have scored more than 62 points."
Naploet said he expected a high-scoring game.
"I can honestly say that I did," he said. "I felt that we would score, but I didn't know if we could stop them. But we couldn't stop them.
"[Girard coaches Nick] Cochran and Bud [McSuley] did a good job on the offensive [planning]."
Cochran is Girard's offensive coordinator.
"We ran out of steam," Napolet said. "Actually we ran out of time."
McSuley lauded Cochran and other assistants Sean Guerriero, John Latell and Steve Rovnak.
"Our offensive staff did a great job," said McSuley.
"These guys prepared our kids. Whenever we ran the spread offense we were getting a lot of different looks. [But] we just knew what to do. We made the plays, made great catches."