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Blue Devils’ defense stymies Tornados

Ray DiMonda
Posted 3/30/17

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Dominance in football is synonymous at Clay High School, but tonight it was the girls football squad that put on a rout as the Blue Devils hosted the Bradford Tornados in the …

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Blue Devils’ defense stymies Tornados


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Dominance in football is synonymous at Clay High School, but tonight it was the girls football squad that put on a rout as the Blue Devils hosted the Bradford Tornados in the season opener. The girls took no time at all to make a statement and when finished, they sent the Tornados on a long ride home after a 40-6 victory.

““As long as we do the little things, all the rest of the stuff will take care of themselves, especially the scoreboard,” said Clay coach John Stilianou. “They just did the little things; the centers, we didn’t have one bad snap.”

The Blue Devils wasted no time getting after the Tornados with their first offensive drive. Clay drove the ball quickly and put the ball in Alexis Stilianou’s hands for the first TD. Lea Plante ran the ball around the side for the easy PAT putting Clay up 7-0. Bradford would go three and out and attempt a punt. The first-year squad sorely needed a girl with kicking skills and they just didn’t have it.

After a net three-yard kick, the Blue Devils were primed. On the next play, Bri Jordan used some fancy footwork to avoid the Bradford defenders and put in score number two. On the point after, Liz Fogarty would show everyone she is not one dimensional with her soccer skills and ran the ball right, cut back left and faked out the Tornados, bringing the score to 14-0. After another Bradford three and out, the coach realized he couldn’t try another kick and would just go for the remaining fourth down attempts. With Clay taking over after the failed attempt, Liz Fogarty would show she was keeping the ball. Once she had the defenders drawn in, she lateraled to Alexis Stilianou for her second touchdown. With the failed point after, Clay led 20-0.

On the next series, Bradford once again tried to go for it on a forth and long and was picked off by Haley Wilson. On the ensuing drive, Liz Fogarty would keep the ball around the left side, use some hot foot action to fake out the defenders and score once again with 4:20 still remaining until halftime. With the successful point after, Clay went into the halftime break leading 27-0. “This is the first game and not one bad snap,” said Stilianou. “I think we had one ball on the ground.

That’s impressive.”

Bradford opened the second half the same way they ended the first with a four and out. On the next play from scrimmage, Liz Fogarty handed the ball off to Bri Jordan for her second TD.

On the point after, Fogarty kept the ball and scored again bringing the Blue Devils to 34-0. The defense Stilianou spoke of was fired off from plays such as the next defense move on Bradford’s next possession. Brooke Green came on an all-out blitz that caught Bradford’s quarterback off guard, moving them back another three yards. The next play it was Abby Hawkins freezing the Bradford QB for yet another loss. With the turnover on downs, Fogarty looked into the end zone to see a wide-open Lea Plante, who she passed to for touchdown number six; bringing the score to 40-0. Clay’s single blemish was when they began experimenting with girls in other positions.

With a sizable lead, Coach Stilianou put in a new offensive team that were still meshing. On a miscue, Bradford picked off a pass and ran it back for their only score of the game. “We are fortunate. It’s not that we’re doing some amazing job coaching. We just have really good kids. It’s across the board. It’s not one particular kid. It just shows you how hard the kids have been working” said Stilianou.

The lighthearted highlight of the game was late in the fourth where Fogarty had the opportunity to punt the ball. With a single kick, she showed Bradford why she was the Clay Varsity Football punter this season as she sailed the ball from one end of the field to the other and out the endzone. Fittingly, it was the last play of the game as the clock hit 2:00 and the mercy rule kicked in.