By DOUG CHAPIN

sports@vindy.com

WARREN

In a game of big plays, Girard came up with the final one to secure a 20-14 victory over Warren JFK on Friday night at Mollenkopf Stadium.

With JFK (0-3) looking to finish off a drive it started at its own 24 with just under five minutes remaining, the Eagles snapped the ball on second-and-3 from the Girard 5 with 28 seconds showing on the clock.

Sophomore quarterback Dominic Naples scrambled for a couple of yards but had the ball knocked out of his hands and Girard’s Landon Smith recovered at the 3 to seal the victory.

“We had the big plays early, but they adjusted very well and we didn’t adjust,” Girard coach Nick Cochran said. “There was some talking going on out there and our kids were doing too much of it. Our kids lost control of the game and I lost a little bit of control of the game. I think I wanted to get the big play one too many times.”

Two statistical oddities demonstrated the nature of the game. JFK had five consecutive possessions end in a turnover — the Eagles had seven turnovers altogether — and still had a chance to win at the end. Girard (2-1) did not gain a first down in either the second or fourth quarter.

“We are down five starters and we’re picking and choosing who to play,” JFK coach Tony Napolet said. “I’m very proud of our effort, the way we came back. Our kids played well, but not well enough.”

Girard started the game with a big play, as Dan Graziano threw deep down the right side to Smith for a 57-yard gain down to the 1. Graziano scored from there two plays later.

“We ran that play every day in practice [this week] the first play,” Cochran said.

Graziano hooked up with Smith for a 37-yard gain on the Indians’ next possession. That helped set up a 30-yard scoring run by Graziano that gave Girard a 14-0 lead a little over eight minutes into the game. But the Eagles adjusted and kept Smith without a reception the rest of the way.

Kennedy’s big plays included a 39-yard bomb from senior quarterback Bryce Baker to Jacob Schaefer to the 2-yard line. Carl Broadbent scored from there on the first play of the second quarter as JFK cut the lead to 14-6.

Midway through the second period, Graziano was hit by Anthony Marshall as he threw and the ball landed in the hands of R.J. Boyd who rambled 26 yards into the end zone. Broadbent’s 2-point conversion run tied the game with 5:45 left in the first half.

A big hit by Girard’s Brandon Hunkus resulted in a fumble recovered by Zach Cochran setting up the Indians at midfield early in the third quarter. That set up a scoring drive which featured two big fourth-down conversions.

On fourth-and-3 at the 13, Graziano hit Cochran on an out route and the freshman got the ball into the front corner of the end zone for what turned out to be the game-winning score.

Smith also had two interceptions for the Indians.