By Steve ruman

sports @vindy.com

GIRARD

Girard senior quarterback Mark Waid said his team “had a rough week of practice” this week, as it aimed to bounce back from its loss to Hubbard.

“It was a really rough week, and it should have been,” Waid said. “We needed to correct some mistakes, we needed to come back and rebound in a big way.”

Mission accomplished.

Led by Waid’s pin-point accuracy, Girard played nearly mistake-free football en route to a 47-0 home win over Warren JFK.

Waid completed 20 of 22 passes — four for touchdowns — for 432 yards. At halftime, he had already thrown for 332 yards.

“This wasn’t about me, this was about an entire team coming out hoping to put a loss behind us and hoping to move forward,” Waid said. “This was a total team effort. I’m standing back there, and the line is giving me all kinds of time and I have a bunch of really athletic backs and receivers open all over the field, all making big plays. I’m just getting the ball to them, they make things happen.”

In fact, Waid completed passes to eight different receivers. Morgan Clardy pulled in five of the passes for 122 yards. Jimmy Jones had four receptions for 114 yards. Terrance Davis had just one catch, but it went for a 70-yard touchdown.

The seven Girard touchdowns were scored by six different players.

Girard’s lone miscue of the night came on the third play from scrimmage. The Indians (2-1) quickly drove inside JFK territory before coughing up the ball on a fumble. However, the Eagles (1-2) were forced to punt, and Girard scored on its next five possessions of the first half.

Clardy led the Girard rushing game with 81 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown.

“We put last week behind us, we simply moved on and looked forward,” said Girard coach Pat Pearson. “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids. They had a tremendous week of practice. They were extremely focused, they were only concerned about getting better as a team, about moving forward and working towards our goal of building as a team each week as the season goes on.”

JFK’s offense was limited to 74 yards. Christian Marantis threw for 41 yards while Cameron Hollobaugh rushed for 38 yards.

JFK also received a serious blow when its already-depleted offense lost standout wide receiver and defensive back Savone Williamson on the third play of the game. Williamson forced a fumble, but on the play he seriously injured his leg. The game was delayed for 24 minutes while paramedics worked on Williamson, who eventually left the field in an ambulance.

“That’s tough to see, that took an emotional toll on [Kennedy],” Pearson said. “We wish him the best, he’s a really fine athlete.”

Kennedy opened its season with a last second win over Champion, but has since been outscored 102-14 in two losses.

“It is what it is, it’s been a tough two weeks for us,” said Kennedy coach Jeff Bayuk. “Girard is a really good team. They are a very veteran team, they are one of the best teams I’ve seen in this area.

“We’re awful young right now. But I’m really proud of how hard we played. We’re taking our lumps right now but we’ll grow from it and we’ll get better as the season goes on.”